Routing Body to Save Weight

[lefty007]

I have a StingRay 5. Great neck and frets. Problem is, it weights 10-1/2 lbs. My limit for a gigging bass is 9 lbs.

I thought of removing the preamp, but I found out it is very light, so with the less few knobs, PC board, battery, etc., I will only save about 4 ounces. Changing the tuning keys to Ultralites will save me 6 ounces.

I'm determined to play this bass, as it sounds and plays phenomenal.

So my last option is rounting the body in the area under the pickguard. I will do a professional job (router with guide, etc.)

But I'm wondering if taking all that wood will have any adverse effect in the sound. The body is 1-3/4" thick or so, and I'm planning to route leaving it about 1/4" thick, so there will still be plenty of structural integrity.

I'm wondering if I will lose too much sustain or create any overtones, or lose clarity in the B-string, etc.

I've had semihollow basses and chambered basses (Sadowsky) and they all sounded pretty good to me. . ., but this won't be a chamber with an attached top, just a big route with a pickguard on top?

I'm also thinking on doing separate routings instead of completely carving the whole area, to retain more rigidity. . .

Any thoughts?

[stedtale]

If you like the bass that much, why worry about it being 15% overweight?

Just switch the tuners and save a little weight.

[lefty007]

Originally Posted by stedtale

If you like the bass that much, why worry about it being 15% overweight?

Just switch the tuners and save a little weight.

Problem is, by the second set I can't handle it anymore. I get bad shoulder and back pain. And I use a 4"-wide strap already.

I have weighted and tested many basses and I know my limit is 9 lbs...

[stedtale]

Originally Posted by lefty007

Problem is, by the second set I can't handle it anymore. I get bad shoulder and back pain. And I use a 4"-wide strap.

I have weighted and tested many basses and I know my limit is 9 lbs...

Gotcha.

[FrizzleFry]

Try using two straps, my bass teacher, has the same bass, and he has shoulder problem because of heart surgery. It seems to do him fine. only a suggestion though!

[73jbass]

Routing on that bass will kill the resale value.If that one is too heavy,I'd suggest selling it and finding one that's lighter,or trading it for another that suits you better.I went through the same thing and had 2 SR5's that were way too heavy.Gotta keep looking till you find the right one. But don't cut on the body in any way.

[lefty007]

Originally Posted by 73jbass

Routing on that bass will kill the resale value.If that one is too heavy,I'd suggest selling it and finding one that's lighter,or trading it for another that suits you better.I went through the same thing and had 2 SR5's that were way too heavy.Gotta keep looking till you find the right one. But don't cut on the body in any way.

Well, I'm lefty. Used SR5s show up once every six month on eBay. I have had 5 other SR5s already. Only one of them was about around 9-1/2 lbs, which I still have, and it's a fretless; all others have been as heavy as the fretted I have now.

Again, because I'm lefty, my 5-strings options are very limited, that is why I'm thinking about doing this, since the weight is the only thing making the bass less-than-perfect. . .

[DavidMP]

Have you tried using the plug and jack to "pin" your strap?
It will not make it lighter, but I did this felt the balance was much improved.

[ehque]

Originally Posted by DavidMP

Have you tried using the plug and jack to "pin" your strap?
It will not make it lighter, but I did this felt the balance was much improved.

i'd expect the weight to still give him back problems.

Um, go for it! I believe you like the SR tone, so just go for it, especially since you won't be selling it. The above poster is right in saying that your resale value will be gone, though.

[keyboardguy]

Do what I did; it shouldn't affect it's resale value too much......






















Mike

[PilbaraBass]

what you CAN do, is to have a new body made...use all the existing hardware and electronics, and just transfer this to the new body....

take a light ash centre strip, and mount two ponderosa pine wings on it....rout the body to shape, and chamber it thoroughly....then laminate the top and bottom with 1/4" pieces of ash...

end result, a very light weight body...ultra lite tuners a necessity now to help control neck dive....

original body goes into a box for future reassembly and resale...

what will this set you back? about $500 - $700, depending on your finish choice...

[BassBronson]

coming from experience....routing your body will change your overall tone. you ever thing of replacing the bridge? most of the weight in your hardware comes from the bridge. try using an ultra light bridge. don't have any names off the top of my head but I can get them for you if you want them.

[PilbaraBass]

Originally Posted by BassBronson

coming from experience....routing your body will change your overall tone. you ever thing of replacing the bridge? most of the weight in your hardware comes from the bridge. try using an ultra light bridge. don't have any names off the top of my head but I can get them for you if you want them.

most of the HARDWARE weight comes from the bridge...but 90% of the weight on the body comes from the wood...

removing serious wood is the only way to seriously reduce weight..

[Suburban]

And to seriously destroy balance...

[WezV]

i have lightened guitars by removing 1/4" of wood from the top of the body, chambering them then attaching a new top to them.

Chambering will have a big impact on the tone, sometimes for the better, sometimes not

If you do large hollow chambers it has more of an effect on the sound than if you do small randomly placed weight relief chambers (i.e. forstner drill bit holes)

I wouldn't do that on this bass because of the re-sale, it really would make a lot more sense to have a body built out of something more lightweight.

[Nelson Guitars]

Anything you do will affect tone. It might not be a bad thing though! The only problem I see is that you might gain some feed back problems like archtop players have. You could also get some weird overtones or buzzing from the plastic pick guard acting like a drum head. If you do, then all you need to do is install a piece of hard foam in the cavity to fill it and support the pick guard.

As far as value is concerned, what value is an instrument hanging on the wall that you don't want to play? Dollars are only one way of evaluating the worth of an instrument.

Greg N

[stedtale]

One word: helium.

[lefty007]

Thanks for the replies.

Aw, man, this isn't and easy decision. It would royally suck if I end up doing this and then the bass sounds like crap. Resale value is not in my mind; I got the bass used for a lot less than street price. Balance could be a problem, even with Ultralites, and neck dive, as mentioned is sometimes worse than overall weight. The bass is well balanced right now.

Pluggin a pin in the strap botton won't realy help much, as SR5s are already well balanced.

Routing it cheese style is not an option either, Mike! I'm digging the purple, though.

Making a new body is definitely a good idea, since I really like the dimensions and ergonomics of the bass, but yes, it won't be cheap. . . Who makes customs bodies like that? Any of you out there?

I haven't though about changing the bridge, since I didn't want to mess with the setup/action, etc, which is perfect right now, but it makes a lot of sense. I would have to drill new holes, but no big deal.

I'm thinking if I change the bridge and the tuning keys, I could save close to 1 pound. . . I might go that route.

Thanks, guys.

[stedtale]

Yeah, I think you're right to start with the bridge and tuning keys, see how that feels. If you want a custom body made, there are several TBers who are builders. You could talk to them.

[DanielM]

I can see how weight is a big problem for you. I have similar gripes of backpain. my solution is just to get a few sit-down songs in a set so I can rest up a bit. I know it's not very rock and roll but it works for me.