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Schecter Stiletto / Riot Session 5 and Neck Dive?

dsky7

dsky7

Apr 1, 2019
48
75
#1
Greetings!

I recently purchased the Stiletto as an upgrade from my Ibanez Gio 5 string, and it plays wonderfully, and looks beautiful. However, the neck dive is insane, to the point where it's making my left shoulder hurt trying to hold it up as I play while sitting (I have some mild rotator cuff issues), and standing with a strap is impossible unless I shorten the strap and make the bass sit extremely high.

This is not something I experienced with the Ibanez. My Ibanez had slight neck dive but not to the point of pain/discomfort after only 30 minutes.

I was wondering if anyone else had this bass and is experiencing the same issue, or if mine is just a fluke.

I was looking at the Riot as well, and the body definitely seems bigger/meatier/heavier. For anyone that owns the Riot (preferably 5 string), do you experience severe neck dive? Sweetwater said I would be able to exchange it, and I was looking at the Riot.

P.S. I've attached pictures of my bass if anyone's curious, courtesy of Sweetwater's professional photography!
W18091807-angle-xlarge.jpg
W18091807-front-xlarge-2.jpg
 
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#2
Which Stiletto were you referring to? There are quite a few Stiletto 5 string models that Schecter makes (Extreme, Stage, Stealth, Studio, etc). There's a Stiletto Custom-4 on standby in my office studio. I don't recall it has neck dive issue, although it's not a 5 stringer.

I haven't tried the Riot though...

And welcome to TB.
 
#3
Aidil said:
Which Stiletto were you referring to? There are quite a few Stiletto 5 string models that Schecter makes (Extreme, Stage, Stealth, Studio, etc). There's a Stiletto Custom-4 on standby in my office studio. I don't recall it has neck dive issue, although it's not a 5 stringer.

I haven't tried the Riot though...

And welcome to TB.
Click to expand...
The Stiletto Session. Sorry if I was being unclear. My friend has the Stiletto Extreme (also a 5 string) and while it does have some neck dive, its nowhere near as bad as mine.
 
#4
dsky7 said:
Greetings!

I recently purchased the Stiletto as an upgrade from my Ibanez Gio 5 string, and it plays wonderfully, and looks beautiful. However, the neck dive is insane, to the point where it's making my left shoulder hurt trying to hold it up as I play while sitting (I have some mild rotator cuff issues), and standing with a strap is impossible unless I shorten the strap and make the bass sit extremely high.

This is not something I experienced with the Ibanez. My Ibanez had slight neck dive but not to the point of pain/discomfort after only 30 minutes.

I was wondering if anyone else had this bass and is experiencing the same issue, or if mine is just a fluke.

I was looking at the Riot as well, and the body definitely seems bigger/meatier/heavier. For anyone that owns the Riot (preferably 5 string), do you experience severe neck dive? Sweetwater said I would be able to exchange it, and I was looking at the Riot.

P.S. I've attached pictures of my bass if anyone's curious, courtesy of Sweetwater's professional photography!
View attachment 3373734 View attachment 3373735
Click to expand...
Easy fix without touching the bass...if you don't want to return it.
I wrapped golfer's tape around the bottom of my strap, wrapped some duct tape around that, and covered it with a seatbelt pad.
My L2000 weighs only 7 2 lbs so naturally it had the tendency to dive.
Not any longer, though.
Link RemovedLink Removed
 
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#5
jd56hawk said:
Easy fix without touching the bass...if you don't want to return it.
Click to expand...
I was considering putting wheel weights in the control cavity as a fix to combat the neck dive. Thanks for another great idea though! I'm primarily asking this question because I'm not sure if I'll keep or return this bass. I have a feeling I might have gotten a dud; with swamp ash density varying so greatly, theres a possibility that I got some of the lighter cut. Just trying to figure out what other Stiletto Session owners experiences are like.
 
