Neck Dive (Poll)

[jdjk7]

I also tend to find it astounding when how neck-divey a bass looks is the very first thing a person comments when they see such a bass. I'm being genuine there, it's just very weird to me, when I'm considering just about every other factor EXCEPT neck dive.

 

[Hawk256]

Had a beautiful tobacco burst Thunderbird but a combination of weight, neck dive, and ergonomics made it impossible to play comfortably. Great looking and sounding but the positives ended there for me. I actually made money when I sold it so there is that.

 

[Mili]

This is weird. Buy the one you have not porblem with! This is Physics! Some of designs have it more or less and if the designer wants to solve the neck dive,He/she must change the design compeletly so we miss many beatiful designs and options which we have now!
ps: Neck dive doesn't exist in my world. I have a good posture and good straps!

 

[JohnnyChatter]

I can live with some neck dive but the worst is when the strap button is on the back behind where the neck meets the body and the bass falls forward…. I’ve had a few Gibson’s that had almost no neck dive. I actually got rid of my G and Kilotone tribute because of neck dive though.

 

[MynameisMe]

I almost bought a Jack Casady 6 months ago. Neckdive was too horrendous.

I miss my Jack Casady....

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

Fender basses are a fairly proven design and they all dive on the knee. Anything that dives on a strap is a no-go!

I have no choice but to play while sitting down. So, I have a (semi?)unique take on this.

I have yet to find ANY bass other than a headless (with a nod to @Killing Floor ) which don't suffer from some neck dive - be it standing or sitting.

That said, there's a lot less when using a strap and sitting (it's the only way I can play, anymore) while adjusting the strap enough so that the instrument isn't actually on one's knee.

I also like to start off with the neck slightly elevated as opposed to perfectly horizontal which seems to help quite a bit.

 

[Basvarken]

Personally I don't mind neck dive. I never play bass without my fretting hand holding the neck ;-)

But as a builder I strive to make each bass without neck dive, because I know many people do have a problem with neck dive.
Even the twelve string basses that I've built do not suffer neck dive!

 

[40Hz]

Although I prefer a bass that doesn’t exhibit neck dive, it’s a very easy thing to work around - as was noted in the OP’s first post. So to me that makes it more of a minor personal annoyance rather than a legitimate problem and hardly justification for dismissing any bass that exhibits it as “garbage.”

I'm sure there are clever engineers/designers working for manufacturers that can solve this issue before finalizing production runs.

There’s a saying among engineers that goes: Nothing in the world is impossible for the man in the suit who tells you “Just do it!”

I've had enough of this garbage. Recently passed up two new (not used) basses in a music store I would've liked. Settled on a third choice that wasn't neck heavy.

I’m willing to bet far more basses get rejected every day simply because whoever was looking at them didn’t like the finish.

 

[40Hz]

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…

Just try using the belt trick and you might start finding yourself playing it a lot more.

 

[ga_edwards]

How is it a badly designed instrument? It’s unarguable that a headless bass is a better engineered instrument.

Engineering and design are not the same thing.

 

[Basvarken]

It is basically down to chosing the right tuners.
In the old days there weren't any light-weight tuners available. Which is the main culprit for neck dive.
But nowadays there are lots of great light-weight tuners on the market.
So in my opinion no newly built bass guitar should have to suffer neck dive.

 

[r_bnks]

Can you reveal what you bought, or do you feel it would sway your poll? I've been playing for 50+ years and I have owned and played dozens of basses and just never experienced neck dive so bad that I couldn't play the instrument.

Exactly.
I never cared and heard about neck drive (except the Bird, but I what I owned but never cared about it's 'neck dive') and I dint think that it was a thing before it was hyped up on the internet.

All of my basses has factory old 80s/90s Schallers except one but I swapped the light gotoh to old Schallers on it, but never noticed or cared about any dive.

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

As enamored as I am with Spector basses, the potential for neck dive has kept me from ever getting one. I have never actually played one though, so its possible I may change my mind.

Many moons ago I bought a Warwick Thumb off eBay which had severe neck dive that I hated and sold right away.

I own two Euros; a 4-string and a 6-string, and a US 6-string, and all three of them balance wonderfully on a strap.

My advice is try one in person to see how it balances on a strap. Also, the other common complaint to some people, is that the stretch to the lowest frets seems longer than other models of basses. I personally don’t experience this, but I wear my bass at about waist level, and I “tuck” my basses closer to my hip. I find the NS design to be super comfortable.

But I have read posts from folks who’ve had neckdive with Spectors in the past. It seems the models that are more susceptible to neckdive are the weight-relieved models. My Euro 6LT is weight-relieved, but happily, for me it doesn’t neckdive.

 

[CallMeAl]

Neck dive/ neck angle is probably my #1 deal breaker. I like when the neck sits around 30-40 degrees. My p bass is 9.5 lbs so I think that helps. I find Yamaha and Ibanez tend to make basses that balance well. I just got this Mitchell short scale that sits perfectly:

 

[Dana R Gregory]

This is one of the many things I love about my Steinberger. No neck dive.

 

[chris_b]

I have several great basses with no neck dive, and a couple of OK basses with.

IMO it just one of the differences between a bass that has been designed properly and one that has not.

 

[Pelagic]

I'm in the same boat as others. I'm willing to take some neck dive, as long as you can compensate it with the strap or your setup. Basses with too much, no matter how good they sound (I'm looking at you, Warwick Thumb...*shakes fist*) just don't work for me. I never want to be fighting an instrument that's meant to make getting my inner voice out easy.

 

[lbbc]

If I can't comfortably play a bass, with neck dive or any other ergonomically challenging issue....I won't play it!!

 

[JakobT]

Who actually likes neckdive? A better question would be how much neckdive are you willing to tolerate?

Most basses do have a little neckdive in your lap, but that's normal, and usually not a problem. But if they neckdive on a strap, that's a deal-breaker AFAIC. However, they're usually fairly easy to spot (and therefore avoid), even if you don't get to handle the instrument yourself:

1. Strap button positioned closer to the body than the 12th fret (or worse, on the body proper)
2. Unusually large headstock
3. Both

 

[Jogobass]

my Ibby GWB205 has neck dive because it has a very light body and titanium rods in the neck. But on a strap it hangs balanced. So I don't mind in this case.