Slight neck dive, 4003 proportions, and straplocks

[dean712]

I've been working hard recently learning lots of new cover songs and rotating the playing of my different 4003's and have reached what seems to me a counterintuitive conclusion.

The three 4003's I've been playing, by model year, are:

1994 - wider body wings, smaller headstock, and thinnest neck profile of the three basses, with vintage-style strap pegs and no straplocks

1999 & 2000 - both have narrower body wings and larger headstock, and I use straplocks with them.

Here's what's perplexing - the '99 and '00 seem to sit better on me when I play and have no neck dive. When I use the same shirt and guitar strap (same strap length), except no straplocks, the '94 has slight neck dive - just enough to be annoying with added left hand work.

But with less mass in the neck and headstock and (I thought) more in the body, shouldn't the '94 have less neck dive? Is it the added effective body length of the straplocks that's helping out the '99 and '00?

I'm probably missing something really simple - any thoughts on this?

[jwr2]

I have owned and played a 68, 73, 74, 76, 79, 84, 89, 90, 93, 96, 97, 01, 02, 03, 04, and I have worked on quite a few 4001, 4003, and 4004 basses ...

I have never seen neck dive in any of them, and some of those are 4003s5 basses and many are 4003 4-2-5 basses with an extra tuner in the headstock.

The body wings and haedstock sizes used to vary more before the cnc days and different pieces of maple are heavier than others.