You forgot the option "my <insert obviously neck divey by design model> doesn't neck dive at all!"
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Neck Dive (Poll)
- Thread starter fig
- Start date
not enough options. No one likes neck dive. "Doesnt matter" doesnt cover all the possibilities. theres a wide range between dives a bit and drops to the floor when you let go. theres limits. being a 12 string player I deal with it, but theres still ones I wouldnt play because theyre exceptionally neck heavy.
For me, it’s not black & white.
a heavy diver has to sound amazing to not get the boot.
I play significantly better if my plucking arm doesn’t also have to push down on the lower bout and my fretting arm can focus on fretting & muting and isn’t also holding the neck up.
Sometimes I’m playing very kinetic music for angry people and I will be jumping and swinging the bass or guitar all around like Homer strangling Bart. Neck heavy actually works as a benefit.
Trying to just be laid back and play some relatively gentle funk, country, or pop… if the bass can’t just be where it needs to be without being choked & wrangled, everything’s gonna suffer.
I’ve been kicking myself for not grabbing one particular (geetar, oh no!) SG Jr. that couldn’t have been an ounce over 5lbs. It was a diver, but so silly light it didn’t matter. I’m still curious how that would’ve felt two hours in on a three hour gig.
a heavy diver has to sound amazing to not get the boot.
I play significantly better if my plucking arm doesn’t also have to push down on the lower bout and my fretting arm can focus on fretting & muting and isn’t also holding the neck up.
Sometimes I’m playing very kinetic music for angry people and I will be jumping and swinging the bass or guitar all around like Homer strangling Bart. Neck heavy actually works as a benefit.
Trying to just be laid back and play some relatively gentle funk, country, or pop… if the bass can’t just be where it needs to be without being choked & wrangled, everything’s gonna suffer.
I’ve been kicking myself for not grabbing one particular (geetar, oh no!) SG Jr. that couldn’t have been an ounce over 5lbs. It was a diver, but so silly light it didn’t matter. I’m still curious how that would’ve felt two hours in on a three hour gig.
Neck dive is the ONLY reason I don’t like Gibson basses. I think they’re some of the coolest looking basses, and I haven’t heard one that sounds bad yet… but they’re a misery to play.
My 'aha' moment was a birdsong cortobass - perfect ergonomics on a strap, sitting on a thigh, or sitting like a classical guitar. A 31'' scale has less lever arm, but good design was also a big part of it. That one, and a landing SS too. Incredibly, the Landing has zero dive in any playing situation, despite being a telecaster-style body. I couldn't play anything else after those. I foolishly sold the Landing about ten years ago, thinking bass was behind me 
It kills me to see short scales with dive, and there are a lot of them - physics is on your side, and a big part of being a SS is being more ergonomic.
It kills me to see short scales with dive, and there are a lot of them - physics is on your side, and a big part of being a SS is being more ergonomic.
I almost bought a Jack Casady 6 months ago. Neckdive was too horrendous.I will vote "don't like." Which is (IMHO) sort of duh!
However, IMHO it depends on how severe the problem is. My 1st bass, Ric 4001, had a bit of neck dive. I found it irritating, but I would not say it made me dislike the bass...perhaps like it less is more accurate...
Over the years I modded the Ric quite a bit. Installed Alembic Activator pickups, a Bad Ass II, and finally a 2-Tek and a battery compartment. The 2-Tek killed the neck dive, but it also made a heavy bass even heavier. In general, I'll take balance over weight.
I am tempted by the Jack Casady...I expect it will have neck dive, and that is definitely a negative. It's not like I actually need another bass, so maybe in this case, neck dive is a good thing.
I wish somebody had an all-inclusive-comprehensive chart on lightweight tuners and what fits on what as a drop-in without drillin' or millin' or fillin'... I'd buy some and make the world less divey.
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I don't believe in neck dive. What I do believe is that the large majority of "neck dive" cases are balanced basses being played by players who actually prefer bottom heavy basses. I've sold a couple of basses by a. particular brand that are designed to balance perfectly at the neck joint. In both cases, the buyer sent me a message that the bass "had a little neck dive" when it absolutely did not. I contacted the builder and he said he hears the same thing all the time.
