Combatting Thumb Neck-Dive

[mart]

Lol! Great solution. Plus, if you happen across a nail that needs to be hammered in while you're playing, then you have just the thing right there on your strap!

Hmm, I hadn't noticed that we were talking about a fretless thumb before. That reminds me of another approach to changing the thumb's balance: remove the frets. All that unnecessary weight on the neck is a major cause of the imbalance.

 

[thefitz]

Yeah - when a bass has a huge horizontal tendency I guess you can get used to it, but when the bass ALMOST sits where you want it to it's annoying - as if the closer you are to what you want, the less forgiving you are. Seriously, the hammer put the balance exactly where I want it. Fun!

 

[aphos]

I want to show the consequence after changing to be Hipshot ultralite tuners. Actually, I don't like to show my face. Please look at bass position. However, after changing, I think I handle it more easier.

PS sorry for my dirty room.

 

[thefitz]

Hmm! I think I'll keep my hammer for the interim and eventually track down some ultralites

 

[eyvindwa]

Yup; I switched the tuners on my Thumb NT 5 for the lightest GOTOHs I could find, and it did indeed seem to help a bit. Easy and pain-free installation as well.

 

[aphos]

Forget to add evident that I really changed it.

 

[Florin]

Some helium baloons could be fun and curing the neckdive. Anyone can take a pic?

 

[GAS KING]

^lol



saw this a while back

 

[Eissie]

I posted this thread a few days ago:


Helped me a lot.
Sietze

 

[thefitz]

Interesting solution - I'm going to try the lighter tuners after Christmas.

Too bad the BO's horn goes to the same point on the neck that the NTs does - it would have been interesting if Warwick kept the same horn length on the BO in addition to the longer body.

 

[Florin]

yes, and that's how the corvette was born

 

[thefitz]

Gah! But without the curved body and whacky pickup placement!

 

[xkomo]

Forget to add evident that I really changed it.

Aphos, when you bought the tuners, did they came as left and right or did you assemble them by yourself?
I am asking because I have seen some of those on ebay and when I asked the seller he told me that they are reversable and I don't have to order them as left and right.

 

[aphos]

Aphos, when you bought the tuners, did they came as left and right or did you assemble them by yourself?
I am asking because I have seen some of those on ebay and when I asked the seller he told me that they are reversable and I don't have to order them as left and right.

Hi xkomo,

It comes as bass and treble side. It cannot switchable. It is already fixed.

So when you buy, you should indicate as treble and bass side for tuner. And, I don't have anything with them, I ordered my two sets from bestbassgear for my 5 stringers. They clearly show and response very well.

Hope you have your own set soon.

 

[thefitz]

Really? I heard that all you have to do is unscrew the tuner, take it apart, and reassemble it with the key pointing the other way. The fact you can order them L/R just meant that they're preassembled that way.

EDIT: Why can't they make even lighter ultralites? I mean they make a tuner that has a nylon casing. Why can't they use the nylon casing with the ultralites? That whole backplate can be replaced by nylon - that's how those nylon tuners work. They're just bigger.

 

[frank vasilito]

someone shoud make some carbon fiber tuners...rigid as hell and weigh almost nothing.

 

[frank vasilito]

maybe i could design some carbon fiber tuners and retire !!

 

[thefitz]

When I switch tuners, I'm going to strap the bass with no tuners or strings on it. If it still neckdives... I'm going to question why the bass was designed that way...

 

[Florin]

After more than 20 year, I can answer to that: Because it was cool!

One if the coolest basses ever!

 

[thefitz]

Well folks, I switched the tuners with Hipshot Ultralites, and swapped my strap around so I'm using my Levy's 4.5" leather strap, and let me tell you - the balance is much, MUCH better. Sure, it sits a little more horiontally than a Streamer or a Fender but it stays put at a very playable angle. I ordered a second set for the Vampyre just to make that one sit beautifully too.

I don't know how much support I'm going to get here, but with the rising prices of Warwicks, I would really like to see them redesign all their standard stock tuners to be ultra-light. Speaking from experience, I know Thumbs, Vampyres, and many 5+ string Corvettes would benefit GREATLY from that upgrade, and I assume many other models would too: I can guarantee no bass would suffer because of it.

So basically I give my 100% stamp of approval for my Thumb balancing after the Hipshots were installed. I recommend those tuners for anyone and everyone.