What basses have the worse "neck dive" issues

[bachlover]

Warwick Thumb bass. That guy looooves to be horizontal. Had to sell mine, the neck dive plus the long reach was killing me. Ended up selling it to a tall guy with long arms who loved it.

I'm with the OP and mjac28 on this one. I own 2 Thumbs, notorious for "neck dive" and I've never had a problem balancing the bass while I play. The NT Thumb 6 is very heavy, at a fat 'n sassy 12 lbs, but I've never had problems with the neck being elsewhere than in my hands on either guitar. Maybe height and length of arms has something to do with that as I'm 6'7".

 

[Teacher]

The two SG basses I tried were just awful for this. Very distracting.

 

[Skeeter1]

But now you are holding the neck up! Which can take away from your ability to play comfortably and smoothly. Certainly, it at least forces you to hold more tension in your arms.

Take your favorite strap to a Guitar center and strap up an Ibanez. they usually hang with the headstock at about 2 o'clock. You don't have to hold it up like that. They just do it on their own.

I'm not telling you to buy an Ibanez. I'm just saying, it's an easy choice to find a bass that will show you the benefits.


The two most neck divey basses I have ever tried are my first bass, a Lace Helix. And an bolt-on Epiphone Thunderbird that I played for an hour in a Guitar Center. I absolutely loved the tone, but that thing wanted the headstock on the floor.

Not holding the neck up, it is the weight of my Hand and arm coming to rest on the neck causes any bass balanced or not to dive. I am beginning to feel that this may be a more noticeable issue for people whose playing style calls for them to not anchor their right hand or arm on the body of the bass. Slapping and thumb style come to mind. Or, some of the basses such as the Dean above or thunderbird style bodies don't lend themselves an anchor point causing the right hand arm to float

 

[sotua]

I'm with the OP and mjac28 on this one. I own 2 Thumbs, notorious for "neck dive" and I've never had a problem balancing the bass while I play. The NT Thumb 6 is very heavy, at a fat 'n sassy 12 lbs, but I've never had problems with the neck being elsewhere than in my hands on either guitar. Maybe height and length of arms has something to do with that as I'm 6'7".

That might be it. I'm about 5'11", mine was a 4 stringer so I lived mostly in the first positions. The reach was too far away for my arms. The guy I sold it to is around 6'3" and had no issues with it. The reach was the bigger comfort factor in my case, but I could feel the effort of holding up the neck in place.

 

[thenewromance]

My Squier Vista Musicmaster is also quite neck-divey. If I simply let it hang, it points to about 3 or 4 o'clock. Cool instrument nonetheless.

 

[Chapbass]

I personally can't stand neck dive. If a bass won't stay put in a natural position when I let go of the neck and body (and I use a wide, leather/suede strap to help), then I'm not buying the bass. Being able to have your hands and arms always completely relaxed when playing gives you so much freedom. I don't like having to fight with my bass just to get it in a position to play it.

 

[Skeeter1]

You haven't had a bass with real neck dive issues. I had a Thunderbird where I constantly had to lift the neck while fretting notes. Granted it wasn't as if the neck was exerting unbearable pressure on my arm, but it was definitely a pain in the ass. I was willing to put up with it, though. That bass looked awesome.

I had a thunderbird in the 80's. yes it dove more than others. But once I put my right hand in position, I played that bad boy palm muted with a pick ninety percent of the time, problem solved.

It might be my right hand style or the fact I use only wide leather straps with suede on the back because their cheeper. I have just never had an issue when playing.

 

[strictlybass_ic]

Peavey Void 4 (my first bass)
Epiphone Thunderbird (my second bass)

Both had terrible neck dive. Even with relocating strap buttons on each They still dove like mortars were coming.

You are correct, 99% of the time while playing it wasn't an issue. It was annoying, but by no means unmanageable. But there were a few spots in certain songs where I would need to do a long slide, or some quick hammer on pull off work and every time the bass would slide down just a little. I found myself frequently having to re-adjust in the middle of certain songs because it would slide down to a point where playing was uncomfortable. But the worst was ANY time I had to adjust or fiddle with anything.

Kneel down to adjust a knob on a pedal - neck hits the floor
Leaf through papers to find set list - neck hits top of amp
Back itches, scratch with left hand - neck dives to knee level, while turning to look at drummer neck hits side of amp, bassist swears audibly and checks that truss rod/neck aren't ruined and re-tunes.

In reality these are all first world problems, and they are each VERY easy to live with. But just because I can live with them doesn't mean I liked them.

