Kelly without neck dive?

[MetalDaze]

Hey guys... I'm feeling the itch for a custom order and I'm thinking it could be a Kelly. I love the shape, but I never did get along with my KE2 due to the neck dive. It wasn't horrible, but I don't like even a little of it.

So, any advice on how to get one that doesn't dive? Will a King Kelly do the trick or can I get away with mid size? 22 vs 24 frets? I'll be pissed if I wait 3 years and get another diver.

[JCB RR1]

I have two KE2's...one neck dives...the other won't. Probably a King Kelly shape would help. Or ask for a custom placement of the strap button. I don't think 22 frets won't make a difference since the fret board will be shorter but the guitar length scale would be the same, and the body would keep the same proportions.

[j2379]

neither of my Kellys neck dive, both are older 22 fretters the bodys were bigger on those than the modern Kelly.

[shreddermon]

I've never had neck dive with any of my Kellys, either. Both custom shops and a KE2T. Honestly, I've never understood the issue - it's somewhat counterintuitive to me that the big-bodied Kelly (whatever era or small, medium, large version) would have neck dive. You would think that extra body mass - as compared to other body styles - would cause neck LIFT, not neck dive. (Or "body dive".) And, besides, it's totally something that could just be compensated for with a change in strap weight or size, anyway.

I say order away, dude. I love my Kellys, IMHO possibly the most underrated of all Jackson body styles.

[JCB RR1]

I say order away, dude. I love my Kellys, IMHO possibly the most underrated of all Jackson body styles.

+1

[Number Of The Priest]

I owned a KE3 that had the tendency to dive when I stood up to play. I put the strap around the front of the top horn to "press" the guitar against my body a bit, which doesn't look the best but the diving disappeared and stabilized the guitar against me. It was an effective interim solution.

[Axewielder]

I'd go for the 22 fretter, the 24 fret necks tend to get pulled out of the body a bit to provide clearance for the neck pup and better upper fret access (not good for neck dive).

[toejam]

I owned a KE3 that had the tendency to dive when I stood up to play. I put the strap around the front of the top horn to "press" the guitar against my body a bit, which doesn't look the best but the diving disappeared and stabilized the guitar against me. It was an effective interim solution.

That's the body diving out from your stomach and towards the floor like a lot of Explorers do. My Kelly XLR did that, but it didn't have neck dive towards the left like I believe is being talked about here.

[Number Of The Priest]

It neck-dove AND belly-dove. I probably should have mentioned that initially. Putting the strap over the horn solved both problems as an effective interim measure.

[Ward]

I never played my Kelly because of the neck dive. It always felt like my left hand was supporting the neck, so it was uncomfortable to play for me. I ended up selling it.

One thing I did that helped (but not enough) was putting some rough leather on the underside of the strap. It created friction between the strap and my shoulder, so the neck stayed more upright.

[MetalDaze]

Thanks, guys. Not sure it's helped me make my decision though

I never had trouble with KV or RRs. Just that damn Kelly. Maybe going to a heavier body wood like mahogany would help too.

[MountainDog]

One thing I use to help with neck dive is to use guitar straps made of cotton. They grab your shirt/shoulder far better than nylon or smooth leather.

[MountainDog]

These cotton straps are pretty good and price is reasonable:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Perris-2-Cot...oAAOSw6dNWTOQI

[pro-fusion]

On guitars with bad neck dive, all grippy straps ever did was take my shirt forward along with the guitar as the neck dove. My guess is that a 22-fretter is going to be the way to go, since that makes the neck a little shorter and also moves the bridge (which is heavy if it's a trem) back a little bit, thus putting the center of gravity more towards the back.

[JCB RR1]

On guitars with bad neck dive, all grippy straps ever did was take my shirt forward along with the guitar as the neck dove. My guess is that a 22-fretter is going to be the way to go, since that makes the neck a little shorter and also moves the bridge (which is heavy if it's a trem) back a little bit, thus putting the center of gravity more towards the back.

Correct me if I'm wrong. If you build a 22 fret guitar, but you keep the scale length, you can't move the bridge closer to the headstock. You would just be cutting the fretboard, opening some space between the pickups, but the bridge would stay in the same position, otherwise the scale would be affected.

In this case, the guitar proportions would remain the same, so it would not affect the center of gravity nor the balance with a strap.