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#6
dsky7 said:
The Stiletto Session. Sorry if I was being unclear. My friend has the Stiletto Extreme (also a 5 string) and while it does have some neck dive, its nowhere near as bad as mine.
Click to expand...
The problem of neck dive with the Session 5er could be caused by:
  • the top horn strap pin is located parallel to 13th fret being a 35"er scale bass (vs. 12th fret on the 4 string/34" scale),
  • bottom strap pin location is at bottom center, different than the Extreme and Custom which bottom strap pins are located slightly to the upper side of the bodies,
  • the body is made out of swamp ash, which is known as a lightweight material for bass guitar body (vs. Extreme and Custom which use relatively heavier mahogany body with additional maple top).
Probably the Riot-5 Session suffers the same problem due to the same wood materials are used as the Session-5.

One suggestion to combat the neck dive is to move the bottom strap pin location from bottom center to the upper side of the body, slightly higher location than the bridge side of the low-B string, just as on the Extreme and Custom.
 
Last edited:
#7
Aidil said:
One suggestion to combat the neck dive is to move the bottom strap pin location from bottom center slightly to the upper side of the body, almost parallel to the low-B string, just as on the Extreme and Custom.
Click to expand...

The bottom strap pin is actually on the upper side, slightly to the left of the low B string when viewed from the front. I'm fairly certain it's the swamp ash body.

Purchased some wheel weights on amazon and I'll put them in the control cavity when they get delivered; there's a looottt of empty space in there.
 
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#8
dsky7 said:
The bottom strap pin is actually on the upper side, slightly to the left of the low B string when viewed from the front. I'm fairly certain it's the swamp ash body.

Purchased some wheel weights on amazon and I'll put them in the control cavity when they get delivered; there's a looottt of empty space in there.
Click to expand...
My bad, I was looking at the Riot pictures which bottom strap pin location is at center.

So the Riot could be worse than the Session in term of neck dive.

Still, you can move the bottom strap pin location on your Session higher a little more, just as on the Extreme.
 
#9
dsky7 said:
I was considering putting wheel weights in the control cavity as a fix to combat the neck dive. Thanks for another great idea though! I'm primarily asking this question because I'm not sure if I'll keep or return this bass. I have a feeling I might have gotten a dud; with swamp ash density varying so greatly, theres a possibility that I got some of the lighter cut. Just trying to figure out what other Stiletto Session owners experiences are like.
Click to expand...
I've considered that too with an Epiphone Thunderbird because there's definitely enough room in there for even a big fishing weight.
 
#10
I have a session. Well a studio and a stage???. No neck dive at all. None. Mine is the neck through model in the avatar. I also have another neck through in white. Maybe the ash body is really lightweight? Also my strap button is not on the center axis. My strap button is where the other poster mentioned.
 
#11
Think of neck dive like two kids on a seesaw. If it's not balanced, you can lighten up the heavy side (by installing lightweight tuners), you can heavy up the light side (by installing weights), you can move the balance point (by moving or extending the strap buttons), or you can add friction so it stays where you put it (rough strap).
 
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#12
Aidil said:
One suggestion to combat the neck dive is to move the bottom strap pin location from bottom center to the upper side of the body, slightly higher location than the bridge side of the low-B string, just as on the Extreme and Custom.
Click to expand...

My Stiletto Vintage 4 came from the factory like that. Maybe they got hip to the issue of neck dive in those basses at some point.

Edit:

You can see it in this stock photo
sch2524.jpg
 
#18
FugaziBomb said:
I'm guessing his strap button is centered in the body. Some Session-5's come with it offset, some centered. I'm not sure when or why they changed it.
preview.jpg

(Offset)


SessionR5ANS-large.jpg

(Centered)
Click to expand...
Nope. OP has explained on #7 post above, his Session-5 has offset bottom strap pin.

Schecter naming could be confusing. They have a series called Riot and there's also Session series, but they also have Riot Session models under the Session series which picture you've shown with centered bottom strap pin.
 
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#19
Aidil said:
Schecter naming could be confusing. They have a series called Riot and there's also Session series, but they also have Riot Session models under the Session series which picture you've shown with centered bottom strap pin.
Click to expand...
Haha yeah, their naming schemes threw me off at first. The way I see it is the "Session" being the natural satin finish, with the Stiletto and the Riot being different body types. So you could have a Stiletto Session, Stiletto Extreme, Stiletto Custom, etc.
 
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