Who doesn’t mind neck dive?

[Grinderman]

And you could "accidentally" smack the keyboard player's left hand

There has to be at least half dozen potential happy accidents with neck dive.

Keyboard player, guitar player, drummer, other sorts of instrumentalists, singer, a-hole in the audience... See, half a dozen, at least.

My first bass I ever owned, a Washburn Vulture II, had awful neck dive. Never again. Res-O-Lite tuning machines are standard on all of my basses no matter what.

 

[jellymax]

I have several basses and most of them dive when you let go of the neck. Not a problem for me as I have to have hands on to play on it. Doesn't slow me down a bit.
For those who can't deal, I suggest a juicy steinberger

 

[FRoss6788]

Neck dive is bad design. In an era where you can model anything quickly in CAD software, the center of gravity is a trivial thing to find out, and you can find that out before you even make a prototype. If a bass doesn't stay put on a strap when you jump up and down, I won't own it. If it needs a "grippy" strap to stay put, that's still not good enough for me - any bass that's tugging at me because it's grabbing my shirt is just neck dive that's not quite as bad as one that falls if it isn't held - neither is acceptable to me.

I'm also not a fan of basses with excessive reach to the first position - the rule about the upper horn extending to the 12th fret (or a bit further) is as much about this as it is about balance - basses like Thunderbirds, even if they somehow miraculously balance, I won't buy because the reach is not reasonable over the long haul. I'm tall, so I could tolerate that better than most folks, but I have decided that if a company can't make the thing balanced and ergonomic, their bass is off the list.

Life is too short to suffer with stuff that doesn't work well.

Truth.

Along with poor architecture of the body, there's bridge placement in relation to the back strap pin. I never understood why some manufacturers insist on having 3"-4" of space between the bridge and the back of the body, that just pushes the nut further away. Poor design choices.

 

[bucephylus]

It seems a lot of the replies are a bit inexperienced with the varieties of basses out there. Most bass guitars are designed to keep any “neck dive” behavior somewhat under control. A few, not so much.

I contribute vocals / harmonies on many of my gigs, and end up at times standing at the microphone clapping to help folks find the dance floor. This is when neck diving / not is truly revealed. Most basses with extended upper horns don’t do it much.

This bass does:

The button is located at the base of the neck joint, like on a Gibson SG. When I let go of this bass during performance, the neck pretty quickly rotates to about 5:30. WITH a 4 1/2” strap. So, it does happen. It is irritating. AND, it does happen with otherwise well designed instruments.

Doesn’t stop me from gigging the bass; that’s what the bass is for. And, the sound coming out more than makes up for what the bass does when I let go of it. I just make sure the bass can’t come loose from the strap. There is no perfect bass. They are kind of like people, with pluses and minuses. In the case of this particular bass, the benefits outweigh the negatives.

To summarize: neck dive is real; and it can happen, even with otherwise great instruments. It’s on the player to figure out the bigger relative picture.

 

[FRoss6788]

I refuse to sacrifice function and comfort for aesthetics.

 

[RichterScale]

Neck dive is bad design. Life is too short to suffer with stuff that doesn't work well

I refuse to sacrifice function and comfort for aesthetics.

Amen.

 

[Watchootognbout]

It seems a lot of the replies are a bit inexperienced with the varieties of basses out there. Most bass guitars are designed to keep the behavior somewhat under control. A few, not so much.

I contribute vocals / harmonies on many of my gigs, and end up at times standing at the microphone clapping to help folks find the dance floor. This is when neck diving / not is truly revealed. Most basses with extended upper horns don’t do it much.

This bass does:
View attachment 4959659

The button is located at the base of the neck joint, like on a Gibson SG. When I let go of this bass during performance, the neck pretty quickly rotates to about 5:30. WITH a 4 1/2” strap. So, it does happen. It is irritating. AND, it does happen with otherwise well designed instruments.

Doesn’t stop me from gigging the bass; that’s what the bass is for. And, the sound coming out more than makes up for what the bass does when I let go of it. I just make sure the bass can’t come loose from the strap. There is no perfect bass. They are kind of like people, with pluses and minuses. In the case of this particular bass, the benefits outweigh the negatives.

To summarize: neck dive is real; and it can happen, even with otherwise great instruments. It’s on the player to figure out the bigger relative picture.

Should've gotten this one.

 

[BOOG]

Regardless of the complaints about neck dive on the Gibson SG, I will still get one, someday.

Aside from that, no, it doesn’t bother me. Every bass I have has a different balance point and I adapt.

