Alembic Guitars Club

Alembic products => Alembic Basses & Guitars => Topic started by: Khrist92 on June 08, 2020, 05:02:45 PM

Title: Old Series I neck-dive - possible solution?
Post by: Khrist92 on June 08, 2020, 05:02:45 PM

I was thinking about the (not awful) neck dive on my 34" Series I and possible solutions. Since I only use the power supply with the bass, I was thinking of putting either fishing weights or small lead blocks, if I can find them, wrapped in some cloth or small bubble wrap in the battery cavity (pictured). Has anyone else tried this? Did it help?

The battery cavity measures 2" x 1.5" (5 x 3.8 cm).

Title: Re: Old Series I neck-dive - possible solution?
Post by: rv_bass on June 08, 2020, 05:14:52 PM

There was a shop night bass that recently sold and the owner had filled the battery cavity with lead.  I think they said it helped with neck dive, but also added weight.

http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=25104.0

Title: Re: Old Series I neck-dive - possible solution?
Post by: hammer on June 08, 2020, 06:10:47 PM

I’m the new owner of that shop night bass though I haven’t seen it yet courtesy of Covid 19 as it’s still at Alembic. The batteries for this one sat right above the omega cut so I’ve been told it was a successful modification. If you look at that hunk of lead it’s clear it’s adding some heft to the bass.

Title: Re: Old Series I neck-dive - possible solution?
Post by: David Houck on June 09, 2020, 07:10:57 AM

One of the most common solutions for neck-dive is a wide strap.

Title: Re: Old Series I neck-dive - possible solution?
Post by: jazzyvee on June 09, 2020, 01:17:31 PM

Stephen Jay has a solution albeit for a short scale, you may be able to adapt it. to your bass.

Title: Re: Old Series I neck-dive - possible solution?
Post by: gtrguy on June 09, 2020, 07:03:41 PM

With my luck I would forget I had attached the strap to my belt and trip over the thing when I tried to take it off...

Title: Re: Old Series I neck-dive - possible solution?
Post by: jazzyvee on June 09, 2020, 10:57:59 PM

I’m sure it’s one of those methods that are fine once you get into a routine.

Title: Re: Old Series I neck-dive - possible solution?
Post by: Jonnio on June 10, 2020, 01:54:59 AM

That strap solution looks good for not a lot of outlay. I see why the Balance K evolved to counteract this, also the Epic and similar are nicely balanced.

Title: Re: Old Series I neck-dive - possible solution?
Post by: gearhed289 on June 10, 2020, 06:59:41 AM

Chris Squire used to keep a sack of coins attached to the end pin on his non-rev T-bird to counteract neck dive.

Title: Re: Old Series I neck-dive - possible solution?
Post by: edwardofhuncote on June 10, 2020, 08:16:33 AM

Quote from: jazzyvee on June 09, 2020, 01:17:31 PM

Stephen Jay has a solution albeit for a short scale, you may be able to adapt it. to your bass.

That is a great idea. I'm going to try that on my '81 Distillate. It's the least balanced of my Alembics. Perhaps oddly, my '77 Series I seems to balance just fine. To be fair though, it is a medium-scale Standard Point rather than long, which are notoriously unwieldy, especially if you aren't built quite right to reach them.