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Poll: Best cure for neck dive
- Thread starter LoTone
- Start date
My warwick thumb nt5 was like that. I could hardly play it sitting down. Standing up wasn't an issue with an $80 strap. With a cheap $20 strap i often had to fight to keep it in a good playing position. I honestly think the best design to fix neck dive is a longer upper horn. My conklin is a 7 string so were talking a massive neck with two truss rods and 7 tuners. The balance is actually amazing. Probably because the upper horn comes all the way out to about the 10th or 11th fret. Best balance of any 24 fret bass I've played so far.
As it happens quite recently, I have been working on solving this very problem I created by making my own custom dark ipe / gaboon ebony fretless neck and bolting to a relatively lighter natural alder 1975 Jazz body. Both Ipe and the ebony are incredibly heavy but the tone of the woods together, tactile feel and the look of the bass are exactly what I was going for when I set out to build it. The balance was just slightly off, hardly enough to get rid of it.
I solved the problem by using Gotoh Lightweight tuners, added a heavier Hipshot A brass bridge, a leather strap with suede on the inside and a small pouch hanging off of the bottom strap just before the body strap lock with about 1 lb of weight. This is just enough to tilt the headstock upward to where I like it right around eye level. Another bonus was that the lighter tuners elimininated the wolf tone I had at the D on G string.
Since you said your problem is when you're sitting, try this no cost experiment (assuming you have stock tuners now). Remove both your D and G tuner completely, then play for 15 minutes or so sitting AND standing. You should feel a pretty big difference since lightweights are close to half the weight of stock tuners, depending on the brands of each.
If it balances better, get the lightweights. If you need a little more balance towards the body, try to simulate the extra weight a heavy mass bridge will give you. Weigh your bridge, then look up the weight of heavier bridges and temporarily add that to the bridge.
I solved the problem by using Gotoh Lightweight tuners, added a heavier Hipshot A brass bridge, a leather strap with suede on the inside and a small pouch hanging off of the bottom strap just before the body strap lock with about 1 lb of weight. This is just enough to tilt the headstock upward to where I like it right around eye level. Another bonus was that the lighter tuners elimininated the wolf tone I had at the D on G string.
Since you said your problem is when you're sitting, try this no cost experiment (assuming you have stock tuners now). Remove both your D and G tuner completely, then play for 15 minutes or so sitting AND standing. You should feel a pretty big difference since lightweights are close to half the weight of stock tuners, depending on the brands of each.
If it balances better, get the lightweights. If you need a little more balance towards the body, try to simulate the extra weight a heavy mass bridge will give you. Weigh your bridge, then look up the weight of heavier bridges and temporarily add that to the bridge.
If your bass has the name 'Fender' on the headstock there's your problem. Unfortunately there is no known cure for these 'Fender's'.
Hopkins
Commercial User
Very helpful
OP, I built this bass with a very light weight alder body, with the Hipshot Ultralite tuners this bass has 0 neck dive.
Unrepresented
Something Borderline Offensive
Me personally, I would not do anything to the bass at all; no mods, no heavier items, no lighter items, no hardware changes, etc.
Is the bass played at the same height/position standing AND sitting? If you are sitting and the strap is slack and hanging off your shoulder 2 feet, then I would tighten up the strap to accommodate your sitting playing. Then, stand up and the bass is in the same location in relation to your body. This has eliminated any issues I've ever had playing vs. sitting. Neck dive is never an issue as the bass is supported by the strap in this playing position and my arms/hands fall naturally to be able to play without any issues.
Is the bass played at the same height/position standing AND sitting? If you are sitting and the strap is slack and hanging off your shoulder 2 feet, then I would tighten up the strap to accommodate your sitting playing. Then, stand up and the bass is in the same location in relation to your body. This has eliminated any issues I've ever had playing vs. sitting. Neck dive is never an issue as the bass is supported by the strap in this playing position and my arms/hands fall naturally to be able to play without any issues.
Fortunately there is a cure for the incorrect use of apostrophes.
(Sorry dude, you come here with smarta** remarks, and that's what you get back. All in jest, me course
)
In order of effectiveness:
1. Reduce weight at headstock (ie lighten tuners). Within the bass's current center of gravity - most effective, because the neck's a long lever - so less change in weight=bigger change in balance than adding to the butt end weight (shorter lever).
2. Wide, stickier strap - friction combats tendency for bass to move. I use this all the time on all my basses, never have balance problems (even with known neck divers) and have the added benefit of less shoulder/neck fatigue.
3. Change center of gravity by extending upper horn mount for strap toward headstock.
Not sure I have the order exactly right (though I'm pretty sure about the first one). But adding weight to the butt end is definitely inefficient compared to the others because of leverage issue - plus: who needs a heavier bass?
1. Reduce weight at headstock (ie lighten tuners). Within the bass's current center of gravity - most effective, because the neck's a long lever - so less change in weight=bigger change in balance than adding to the butt end weight (shorter lever).
2. Wide, stickier strap - friction combats tendency for bass to move. I use this all the time on all my basses, never have balance problems (even with known neck divers) and have the added benefit of less shoulder/neck fatigue.
3. Change center of gravity by extending upper horn mount for strap toward headstock.
Not sure I have the order exactly right (though I'm pretty sure about the first one). But adding weight to the butt end is definitely inefficient compared to the others because of leverage issue - plus: who needs a heavier bass?
Some great suggestions here! I was a huge proponent of lightening the headstock till I did that on a bass and got several deadspots on the fretboard as a result. Ouch! Now I try the balancing by moving the strap buttons and the extra wide / friction strap first. The last neck diver I had made me tend to rest the neck on my palm a lot to support the weight which really slowed me down.
Yea never forget that leo fender put musicman g string tuners on the bottom because it helped reduce the famous fender bass dead spots.
Swapping tuners can have all kinds of results depending on the instrument.
Swapping tuners can have all kinds of results depending on the instrument.
Yes tuner do help ALOT, i changed the tuner of my fender MIJ 62, now weight merely 8lb!! but i realize there are more deadspot apparent on the bass, so be careful when changing the tuner.
