I think if the neck were say maple and the body was some very dense, heavy wood, that might eliminate neck dive, but make the thing unduly heavy, too. Might have to start working out to use it.
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Prototype Bass
- Thread starter Frankula
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- prototype bass
Just so you know, most bass players are not OK with this. Having to support the neck with your fretting hand is not a good thing for technique or comfort.
But if it's not an issue for you, you can go forward with pretty much any design you care to. When you take physical balance out of the equation, there are really no limits to body or headstock shape.
He said it would be longer behind the bridge meaning heavier so maybe no neck dive.
Yes, I understand that no one is cool with neck dive. But several name manufacturers have made some over the years, especially in the 60's... I think in a design such as this if you make the neck light enough and don't mind a little classic Les Paulish like body weight, it could be avoided.
But heavier behind the bridge would only cure neck dive if the strap button were in front of all that extra weight behind the bridge (yellow lines in picture below) ... with the weight in front of the strap button (blue lines) it just causes the headstock to be that much further out there = harder to reach and more dive. Even your plucking hand would have to reach to pluck anywhere beside close to the bridge. This design just slides all the playing surfaces several inches further away from where I would want them to be for comfortable reach and playing technique.
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Problem here is how to make the neck lighter. What material are you going to use? Wood species that are stiff enough to serve well in necks are not relatively light.
Sure, manufacturers have made neck-divers, and a lot of players avoid them.
If you're just building it for yourself, nothing to worry about. If you're building it for other people to buy, you have to understand that your product needs to be better than other products. Not necessarily in every way, but playability and comfort are pretty big issues. When you have a product that looks good, and your competition has a product that looks good and makes playing easier and more comfortable, which product do you think will sell more?
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The extra weight would still help overall balance either way, but it would be more effective with the forward strap button placement.
And yes, the longer "tail" with a standard strap button placement makes the reach to 1st position further. You'll see this issue mentioned a lot with Spectors and some Warwicks, among others.
You can also thread the strap through your belt loop then when the neck tries to dive it pulls your pants up and gives you a wedgie
That actually does work though. But if you're designing an instrument from the ground up, why not design it so it is ergonomic and fits your body so you can comfortably reach everything and have a relaxed playing position?
I really like it!
Great job. Only thing I would change is the bridge, I prefer high mass locking bridges. Otherwise, you killed it!drool
Not trying to derail or challenge your statement, but outside of online/talkbass I have never heard of a bassist complain about neck dive...maybe I just haven't ran into people who care about it, but really an odd observation for me.
Most basses I've owned have neck dive of some sort. Many of them are Fenders and one will go completely upside-down (the body is stripped) but I never get sore or tired in my left hand even after playing 4+ hours at gigs with that bass...I'm not a he-man and I do agree I would prefer no neck dive, but for me it's just an annoyance not a health issue.
Not to say that it isn't/can't be for others, just merely stating an observation I've had.
As to the OP, I dig it. To work around the worry over the sharp points, maybe you could do it as a carve out like a Tbird headstock? Also the idea of moving the rear strap knob to the back side of the body might be able to alleviate the dive.
Aesthetics aside there seems to be a few of technical issues.
1: Putting the bridge that far towards the neck results in a fairly uncomfortable bass to play. Since the strap is attached to the body it will always be centered relative to your body. Moving the bridge will also move the entire neck further away from you. Balance will also be affected as a result of this.
2: The neck will have to be a neck through with the pickup that close to the fretboard. Even then the neck heel will probably have to be extended a bit to give enough strength.
3: Connecting the pickups to the control cavity will have to be well planned. You need to be able to route the cables somehow. If you route channels before gluing a laminate body you'll be fine, but drilling those channels will probably be impossible.
1: Putting the bridge that far towards the neck results in a fairly uncomfortable bass to play. Since the strap is attached to the body it will always be centered relative to your body. Moving the bridge will also move the entire neck further away from you. Balance will also be affected as a result of this.
2: The neck will have to be a neck through with the pickup that close to the fretboard. Even then the neck heel will probably have to be extended a bit to give enough strength.
3: Connecting the pickups to the control cavity will have to be well planned. You need to be able to route the cables somehow. If you route channels before gluing a laminate body you'll be fine, but drilling those channels will probably be impossible.
Yeah, but not without upsetting the balance between the neck and body.
I've had a few divers and for me it's a deal breaker .That instrument will not stay long in the herd. If you let go of the neck and it drops like a rock to the floor I dare say it wasn't thought out well enough in the design ... holding up a bass neck the entire time of also trying to play it is physical stress you don't need while trying to play properly and enjoy yourself . Consider yourself lucky if you've never had to deal with a seriously neck heavy bass .
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The latter
Is that a Yamaha BB bridge? I like that. Also I don't think the headstock is large enough for the tuner's backplates.
I like the look a lot, though like others I’d prefer 2 pickups without the angle. Maybe shortening the headstock a bit would be a good idea to maintain a nice balance.
