Warwick Thumb owners: I need your advise

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That is one sexy Thumb

Comfort Strapp is the main recommendation.

 

The obvious solution I think is to extend the upper horn.I know those things are around and I've seen them on Jazz basses. Don't know how they'd work on a Thumb though.

I solved the neckdive problem on my Thumb in a rather unorthodox way. I moved the strap button from the upper horn to the inside of the lower horn. The result is a perfectly balanced Thumb. There is a downside however. If you are not playing, the bass can flip over so you need to control your intrument all the time and stage antics à la Wooten are impossible.

 

I know that you can buy a new strap button for the upper horn that sticks out a few extra inches thus extending the horn some. it looks a little funny but it works a I have seen a few people have them.



it is kinda hard to see but that metal thing coming out of the upper horn is an extended strap button. I have heard that solves it. you could also move the back strap button up a little more on the bass. I'd try to find one of those extender things and see how that works.

 

I heard a lot about the neckdive, but can anyone show it please?? I mean: can you strap your bass on and let it dive, and than take a picture and post it here?
That would be very nice!

Thanks

 

I know what you mean regarding neck dive on the Thumbs. I just got a Thumb BO 6 string a few weeks ago, and have enjoyed playing it thoroughly. I do notice the weight, and the neck dive though.

That extension to the upper horn pictured above looks like a clever idea. My question about that is about how it fastens to the body? I'm hoping it's pretty sturdily held on to the upper horn. Other than that, get a nice strap, wear the bass pretty high, this helps A LOT.

Berten: I'm sure someone can snap a pic for ya, but basically it's the tendency for the bass to feel neck heavy, sometimes to the point where the bass actually rotates the neck towards the ground. To me it feels like extra weight on my left shoulder.

That Thumb 5 is a beaut. Very nice figuring in the Ovangkol. Hopefully I can get a pic of mine up soon. I got pretty lucky with my Thumb BO 6 body wood too. The bottom half is pretty basic vertical grain, with some nice figuring in the top half, almost a quilted look.

I'll stop nattering.

 

Here's an interesting product. Could solve the problem without mods to the bass if it works like they claim it does.

 

Sorry, here's the product I was talking about.

http://www.strapture.com/index.html

 

You guys are missing a very simple solution. Either a Comfort Strap (bass model) or the wide leather strap (depending on how long you need it to be) from Zon will solve the problem. The Comfort Strap turned out to be too short for me, but the wide Zon strap works perfectly. It doesn't affect the balance, it just provides an area over your shoulder with enough "traction" to keep the neck from dropping. I know this method works because my thumb 5 went from beeing a bass that I loved (but was very awkward to play), to my main, go-to , every gig workhorse. The Zon strap was the difference.

 

Yup. Comfort Strapp worked for me with my Thumb NT 5.

 

I too comfort strapp, and I man my sixer just fine.

 

Looks like an older b/o. What's the SN#?

I strap my basses rather high and I'm not too small. I have a strap that doesn't slip.

 

comfort strapp won't fix the stretch problem though, you've still got a long way to reach for first position. I think that's why folks end up making those strap button extenders. I used to have some pics of them, but they appear to be offline now...

I think the Comfort Strapp works on the dive because it 'grabs' your shirt and won't let the bass slip down ?(I see that's pretty much what Buzzbass said...) One of my AGB buddies had to sell his Thumb because of the stretch, plus when he used a 'grippy' strap it would just pull his shirt up his back as the Thumb dove. For some reason he didn't like playing with his shirt bunched up around his shoulders and the bass pointing at the floor.

About what fret does the Thumb horn extend to anyway? I guess it comes up pretty short of 12

 

That's true, although over the ten years I've been playing my thumb I've gotten used to wearing it further over to the right than I do with other basses. That helps.

I've never had the issue you describe with the Comfort Strapp pulling the shirt up.
I don't think the world is ready for my shirt pulling up mid gig.
I got my Strapp more for reasons of back strain than neck dive, the Strapp better distributes the load much better than my old Bass Centre strap.

 

The site www.bassbalancer.com/ looks to be down

That's where I got the "bassbalencer" from. I moved the strap button to the back-side of the lower horn and it was better. The upper horn extension really makes the bass comfortable and is pretty rugged. I don't care if it looks dumb because the Thumb is the best sounding/playing bass I've ever had IMO.

 

Here's a better pic.



I also tried strapping the bass like the attached photo. I found this in my search for neck dive. It's pretty comfortable and stupid looking at the same time

 

It goes up to the 15th fret, barely. An ovangkol (or Wenge on older ones) neck with 5/6 strings on it is probably not helping issues either.

I really don't find the dive makes the bass unplayable. I only really notice it when I take the bass off, and I feel a bit sore after playing for awhile.