Neck heavy bass.

[lee4]

Whilst I love the sound of my JHS Tony Butler P bass,it has a touch of neck dive which is starting to cause my left shoulder to ache.
I've changed the strap from a Mono brand padded nylon one to a leather one.This has helped,but I'm looking for anything else that may work.
Any idea's,people?

[DarkHeart]

Lightweight tuners and heavy bridge? or one of those weighted straps?

[Dingus]

Lightweight tuners is the best solution . A heavy bridge won't help , as the balance is dictated by the weight after the balance point where the strap attaches on the top horn .

[LiamPodmore]

A grippy as hell strap. I got a Klondyke one with my P bass that's about 3" wide, unbacked leather, and it holds my Squier 5 string without any problems.

Liam

[Prime_BASS]

Lighter tuners for sure, and finding a way to elongate the strap point on the top horn.
A linger screw perhaps, may look unsightly though. Looks are the more important than comfort.

[Muzz]

Hipshot Ultralights. If they can cure the dive on a T-Bird, they can cure anything. And they can.

[4 Strings]

Shoot me down, but would raising the location of strap button on the body to further up (away from the controls) help? Could try it out with gaffa.

[lee4]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1373268930' post='2135361']
Shoot me down, but would raising the location of strap button on the body to further up (away from the controls) help? Could try it out with gaffa.
[/quote]
This was the first thing that I did.I now have lots of holes to fill on the bass!
I'll look on the web for the tuners.Sounds like a good idea.

[Twigman]

Stick a strap button on the back of the headstock a la vintage P and get a long strap

[4 Strings]

[quote name='lee4' timestamp='1373291936' post='2135716']
This was the first thing that I did.I now have lots of holes to fill on the bass!

[/quote]

Didn't work then!

[Lorne]

Buy a Mockingbird


Then the precision's problems will be minor

Edited July 8, 2013 by Lorne

[lee4]

Lightweight tuners seem to be rarer than hens teeth!

[Dingus]

Try emailing Hipshot and find out who the UK distributors are . They're absolutely fantastic quality tuners , the best you can buy , and will do a lot to help your problem .

[lee4]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1373399307' post='2137203']
Try emailing Hipshot and find out who the UK distributors are . They're absolutely fantastic quality tuners , the best you can buy , and will do a lot to help your problem .
[/quote]
Got a feeling they might be worth as much as the bass!
On the other hand,it might give me the kick I need to start modifying it to the PJ bass I really want.

[Dingus]

Just had a look - they're about £100 a set from Bass Direct . That is indeed a lot to spend . Maybe Schaller or someone similar do a rival product at a lower price ? Keep looking and I'm sure something suitable will turn up .

[Mottlefeeder]

One option that is cheap and reversible is to fill and old phone case wih washers/nuts and hang it on the body-end of the strap. It will make the bass heavier, which may not help your shoulders, but it will be cheaper than Hipshot ultralights.

Staying with the cheap and cheerful options, if you fit both ends of the strap to the horn, the bass should not be neck heavy. Once you have confirmed this, you could fit a short strap on the back of the bass, running between the horn button and the body button, and experiment with moving the shoulder strap ends along it to give you a better balance. I seem to recall that there is a commercial gadget that does this, but it is not cheap.

Hope this helps

David

[alyctes]

I have a telebass-style Retrovibe which dives like a loon. Hanging stuff from the bottom strap button doesn't work IME - I'd have had to double the weight of the bass.

I'm looking at three options:
a.) extend the upper button;
b.) rework the strap so it hangs entirely from the left shoulder and has a retaining strap across my back;
c.) use a modified neck plate with an upper arm to attach the upper strap end to.

Each of these would work. The question is, what's affordable, and easy, and idiotproof ( ) ?

Edited July 11, 2013 by alyctes

[DarkHeart]

What would people need to extend the top button, i could possibly get some steel spacers made where i work, maybe half inch long possibly longer? if anyone has an idea ill see what i can do.

[BigRedX]

I don't get this. The bass should just be a P-Bass copy and therefore shouldn't balance any better or worse then any other P-Bass. How much does the whole bass weigh?

[4 Strings]

P basses are noticeably neck heavy if they are blessed with a light body (don't know if the OP bass has a light body).

The horn button is in the right place, and the bridge is pretty much as far South as it can go but its a heavy old headstock design.

I'm wondering if it's not the neck dive causing the OP a shoulder ache but maybe a bit of a trapped nerve. I've had that myself and it was, well, a bit of a pain in the neck!

[Fat Rich]

[quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1373292113' post='2135718']
Stick a strap button on the back of the headstock a la vintage P and get a long strap
[/quote]

Works fine for an acoustic guitar but less so for a heavyish electric instrument.

Quite likely you'll end up with a mouth full of broken teeth and machine heads

[EliasMooseblaster]

A wider strap can obviously help relieve some of the pressure, and a strap with more grip can stop the bass from moving.

I bought a wider strap with better grip to keep my Epi EB-3 in check - notorious instrument for neck-diving that it is - the difference now is that it still dives but the strap takes my shirt with it!

[bonzodog]

I also have an Epi EB3 and a Epi Tbird Pro. Both of these have notorious neck dive and a wide strap definitely helps.
There must be a way of attaching the strap button at the bottom of the bass to your belt on your right hip.....think I may try and invent something with this in mind

[lee4]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1373533359' post='2138618']
I don't get this. The bass should just be a P-Bass copy and therefore shouldn't balance any better or worse then any other P-Bass. How much does the whole bass weigh?
[/quote]
It's no heavier than my Status Groove,which gives me no problems at all.
I think it could be that this bass has a light body which causes the dive.

[lee4]

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1373535452' post='2138655']
I'm wondering if it's not the neck dive causing the OP a shoulder ache but maybe a bit of a trapped nerve. I've had that myself and it was, well, a bit of a pain in the neck!
[/quote]
All my nerves are free and liberated!I've been checking my posture in general,as well as how I stand when I play,and I tend to hunch over a bit when the bass is strapped on.
But when I straighten up the bloody thing still dives a bit!
I think I will keep hunting for light-weight tuners and try roughening the underside of the strap to help with grip.