countering neck heaviness

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vtpcnk

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my thinline body is like 3.75 lbs - but still i am having a little problem with neck heaviness - maybe due to the pau ferro fretboard?

when strapped on i normally play my guitar in a kind of cross position where the neck is way higher way than the body. and so with neck heaviness it is a constant battle to keep the neck high.

i use a thick levy's belt - but still that isn't really helping.

any thing else i can do?

maybe a grip i can add to the belt of something so that the belt doesn't slide with the weight - like the ones we use with backpacks?

or maybe a heavy magnet i can stick to the bottom strap pin? :)

appreciate any/all ideas.
 
I'd say you should take your guitar down to your local store and try out the different guitarstraps they have there... Maybe you find one that does work better than the one you have... Other than that you could try to place the forward strap-screw someplace else...

I have, in my infinite stupidity, another suggestion that comes to mind; foam rubber (or something similar). Glue a patch to your strap where you wan't it to stick to your shoulder and see if that helps you out! I imagine it would compress nicely and be practically invisible while giving plenty of friction... But thats just me improvising:D
 
Lighter tuners will help - provided that you've got heavy ones on there right now.
 
I have a tele build with a hog fatback neck and HEAVY full size tuners that goes horizontal when i take
my hands off the neck.

My solution? never take my hand off :laughing7:

seriously, I know that I can change the tuners to something lighter, but I found some old fishing weights that I
mounted to my strap near the Jack end. works like a charm!

Here's one for ya! How about a couple of sockets? Gets you that bandolier strap look!............or look like a bad-ass slide player.

Or not :headbang1:
 
1) leather strap with the rough/suede side down on your shoulder.
2) add some weight to the control cavity


Brian
 
Tele has this problem because the strap button is at the 16th fret, instead of the 12th fret ike a Strat...
And you need a lot of weight in the body to balance the neck.

Here's a simple formula for balance:

Weight x arm = moment (or torque, if you prefer).

figure the total weight of each component, figure the balance point for each part, and do the 'rithmatic.

The weight of the neck is usually about 1.2 pounds. The tuners add about 0.5. So, two pounds for the neck, and the unattached neck with tuners balances at about the 6th fret. attach it to the body, and that is about 8" from the strap button balance point.

8" / 12" = 0.67' feet.
0.67 x 2lbs = 1.33 ft/lbs on the strap button.

Let's use 7" from the strap button as the body center of mass, and assume that the guitar should not balance on the strap button but be a liitle body heavy. So, we need at least 2 ft/pounds on the button for the body.
In this example, the body and hardware needs to weigh at least 3.6 pounds. Not usually a problem, except when a Thinline gets down below 3.5 pounds, then the neck and tuners need to weigh less than the 2 lbs used in this example.

I'm not sure if this is any help to anyone, but when building a guitar the weight and balance calculation can help reduce any surprises when hanging on the strap.

I'd look at the numbers for any build when the strap button is located close to the neck pickup, like a Tele, LP, SG, and so on.

Moving the strap button is the easisest thing if you also want light weight.
My Strat body weight 2.4 pounds before hardware. It never approaches "neck heavy", but has a beautiful balance mostly because of the location of the strap button / balance point.

For your existing build, you can use this concept to decide how much weight to add to a body...and the father the weight from the upper strap button, the more effect with less weight used.
 
I had this problem on my LPS (Chambered body with a Wenge/Ebony '59 Roundback neck and locking tuners). First I moved the strap button from the upper horn to the back of the neck joint. This helped quite a bit, although it wouldn't be quite as effective on a Tele as it was on the LPS body. Next I took some sheetmetal and bent it into a tray that matched the shape of the control cavity. I then melted a 1/2 lb. roll of solder into it with a torch. After it cooled I pulled the solder out of the sheetmetal tray, filed it flat, and stuck it in the guitar cavity with some good double sided tape. For me, this was the finishing touch on that guitar. It balances perfectly and I don't have to think about holding the guitar up as I play. I know there are many here that don't seem to be bothered by neck heavy guitars, but it drives me crazy!

Good luck,
-Bob
 
Every Tele I've ever owned was slightly unbalanced at best.  I can't imagine being hollow making it better.  As far as the strap idea.  That doesn't really fix the balance issue - the guitar is still unbalanced.  I'm also not a big fan of having the strap not move on my body.  Usually it just makes your shirt move instead, and if you're wearing cotton and sweating, it turns the cotton into sandpaper.
 
Max said:
I normally have my hand on my guitar neck. At least, when I'm playing it.
Click to expand...

Sometimes i like playing over hand though when i'm playing up high. If a guitar is neck heavy i just put it back on the wall.
 
thanks for noting that tele due to its inherent short body design tends to be neck heavy.

i noticed the neck heaviness even with the solid body tele i had previously.

yea i think it is only the shirt which would move instead of the strap even if you add a grip to it.

the tuners on the tele as detailed in stewmac seems to be lightweight or atleast not specially heavy - gotoh sg38 sold by warmoth.

about adding weight to the control cavity, can i have more information on this pls? what material would you use and especially how you would do it in a thinline where the cavity is different from a solid body tele.

considering how neck heaviness is a prominent problem with guitars like SGs etc, i am surprised no manufacturer has come up with weighted knobs, bridge, strap etc as a solution for this.

i actually tried adding a pressure cooker's "weight" towards the end of the strap. and it seems to help. but i need a more permanent solution.

appreciate the feedback.
 
Max said:
I normally have my hand on my guitar neck. At least, when I'm playing it.
Click to expand...

No offense intended, but this argument has always annoyed the everliving bajeebuz out of me.  If force is being spent holding and balancing the guitar, I'm not making best use of my potential energy and it's an impediment to my hands playing what's in my heart.  I like my hands to be free, and the degree to which i squeeze and molest the neck to be MY choice at all times.

But honestly, whatever works for each of us is what's right.

-Mark
 
The first step has got to be lightening the headstock. Tuners vary in weight from 12oz or so to 5 oz, and the weight is way out at the end, so 6 extra oz out there probably equates to maybe a pound of lead in the guitar body - I can tell you which one I'd prefer.

I'm in the process of 'balancing' my bass, it's always been neck heavy but since I may soon be playing it a lot more often I decided to do something about it. I'm using hipshot ultralite tuners which save 1/2 lb from basic BMLs. If that doesn't get me where I need to be, the next step will be to glue some lead weights into the back of the body cavity using epoxy or something.
 
If you have a rear control cavity, you could add some stick on tire balancing weights inside the cavity.... But I think tfarny's idea is the place to start, find some lighter tuners first... :icon_thumright:
 
well, you have an f-hole..
isn't their function to insert some random objects in them???
 
Mark O said:
well, you have an f-hole..
isn't their function to insert some random objects in them???
Click to expand...
That's what kids are for, to insert random objects into your stuff... :laughing11:
 
DangerousR6 said:
Mark O said:
well, you have an f-hole..
isn't their function to insert some random objects in them???
Click to expand...
That's what kids are for, to insert random objects into your stuff... :laughing11:
Click to expand...

You two are definitely going to hell  :evil4:                                :laughing11:
 
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