 

[bucephylus]

Should've gotten this one.
View attachment 4959676

Just slightly over my budget.

Also, mine weighs 9.5 pounds.

 

[Watchootognbout]

Just slightly over my budget.

Also, mine weighs 9.5 pounds.

Mine too!
But I can dream.

 

[micguy]

I never understood why some manufacturers insist on having 3"-4" of space between the bridge and the back of the body, that just pushes the nut further away. Poor design choices.

That seems to happen a lot on short scales. Why, when you are designing a bass specifically for people who don't want a full sized one, would you make the reach to the first position any bigger than you have to? That isn't done on most full size designs, so why would you do that for a shortie?

 

[invalidprotocol]

Guaranteed neck dive with this neck blank.

 

[EatS1stBassist]

Guaranteed neck dive with this neck blank.

Looks like an ostrich! Lol. Very cool!

 

[micguy]

Looks like an ostrich! Lol. Very cool!

It's a shame that's on construction lumber (you're not gonna make a good neck out of that), but maybe you could make that into a top for a body somehow?

 

[FRoss6788]

Spector and Warwick are culprits as well.
I had a Euro 4 that I loved until it was on a strap. Short horn and bridge way up the body...bummer.

 

[ctmullins]

Edit: Why do so many who aren't bothered by neck dive post pics of themselves with their hands holding the bass?
Let it go!
Post a pic while not holding the bass.

Since you asked nicely…..

I never do this, but I took a quick video of me with a few of my favorite players. Unedited, with dog barks and buzzy pickups and everything - how unprofessional…..

All of these have slippery nylon/seatbelt straps, except the last one, which has a slick (not grippy) leather strap.

1. My home built Rick-alike. 33” scale, upper strap button between the 12th and 13th fret. Settles just above horizontal.
2. My EB333 - an Epiphone EB0 body with a homemade 33” scale neck. Hipshot Ultralites with an Xtender. Strap button on the neck heel. Settles just below horizontal. Not ideal, but perfectly manageable, and the EMGs sound great.
3. 198X Peavey Foundation with a homemade 34” scale headless neck. Stays put! Headless is a game-changer.
4. My homemade five-string multiscale 32”-34” headless Rick-alike. Stays put!
5. My homemade Ripper-shaped 10-string. 32” scale, Hipshot Ultralites, strap button at the 14th fret. Settles just north of horizontal.

 

[darwin-bass]

There's a terminology difference here I bet. For some neck dive counts only if whacks the ground. For others it's divey if you can get the angle you want, ie the bass naturally hangs a certain way and it's not necessary a flaw but it might now work for you regardless. Some people consider both and issue, some only one of those.


I'd like to see a poll where we distinguish the two and see who's okay with what.

Agreed - For several years now I've been using the terms "neck heavy" and "neck dive" where the latter refers to the headstock moving toward the floor. While a grippy strap can end neck dive it does nothing to fix neck heaviness.

And on TB we keep using the same term (neck dive) to refer to both which simply creates confusion and arguments.

 

[discochris]

Before I was active on TB, in had never heard of it, let alone worried about it.
It is one of those problems that only arises when it is pointed out to you.
Before I had a mirror, I would never have known I was ugly.

This.

 

[John Stephen]

<<It is one of those problems that only arises when it is pointed out to you.>>

<<This.>>

Not in my case, as I posted earlier. The problem arose when my bass kept sinking out of my lap. Nobody had to point it out to me.

 

[Watchootognbout]

Since you asked nicely…..

I never do this, but I took a quick video of me with a few of my favorite players. Unedited, with dog barks and buzzy pickups and everything - how unprofessional…..

All of these have slippery nylon/seatbelt straps, except the last one, which has a slick (not grippy) leather strap.

1. My home built Rick-alike. 33” scale, upper strap button between the 12th and 23th fret. Settles just above horizontal.
2. My EB333 - an Epiphone EB0 body with a homemade 33” scale neck. Hipshot Ultralites with an Xtender. Strap button on the neck heel. Settles just below horizontal. Not ideal, but perfectly manageable, and the EMGs sound great.
3. 198X Peavey Foundation with a homemade 34” scale headless neck. Stays put! Headless is a game-changer.
4. My homemade five-string multiscale 32”-34” headless Rick-alike. Stays put!
5. My homemade Ripper-shaped 10-string. 32” scale, Hipshot Ultralites, strap button at the 14th fret. Settles just north of horizontal.

#2 and #5 I couldn't tolerate if I owned them.