If you've read the story of my Bluesman Vintage Deville 2T bass (see my profile pic), you know I went through some stuff to get that bass the way I wanted it.
The original bass was made of alder and weighed in at 10lb 1oz. It sounded great, but my shoulder wasn't about to go down that road again. So I called John, the owner at Bluesman Vintage & told him my frustration. He had me send the bass back (at his expense) and he rebuilt it using a more lightweight swamp cypress (very warm & resonant).
When I received the bass back, it weighed in at a fit 8lb 1oz. Needless to say, I was ecstatic... until 2 weeks ago when I played out with it. On a strap, the bass was just a bit top-heavy. At 10lb, it was balanced. But at 8lb, I was fighting (drumroll please...) NECK DIVE!!!
Now, I've never been vocal about it, but I kind of always assumed neck dive was just some bs somebody made up, because I had never heard of it 'til I came to TB. Well, consider me a convert. Even though my neck dive was relatively slight, it was annoying.
So I came home and started searching for lightweight tuning machines. Almost immediately, I found Gotoh Res-o-lite tuners. I picked up a set on Reverb.
I weighed them individually and they were a little more than half the weight of the machines on the bass. And with the guidance of John at BMV, I did the whole vinegar thing to age them to match my bass. It worked perfectly.
This morning, I reassembled the bass. The tuners look great! The bass is balanced perfectly at the neck plate. And it now weighs in at a meager 7lb 9.5oz.
And to make things even better, John also offered to buy the old tuners back from me to help defray my cost for the upgraded machines. That's customer service!!
The original bass was made of alder and weighed in at 10lb 1oz. It sounded great, but my shoulder wasn't about to go down that road again. So I called John, the owner at Bluesman Vintage & told him my frustration. He had me send the bass back (at his expense) and he rebuilt it using a more lightweight swamp cypress (very warm & resonant).
When I received the bass back, it weighed in at a fit 8lb 1oz. Needless to say, I was ecstatic... until 2 weeks ago when I played out with it. On a strap, the bass was just a bit top-heavy. At 10lb, it was balanced. But at 8lb, I was fighting (drumroll please...) NECK DIVE!!!
Now, I've never been vocal about it, but I kind of always assumed neck dive was just some bs somebody made up, because I had never heard of it 'til I came to TB. Well, consider me a convert. Even though my neck dive was relatively slight, it was annoying.
So I came home and started searching for lightweight tuning machines. Almost immediately, I found Gotoh Res-o-lite tuners. I picked up a set on Reverb.
I weighed them individually and they were a little more than half the weight of the machines on the bass. And with the guidance of John at BMV, I did the whole vinegar thing to age them to match my bass. It worked perfectly.
This morning, I reassembled the bass. The tuners look great! The bass is balanced perfectly at the neck plate. And it now weighs in at a meager 7lb 9.5oz.
And to make things even better, John also offered to buy the old tuners back from me to help defray my cost for the upgraded machines. That's customer service!!
Last edited:
now i'm 70 and i smell neck dive in the neighboring counties. 
