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Need advice in reducing Neck Dive - Mustang PJ...

SoulReflection

SoulReflection

Nov 18, 2017
9,019
31,037
NorCal
#1
I have a new Fender MIM Mustang PJ and love everything about it except the neck dive.

I have a 3.5" neoprene, padded strap which helped but still strains my left shoulder and arm while playing. I tried two other PJ's at a local shop and they both had the same problem.

Would light weight tuners help that much and, if so which ones? These are short scale and I can't imagine how bad they would be if they had an extra 4" of neck!

I don't know how much weight reduction will solve the problem but was hoping that someone out there might have a solution. Help!
 
#2
Wider strap is often the first thing to try. Lightweight tuners could help and HipShot Ultralites as a popular choice. I've also heard of people adding weight to the body by inserting dense materials into the control cavity, or a routed out portion of the body. My short scale is a cheap SX so I've been experimenting with taking wood off the headstock to reduce weight and have been moderately successful, but I wouldn't take a dremel to my new Fender if I got one.
 
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#3
SoulReflection said:
I have a new Fender MIM Mustang PJ and love everything about it except the neck dive.

I have a 3.5" neoprene, padded strap which helped but still strains my left shoulder and arm while playing. I tried two other PJ's at a local shop and they both had the same problem.

Would light weight tuners help that much and, if so which ones? These are short scale and I can't imagine how bad they would be if they had an extra 4" of neck!

I don't know how much weight reduction will solve the problem but was hoping that someone out there might have a solution. Help!
Click to expand...
I was just looking at these solutions a minute ago. I just got a new bass with a slight dive. Not too bad, but it falls hip straight, when I want it to stay angled. I guess the solutions are grippy strap, lightweight tuners, heavier bridge, fishing weights in the electronics cavity. I'm gonna go with the tuners and the strap first, I'd much rather drop weight than add it.
 
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#5
noveltea93 said:
Wider strap is often the first thing to try. Lightweight tuners could help and HipShot Ultralites as a popular choice. I've also heard of people adding weight to the body by inserting dense materials into the control cavity, or a routed out portion of the body. My short scale is a cheap SX so I've been experimenting with taking wood off the headstock to reduce weight and have been moderately successful, but I wouldn't take a dremel to my new Fender if I got one.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I have an email request into HipShot for their recommendations and am inclined to add fishing weights to the body strap to see how much weight is need to see an improvement. I don't want to add more weight as that would open up another issue ;).
 
#10
Three methods I've used either alone or in combination:

In no particular order...

1) lighter tuners
2) moving the lower strap button as shown in the video
3) relocating the top strap button to the upper left neck screw using a longer screw and maybe enlarging the hole in the strap button to fit the new screw.

I try #3 first because I find it easier and it costs only a few cents for the new screw and doesn't require any drilling of new holes.
 
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#11
Methods I've used...
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#13
mongo2 said:
Three methods I've used either alone or in combination:

In no particular order...

1) lighter tuners
2) moving the lower strap button as shown in the video
3) relocating the top strap button to the upper left neck screw using a longer screw and maybe enlarging the hole in the strap button to fit the new screw.

I try #3 first because I find it easier and it costs only a few cents for the new screw and doesn't require any drilling of new holes.
Click to expand...

I used #1 and added a Badass Bridge as well. More expensive but higher quality tuners and more functional bridge.
 
#18
Hipshot Ultralites would be my first port of call, a little weight saving can mean a lot on the end of that pivot point. Plus the tuners are the weakest part of the PJ, after the stock 3 way switch.

Then I'd look at a high mass bridge. I have a Fender High Mass on mine (~£30), and Hipshot HB10s - not even lightweight tuners - and a decent strap, and mine doesn't dive at all. Probably around 8lb even, maybe an ounce or two either way.
 
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#20
Hurricane Jimmie said:
WOW! I would be so lost....OK, even more lost than I usually am.
Is that a bolt/peg sticking out of the lower bout?

We were kicking around in Memphis one weekend and we saw several lefty guitarists playing a righty guitar 'upside down' and not restrung. And they were all really good.
Click to expand...
When I pick up a lefty strung lefty, I feel like a normal 3 year old that's been presented a calculus problem. Oddly enough, what little guitar I've played is "normal" lefty. :D
 
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