Who doesn’t mind neck dive?

[RichterScale]

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.

How can something be neck heavy and not neck dive when you take your hands off?
Please explain.

 

[Seth DuSith]

I just use a nice grippy suade guitar strap to keep basses in place if they have neck dive issues. I don't even notice it after that

 

[bobyoung53]

This one has had me scratching my head for many years. Maybe I’m just an outlier.

Like many players, I’ve owned my fair share of basses that had some degree of neck dive. Some have had a lot and others just a small amount. Playing basses with neck dive has never been a hindrance to me; it’s basically unnoticeable while I’m playing and a non-issue while I’m not. Yet, I’ve read tons of posts from folks that treat neck dive as a nuisance. My question to the TB collective is this: Are there others that find neck dive to be irrelevant?

Lots of things that bother a lot of bassists here don't bother me. I have several SG style long scale Gibson basses with some neck dive, I just use wide straps, 3" cotton and don't even notice it anymore, same with heavy basses. I even use heavy amps.

 

[bobyoung53]

How can something be neck heavy and not neck dive when you take your hands off?
Please explain.

Wide straps.

 

[InhumanResource]

I've never experienced neck dive. And I have A Thunderbird and an SG, and used to have an EB-0 bass.
Maybe some people are using crappy straps?

I think it’s a mix of this and hanging them way too low. My basses sit wherever I put ‘em.

 

[John Stephen]

I think it’s a mix of this and hanging them way too low. My basses sit wherever I put ‘em.

Wow! I am impressed. So you never had a bass whose headstock would drop down, after you put it on? What kind of basses have you had?

 

[InhumanResource]

Wow! I am impressed. So you never had a bass whose headstock would drop down, after you put it on? What kind of basses have you had?

A few Fender jazzes, 3 of which are still with me. A foto-flame Precision that I traded before they were worth anything (doh!), an Aria Pro ii SB-60(?) back when I first started, a Dean Edge Select 5, and 2 G&L L2500s (heavy tribute model and super light empress body US model). Also played a few friends’ basses at their gigs when they wanted to take a break or hit the head, lol. Never really noticed a diving/balance issue.

 

[John Stephen]

Nice! I am envious.

 

[metron]

Not for me.

There are designs that are prone to it. Short upper horns. Bridges inset from the rear edge of the body. Both. They are easy to spot. Those basses are dead to me.

Then there are more rare instances of imbalance in what is normally a well balanced design like Fender shaped basses. For example Ive had a pile of Jazzes and they all balanced great except one. Just over 8.5 lbs with a light body, heavy neck, and steel tuners. It’s not about weight, its about the ratio between body and neck. Manufacturers do not measure pieces before slapping them together in mass production.

Thankfully there are lots of basses out there so I don’t have to tolerate that nonsense.

 

[discochris]

I just use a nice grippy suade guitar strap to keep basses in place if they have neck dive issues. I don't even notice it after that

After reading this thread again, I put on all my basses and there's no neck dive. But I wonder if the strap has more to do with that. My late father-in-law was a horse enthusiast and a few years after my wife and I got married (almost 28 years ago) he asked me if I would like his saddle maker to make me a custom guitar strap as a Christmas gift. I was honored. It's beautiful and since then, I've never played a single show or a single rehearsal without it. If I try to play without it, I feel almost naked - it's that much a part of me as a player. I wonder if that has something to do with my never really thinking neck dive is an issue.

 

[dr doofie]

I rigged up the door to my automobile so that I have to hold the door closed the entire time I'm driving, but it's really only a nuisance when I'm making right hand turns.

LOL had to do this for real with bungee cords going across the two front seats of my car when the latch mechanism would freeze and not release on the drivers side.
And I learned to loathe centrifugal force man

 

[dr doofie]

Every one of my basses get 1 to 1.5 lbs. of metal rigged to the bottom on the strap right by the pin.
They all stand at attention regardless of I whether I want to use a thin strap, channel Krist Novoselic, etc.
it’s extra weight but it’s predictable localized weight and no more shifting, shirt grabbing nonsense

 

[lug]

Every one of my basses get 1 to 1.5 lbs. of metal rigged to the bottom on the strap right by the pin.
They all stand at attention regardless of I whether I want to use a thin strap, channel Krist Novoselic, etc.
it’s extra weight but it’s predictable localized weight and no more shifting, shirt grabbing nonsense

Yep! Use this on my lightest bass...

Diver's weight.

 

[RichterScale]

I say, when you have lemons,....make lemonade.
If you have neck dive, turn it into a feature.

 

[Warpeg]

Lots of things that bother a lot of bassists here don't bother me....

I'm starting to realize that I'm in the same boat. There seems to be a fairly large number of TB members that have issues that, try as I might, I cannot relate to.

 

[bobyoung53]

Yep! Use this on my lightest bass...

Diver's weight.

That's not a bad idea.

 

[Seth DuSith]

After reading this thread again, I put on all my basses and there's no neck dive. But I wonder if the strap has more to do with that. My late father-in-law was a horse enthusiast and a few years after my wife and I got married (almost 28 years ago) he asked me if I would like his saddle maker to make me a custom guitar strap as a Christmas gift. I was honored. It's beautiful and since then, I've never played a single show or a single rehearsal without it. If I try to play without it, I feel almost naked - it's that much a part of me as a player. I wonder if that has something to do with my never really thinking neck dive is an issue.

Man, I am so jealous. That sounds like a beautiful guitar strap, hand made too.

All my basses have either leather or suede straps on them. I find that it helps keep it in place

 

[darwin-bass]

How can something be neck heavy and not neck dive when you take your hands off?
Please explain.

Neck heaviness is a range. Basses with lesser amounts of neck heaviness can be held in place by strap friction.

 

[WG Plum]

This one has had me scratching my head for many years. Maybe I’m just an outlier.

Like many players, I’ve owned my fair share of basses that had some degree of neck dive. Some have had a lot and others just a small amount. Playing basses with neck dive has never been a hindrance to me; it’s basically unnoticeable while I’m playing and a non-issue while I’m not. Yet, I’ve read tons of posts from folks that treat neck dive as a nuisance. My question to the TB collective is this: Are there others that find neck dive to be irrelevant?

It's never been an issue for me.

 

[RichterScale]

Neck heaviness is a range. Basses with lesser amounts of neck heaviness can be held in place by strap friction.

Gotcha. It sounded funny and didn't register, because I was thinking in terms of either or.
As in, either a bass is neck heavy and not balanced well,....or it's not neck heavy and balanced well.
I wouldn't call it neck heavy or neck dive. I think they are essentially the same thing.
I'd call it degrees of neck heavy.
A bass that is a little neck heavy can be easily addressed by a sticky strap.
A bass that dive bombs when you let go, or pulls your shirt off should probably be taken out behind the barn and put out of it's misery.
All kidding aside though, some instruments have a terrible design and I don't know how some folks don't mind fighting with them. But, to each their own.