Worst Neckdive You've Experienced

[Ben Halin]

Mine was blue. What color was your Vantage Flying V?

Mine was Red Although it got damaged in a fire when the tattoo studio I worked at got firebombed ( that seemed to happen a bit here in Australia back in the day )
So I had all the paint stripped off and one of these days I’m going to use a wood burning tool to do a cool Phoenix or something on it. Rising from the ashes ! Ha ha

 

[mongo2]

Mine was Red Although it got damaged in a fire when the tattoo studio I worked at got firebombed ( that seemed to happen a bit here in Australia back in the day )
So I had all the paint stripped off and one of these days I’m going to use a wood burning tool to do a cool Phoenix or something on it. Rising from the ashes ! Ha ha

OK, gotta ask...Why would anyone firebomb a tattoo parlor?

 

[Ben Halin]

OK, gotta ask...Why would anyone firebomb a tattoo parlor?

I feel like I’m hijacking the thread here but just quickly,
A lot of tattoo studios were owned by biker gangs and they didn’t always get on so well.
It’s settled down a lot these days so my basses should be safe now ! Ha ha

 

[SwitchGear]

Kramer aluminum neck short scale bass I owned about a hundred years ago..terrible neck dive

 

[Willy-D]

Kramer aluminum neck short scale bass I owned about a hundred years ago..terrible neck dive

They could have leveled that out with the addition of an aluminum body. Would have weighed 25 lbs, but sustain for days

 

[Eddie LeBlanc]

They could have leveled that out with the addition of an aluminum body. Would have weighed 25 lbs, but sustain for days

Wrong idea..... entirely. The Linear heat expansion rate of Aluminum is 5 times greater than wood. So set up a bass and have it's intonation set perfectly, then play it under lights heating and hand friction heating it up; and everything is now changed.

Travis Bean and Kramer tried it, and that was the worst problems with each. Went through that. So had more aluminum bad idea, plus weight.... OMG.

 

[IamGroot]

Worst neck dive ever experienced (fortunately not by me)

 

[zachoff]

BC Rich Mockingbird. Not only did it dive like crazy, but the way the straps and body is oriented compared to the neck, the headstock is a lot farther away from you than 'regular' basses. Had an Epiphone EB3 and Thunderbird for a while too but neither dove as bad as the Mockingbird.

 

[yousaiditman]

80's PBass Special.

 

[SoulReflection]

View attachment 3020925 All my Spectors (NS4 and NS2 - only USA NS4s in the pic) hang perfectly without any movement or neck dive.. And these are quality neck through basses. But look where the bottom strap pin is. That is the way all NS designed basses are set up.

That is interesting. Has anyone tried moving the bottom strap pin away from center on any other basses? Results?

 

[Willy-D]

Wrong idea..... entirely. The Linear heat expansion rate of Aluminum is 5 times greater than wood. So set up a bass and have it's intonation set perfectly, then play it under lights heating and hand friction heating it up; and everything is now changed.

Travis Bean and Kramer tried it, and that was the worst problems with each. Went through that. So had more aluminum bad idea, plus weight.... OMG.

I still think there's hope. Maybe drill it with coolant passages and mount a small pump/radiator, that could take the weight up to say 30 lbs or so. Better yet circulate liquid nitrogen through it. That would stabilize the temperature at right about my interest in playing one- absolute zero

 

[Eddie LeBlanc]

That is interesting. Has anyone tried moving the bottom strap pin away from center on any other basses? Results?

By the way works on a Gibson T-Bird too.

 

[Imaginary Pony]

I know people say they're all that way but I must have gotten lucky. My 2002 doesn't neck dive at all. To answer the question, it would be my Casady before I put Hipshot Ultralites on it.

Do youhave photos of the JC, because I’m interested in what it would look like with those ultralites on?

 

[Imaginary Pony]

Surprised to see so many Warwicks mentioned: but then again, I've never handled one myself. I guess they are fairly small-bodied which seems to be the cause of the problem. I love the way they sound but they sound like a bit of a handful!

Thumbs seem to be pretty notorious neck divers, although mine likes to sit horizontally, which doesn’t bother me.
Corvettes on the other hand are generally considered really well balanced, despite the top horn being a tad short.
When looking for a 5 string, I found that the Corvette was the bass with the least neckdive of any of the 10 or so which I tried on.

 

[DavesnothereCA]

That is interesting. Has anyone tried moving the bottom strap pin away from center on any other basses? Results?

~
In particular, I would be curious to know the pin position required to balance a Ric 4001.

Over the years I have grown accustomed to compensating by how I hold it, but cannot help but wonder whether it might 'feel' lighter if I did not need to do that anymore.
~

 

[vegas532]

Do youhave photos of the JC, because I’m interested in what it would look like with those ultralites on?

I no longer have that bass but the only thing that would drive someone crazy is if the extra holes on the back of the headstock bothers you. You have to drill one hole on the back to install and leave the original four exposed. Only the player knows, of course.

 

[Imaginary Pony]

No surprise about no diving if the bass is this

View attachment 3000741

There are four strings, but six tuning pegs on that thing.

 

[chris_b]

My Gibson EB0 had the worst neck dive on any bass I've owned. Sadly it failed the greatness test in several other areas as well.

 

[TomB]

My Gibson EB0 had the worst neck dive on any bass I've owned. Sadly it failed the greatness test in several other areas as well.

What was great about it (and the eb2) is that they were the bass voice of many great recordings for a spell in the ‘60’s. True classics (that were tough to gig).

 

[McG]

Do you have photos of the JC, because I’m interested in what it would look like with those ultralites on?

I no longer have that bass but the only thing that would drive someone crazy is if the extra holes on the back of the headstock bothers you. You have to drill one hole on the back to install and leave the original four exposed. Only the player knows, of course.

I put Hipshot USA Ultralites on my JC a few weeks ago. It removed over a half pound from the headstock and *almost* completely eliminated the neck dive.
Besides the weight savings they are simply better quality tuning machines than the stock ones. Money well spent. I'm very happy with them.

As @vegas532 said, the Ultralites will leave the screw holes from the original tuners exposed. I thought it would drive me crazy and I talked to my luthier about it. For $50 he can fill the holes (with white inlay material since the bass is white) but really, any fill material on any color bass will still be visible. Surprisingly I found the holes don't bother me at all. If they ever start bugging me I can get them filled.

I also added a Hipshot Supertone bridge. Love it!