Neck Dive... oops

[Stranger Danger]

Sitting, it is likely on a leg at the waist (of the bass).
Standing, it hangs between the strap connections.
Two different weight centers.

If it neck dives while you're sitting it will likely neck dive really bad on strap.

 

[AndyPanda]

I haven't read every post in this thread yet - so maybe it's been mentioned already. A trick you can do that really works is run your bass strap under your belt before you button it to the strap button. If you've really got bad neck dive, you'll feel it hiking your pants up and giving you a wedgie ... it sounds silly but it really works well.

 

[Korladis]

If it neck dives while you're sitting it will likely neck dive really bad on strap.

Not necessarily. I've played plenty of basses that, due to body shape, neck dive when sitting, but not on a strap.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

Advice I got early on was to set up the strap so that things didn't really change that much when sitting or standing. And wear the strap when sitting...

Seems a lot more practical than filling the hind end with weights.

 

[pingvuiini]

(8^D

 

[eKay]

3 ideas, probably none of which are really desirable: reshape the body so it sits at a better position, convert to headless neck, or convert to a shorter scale neck (well, if it's a bolt-on). Ok bad ideas, give me a break, it's late...

 

[friendlybass]

Very labor intensive and risky but could you bring the neck into the body more and push the bridge further back?

Now that I look at it more it looks like that would involve a total restart on the bass. Check out those sustain blocks. Other than that drill holes in the neck lol

 

[JIO]

It would be helpful to SEE what we're talking about. Picture of the bass, please.

Balance is designed into, not added to IMO

+1 - instead of a 'fix' - next step should be a redesign. If we knew what it looked like we could offer concrete advice. I'll guess that the upper horn is not at the 12th fret to start with. As long as the body is made of wood - it can be worked with/altered to address the issue.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

If it neck dives while youre sitting then its really bad on a strap

Not true, it depends on this:

Position of the 'waist' on the lower side can cause neck dive while sitting if it is too far toward the bridge, and also cause a further reach to the lower notes.

 

[Dadagoboi]

You want balance? In simple playground 'see saw' terms:

CAUTION: PHYSICS!!​

 

[awilkie84]

Not necessarily. I've played plenty of basses that, due to body shape, neck dive when sitting, but not on a strap.

My Thunderbird and Spector Rebop come to mind.

 

[tbrannon]

Is it just me or does that alembic bridge look kind of janky, not bad and I bet it's solid but it looks like something I'd build in my garage.

Early 70s bridge that looks like it could use some tlc. It was just the clearest picture I could find.

The latest ones are much more refined from what I've seen. I owned a couple alembic and appreciated the design. Saddles are radiused to match the fretboard, super simple adjustments... easy to dial in.

A more recent version- you can see the sustain block as well

 

[JIO]

You want balance? In simple playground 'see saw' terms:

CAUTION: PHYSICS!!​

what he said…

 

[Jisch]

Slightly off topic, but I had this discussion with the owner of the last bass I built - if you think about it when the bass is on the strap, the front strap button on the upper horn is the fulcrum in the lever. The back button just keeps the strap from slipping off your shoulder. When considering balance of an instrument on a strap, think of it hanging from the ceiling by a string attached to that top button alone. The 12th fret is a convenient point to consider, but the balance point might or might not be there. I had forgotten that formula, it's a good one - even if you don't know the exact values of A and B, it shows the relationships between weight and distance from the fulcrum.

Gotta love LC!

 

[Dadagoboi]

This will do it. It's called the Hootenanny strap button and was standard on Fenders into the late 60s.

If it offends you, think about it every time you design a bass!

 

[Ahzidal Engineer]

Here are some pictures as requested. The second two are a little outdated. At this point the bass is essentially completed. All that's left is to put a finish on it and then apply the hardware and electronics.

 

[Beej]

When you finish shaping your neck, that should help. If you can shave down the thickness of your headstock some, that may also help out. You could also look at reducing the length/width/thickness of your headstock horns as well. Part of the neckdive factor here will likely be having the upper horn extend out only to the 15/14th fret - the fulcrum point moves a little ahead of that point accordingly. Not much you can do about that at this point, but something to consider on your next build...

 

[AndyPanda]

Just for fun (and without having it in my hands to experiment with balance points) I took one of your pictures and edited what I would cut (working with what you have now) to move the balance point when resting on your knee. Just a thought:

 

[Ahzidal Engineer]

Just for fun (and without having it in my hands to experiment with balance points) I took one of your pictures and edited what I would cut (working with what you have now) to move the balance point when resting on your knee. Just a thought:
View attachment 918775

Although that would probably work, I would most likely have to rip my heart out in order to do that.

 

[AndyPanda]

How about more subtle caving - to still move the fulcrum and keep most of what you have now?