The only thing I know for certain @simonpwood to any question about bass after 2 1/2 years of playing is:
Q. Insert question
A. Depends
The wonderful thing about this for me is it’s all subjective. I love my Fender Jazz bass with flat strings and play it through a multi effects unit (Line 6 HX Stomp).
Some people on here will absolutely hate that set up. They’d rather have their hand slammed in a car door than choose that rig. None of us is right and that’s a wonderful thing.
I hope you’re having as much fun as me. Bass kicks ass.
Having worked at 2/3 of those, Pepsi and Dr Pepper, I can 100% say that even though I don’t touch any of it anymore, the clear winner is Dr Pepper. @howard for the win. It is the better product, just less marketing $$$. Diet Dr Pepper is the single best diet soda ever made too.
Can’t speak for others models and such but, in my case, my Spector Dimension has a noticeable neck dive compared to my Fender Jazz. It only really happens when I take my hands off both sides of the bass. I fixed the problem by having a nice, cushioned and non-slip strap on it.
So for minor to moderate neck dive, I recommend experimenting with some different straps and that should pretty much fix the problem.
Yeah, I read your post. I didn’t mean literally sitting, I meant “sitting”, as in “hanging around”.
My point was that it’s probably not really an actual issue for most people who are not touring musicians, more just something to complain about as people tend to do, but that it probably is an area of actual concern for touring musicians. That’s all.
of course, I agree with the “it depends” thing. For me, I find my right hand technique is a big issue, so resting my arm becomes a puzzle piece.
And I strongly disagree that a balanced instrument is the same as fancy tone woods… The build of the guitar is imho the most important aspect, forget looks and materials.
Also: coffee beats tea and soda pop any time of the day.
Ciao,
Antonio
PS: I have tried practically every balancing tip - the most effectives are, in descending order:
buy a new, well-balanced bass
counteracting with your body (though it has the biggest trade-off: flexibility)
twisting the strap and putting it on “backwards”
using light weight tuners
wheel weights in the electronics compartment, or a high-mass bridge
relocating the top strap button (by making the horn longer, using spacers, or re-drilling)
relocating the bottom strap button or trying @DeadPixels tip
machining the headstock (possible, but it has little impact)
complaining on a forum
resting the headstock on a shelf
playing in a headstand (requires a subscription to your local yoga school)
playing keyboard bass
pretending it doesn’t bother you (positive thinking, or NLP call this re-framing)
I didn’t mean literally sitting, I meant “sitting”, as in “hanging around”.