Lefties who play right handed bases upside down, a question

[Ronin614]

How do you deal with the issue of neckdive when playing a righty inverted? If I go to the short horn, it dives. If I go to the longer horn, it wants to rotate toward the floor. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Pete Gossett]

I struggled with that very problem for years. I learned to use the forearm of my left arm to hold the body down, which helped hold the neck up. A fat strap with plenty of grip on your shoulder helps too. I've even gone as far as duct-taping steel to the end of my strap to counterweight the neck.

Basses that are somewhat symmetrical often balance better upside-down too...if they balanced right-side-up to begin with.

Ultimately, your best served by saving some money and getting a true lefty(then re-stringing it righty). There's an SX lefty P-bass on eBay right now for $175. It's a short scale, but I've also seen lefty Fender Squires in that price range too.

[fivebass52]

Here's the current offerings from www.rondomusic.com, where the SX series come from.... http://www.rondomusic.com/BassLeft.html. Basses are $149 or so.... If I had $200 or so, I'd consider picking this 6-string up just for the hellavuh it... http://www.rondomusic.com/URSA2MN63TS.left.html

[Ronin614]

Thanks for the responses.
I actually own a lefty bass. I just happened to get a 1979 Japanese lawsuit Precision that's amazingly well built, for a REALLY good price, so I'm trying to see if I can make it work.

[bhunt1]

you could try to add a strap button to the back of the bass near the neck joint

[AustinLeftyBass]

I used to drill-out a strap button so a neck screw would fit thru it.

[Ronin614]

I think I have a few old strap buttons around. I'll give it a shot.
Thanks.

[ADSR]

It wasn't until the internet that I even realized there was such a condition as "neck dive". My main axe for many years was my 1967 lefty P (which I still have). It's very light and as I now know, it has the dreaded malady. I just dealt with it for all those years never realizing there was anything wrong. As a result, playing a flipped righty that dips is no big deal to me. In fact my main gigging bass right now is a righty blue flower single coil P reissue. It's flipped around to play lefty so it has serious neckdivitus and that doesn't bother me all, feels just fine, no hazmat gear needed!

[amimbari]

neck dive? I have some leftys that do that more then a flipped righty and I played plenty of them

[Brock]

As a BCRich lover, I am no stranger to the dreaded neck dive. I use a wide leather
strap - the rough backside grabs my shirt a little & I use my forearm as well.

[offhand35]

hmm...photo must be inverted.....

[Brock]

hmm...photo must be inverted.....

No, not inverted - just backwards. As I've said before, "even though I am lefthanded, I play righthanded." That I attempt any input is therefor simply answering to the op in a way that
might hopefully be of some use

[pjmuck]

As a BCRich lover, I am no stranger to the dreaded neck dive. I use a wide leather
strap - the rough backside grabs my shirt a little & I use my forearm as well.

I purchased a Heads Up strap a few years ago specifically to counteract the neck dive on my Mockingbird (and Burns Bison) basses. I don't think the company's in business anymore, but one could easily construct a similar strap based on the concept:

https://reverb.com/item/41487-heads-up- ... tars-black

[Brock]

Very cool pjmuck! In truth I have never bought a strap. Mine have always been handmade here at home.
Another device that can be constructed to balance a bass is a little more unorthodox. I call it a balance
bar. It can be seen in use below:


Not a clear pic, but the fact that the bar unplugs from the usual Dunlop strap buttons on the bass
can be seen. I'd rather experiment in aluminum than put extra holes in my bass bodies!!!!!!

[Ronin614]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I really appreciate the input. Now I've got to experiment a little and see how it goes.

[Sec-Def]

how did a righty get passed security?

[Pete Gossett]

That's an awesome idea Brock!