That being said, I'm a big fan of Resolite tuners... not because they eliminate imaginary neck dive, but because they drop the weight of a 4-string by about 1/2lb. My shoulder always appreciates that!
That being said, I'm a big fan of Resolite tuners... not because they eliminate imaginary neck dive, but because they drop the weight of a 4-string by about 1/2lb. My shoulder always appreciates that!
I almost voted for "You like basses with neck dive." just because who the hell likes that? Why is that even a question?
Maybe you should be smarter about giving away money for a bass. I don't see any manufacturers forcing anyone to buy poorly designed basses. If someone buy a bass that they don't like, that's their own problem.
Not everyone wants to play a Bunny Brunell with it's fat body and extra long upper horn. That's the solution - make the upper horn longer in some way. Or just tie the strap to the headstock, or put a hootenanny button on the headstock, like the old days.
Not everyone wants to play a Bunny Brunell with it's fat body and extra long upper horn. That's the solution - make the upper horn longer in some way. Or just tie the strap to the headstock, or put a hootenanny button on the headstock, like the old days.
I've never noticed neck dive. It's never been a thing for me. Just buy a good strap. lol
For me, it depends on the design, and probably the "cool" factor. I have two neck-divey basses, an Epihone T-bird and a BC Rich Mockingbird. When I play those basses, I'm able to use the extended tail as an arm rest for my right forearm, which mitigates the neck dive.
Neck-heavy basses without that feature, for example Hofners or Les Pauls, are non-starters for me.
Neck-heavy basses without that feature, for example Hofners or Les Pauls, are non-starters for me.
I played an Epiphone Embassy in GC a few weeks ago and it sounded great. I don't remember there being any neck dive.
However, I used to own an EB-3 about 10 years ago and I remember how bad the neck dive was (not to mention the cheap electronics and disproportionally tiny body). That being said, my EB-3 ownership experience turned me off from Epiphone basses ever since. It was the worst bass I ever owned.
Yup!
Love the tone of the Epip EB-3, hate the neck dive. Had one but sold it because of the dive.
I can deal with neck dive. But it makes me tired. So, I'm somewhere between "doesn't matter" and "don't like" but I voted "doesn't matter" just to be ornery.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
Funny thing about that. I have four Thunderbirds and a Fenderbird that is essentially a Thunderbird shaped Precision. None dive at all. What dives? My Fender Precision. Go figure. I also have an EB-2 that is well behaved. I am highly unlikely to play an SG shaped bass. I cannot say from experience that they dive, though. I have never played one. My Ric copy is pretty well behaved, but not as easy to place as the Thunderbirds.
It may be a quirk of my body geometry. Who knows. Thunderbirds are not for everyone.
My 60’s Gibson EB-O has the worst neck dive. I have to hold the neck at all times or it plummets to the ground. You see a lot of these with repaired neck cracks because of it. Mine is still in one piece but it sits in the closet most of its life now. It’s got the thump, but I got tired of holding it constantly. Weighs almost nothing so that’s cool…
The only Spector that has any appreciable neck dive is the Rebop, and that is easily remedied by lightweight tuners. The bass is nice and light (I have a 5 string that weighs in at about 8.1 lbs) and has a phenomenal neck otherwise. The neck thru's are heavier and are pretty well balanced.
I feel like "You like basses with neck dive" is a poor wording for a choice. I doubt anybody plays a bass specifically because it dives. It's really, "do you care about neck dive or do you not?"
That being said, I don't care about neck dive. I selected "I like basses with neck dive" because I think that's a funny premise. I have a suede strap that cures any bass' tendency to dive. But even when I pick up an instrument regardless of strap, I just simply do not immediately register "oh, this balances well" or "oh, this is neck-divey." I can sort of notice when a bass balances well, but it's a subtle thing that I have to consciously feel for.
Honestly, the bigger issue to me is that the bass needs to be able to stay strapped on. A bass with a poorly placed strap button that tends to come undone would annoy the hell out of me easily. I hate pretty much any rear/jack plate mounted strap buttons for exactly that reason.
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