Recently I finally gave in and traded my oddball unique body shape basses in and got a standard fender jazz. It sounds really good, sits where it's supposed to (didn't even have to move the buttons), and has no personality at all. It's a compromise, but right now I'm more about tone than style so it works.

 

[CapnSev]

I personally can't stand neck dive. If a bass won't stay put in a natural position when I let go of the neck and body (and I use a wide, leather/suede strap to help), then I'm not buying the bass. Being able to have your hands and arms always completely relaxed when playing gives you so much freedom. I don't like having to fight with my bass just to get it in a position to play it.

+1

If it dives, I don't want it.

 

[Savage_Dreams]

i think that sometimes if a bass only has slight neck dive it can depend on the size of the person and how it hangs on them as to whether the dive is an issue. not so much height, but the width of the person.

as for the worst neck dive basses, i had an iceman that was bad, and just about ANY 12 string bass will dive on you. I actually use weighted straps to balance them out.

 

[GLEN18INCHSPICA]

I always liked the way Gibson Thunderbird bass's look but never bought one because I cant stand neck dive, if they flipped the body over with the long horn on the top it would probably alleviate the issue. The 2 bass's that had neck dive that I've owned are: G&L ASAT, & an Epiphone Casady. There were others but those were the worst offenders.

 

[nemo]

If that upper strap button is not near the 12th fret, there is a good chance the bass is going to be neck heavy.

^^ This.
It is a good rule of thumb. If the strap button is located near 12th fret, it is going to be balanced. If it is closer to bridge, it will have neck dive. You can tell it just by looking at the bass.

 

[J Gold]

If you understand physics, you understand everything--Garrison Keillor

 

[groove pump]

If that upper strap button is not near the 12th fret, there is a good chance the bass is going to be neck heavy.

My findings as well. This is a good at-a-glance indicator of how a lot of basses will hang on a strap.

There are exceptions. I have a J copy with a solid, hefty body and the upper horn extends just beyond the 12th fret. The thing is though, it also has a rather hefty Warmoth neck (steel reinforcing rods, not graphite). This bass doesn't have significant neck dive, but the neck isn't quite as "buoyant" on a strap as some other instruments out there.

Went against my better judgment a few years back when I got a gorgeous Warwick Corvette (wenge, bubinga, etc.). Actually thought about having a luthier install an extension on the upper horn just to help the thing balance, but I just unloaded it. Their Fortress looks like one of the only models that might balance okay.

 

[ShredderMaximus]

I'm always a little confused abt "neck dive". I've played for 30 years and honestly the most I can say is that I've sensed a bass may be a little headstock heavy but it has never been an issue for me. I always figured "it's a bass, the headstock is a long way from the body creating fulcrum/balance issues, deal with it". Seriously I never give it much of a passing thought, although I will say some basses are just too heavy but I have often wondered if they were designed that way to balance a heavy neck. Also my thought is that once I grip the neck the weight of my hand and arm are going to throw off any balance concerns making any bass neck dive unless I counteract with right hand/forearm pressure.

So time to teach an old dog new tricks. Tell me IYO some brands, models/year that have the worse neck dive and some makes that are the most balanced. I'd like to make a conscious comparison.

For a long time I wondered why I could never play as well standing as sitting. I finally came to the conclusion that while sitting I wasn't anchoring my forearm to the body to counteract the neck dive from my destroyer II (explorer shaped Ibanez) and had a better arch and reach on the strings.

But like someone else said, it just looks so cool...

 

[Art Araya]

Had a Gibson SG reissue with the worst neck dive I have come across

 

[Troph]

Multiple Gibson/Epiphone models I've tried have had neck dive. I suspect that it's a result of taking what is essentially a guitar body and mating it to a longer neck. Not the best way to design a bass for optimal balance.

 

[ShonenCello]

Epiphone eb0 and eb3, had them years ago, thank goodness I got rid of them. Even relocated the strap buttons and it didn't make a huge difference.

Epi EB-0 doesn't dive at all for me, but it rolls forward which is just as bad.

 

[DrC]

Many years ago, when I was looking for my first 'real bass', some guy at school had a Vox bass which he was trying to sell. That had terrible neck dive, and I quickly said no thanks.... if for no other reason! Can't remember- those might have been semi-hollow body.

 

[hdracer]

To play basses that neck dive you have to rest your right forearm on the bass.
It's simple. I have no problem with my SG, EB-0 or any T Bird.