ROUTING a BASS for Weight?
 

Bad-back guys, perhaps you can relate. You like a given bass, but it's to freakin' heavy, and you can't locate a lighter one.

When value is of no concern, like for instance with a mass-produced Squier or even non-collectible Fender, have you ever considered routing chambers into the body in strategic areas under the pickguard for the single purpose of weight relief?

I'd wonder if there are any makers/players who have done this, and, more importantly, if it makes a significant difference (to the negative) in how the bass sounds or to its physical integrity.

Roger Sadowsky chambers many of his bodies.

Check out this video around the 1:20 mark...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSJtt41VLKo

Wow - thanks. If RS says it has yielded actual sonic benefits, you have to believe it. And clearly the pattern of his routings indicate a tested methodology of some sort. Yet he's speaking of bodies that are capped with a veneer. Wonder what open routs might do?

I've been lucky at times and have been able to get my hands on a 7.8 lb. Road Worn P, and have a few great-sounding Dano P clones that are around 7 lbs or less. But the Danos are really pretty s***tty when you get right down to it, like a $199 plywood bass generally is. Fragile, unstable vs. weather changes.

But I digress - I know someone has just winged this rout route (;)) and I'd be interested to hear about it.

Open routs?

Roger tried that also, but it never took off...

http://www.sadowsky.com/stock/view/0401.html

:D


(Note the serial number. This was an "April Fool's" joke.)

Or maybe it did, Eastwood Guitars sells one. Two actually, there is a fretless version too.

Ken

Yup, big open holes have a long history, from classic Ampegs to current ESP signature models.







I remember some late 80s BC Rich guitars with circular holes, too, but not sure if there ever was a bass version.

It's an option, but remember that lowering the weight will affect the balance, so the bass might end up with neck dive unless you also make the headstock lighter.

John Stoneman originally built this bass as a 4-string. The body is cherry and wasn't light to begin with. When I decided I wanted a 5 and added the huge pickup, it got too heavy so I had him get out the router and go to town. I love it.

Sorry that I may have given the wrong impression. What I meant is larger routs hidden beneath the pick guard. Nothing that will alter the original look of the design.

Well, not a bass, but here's an example of some under-pickguard routing.



So, it's doable.

Bud LeCompte also chambers bodies on some models. Mahogany is usually pretty heavy. It reduced the overall weight on my old CB-SC4 to 8 lbs.



It's easier when you're building the body because you can chamber it and then glue the top on. IME, chambering doesn't have that much of an effect on tone. One of my Dingwalls is chambered and the other isn't. If someone guessed which was which from a recording, it would be just that - a lucky guess. If I were routing under a precision bass pick guard, I wouldn't get too close to the neck pocket.

That's a pretty instrument, thanks for for posting it and for your input.

Thank you, and you are welcome. I hope you can work something out that your back and shoulders can deal with. :cool:

A few years ago I was checking out the Ebay auction of a Precision bass that had been chambered for George Biondo (Steppenwolf). He said it "cleared up" the mid-range, IIRC. I guess he played it when he wasn't playing his Ampeg...

This slightly-modified P-Bass belonged to a good friend of mine, Drew Daniels, who sadly passed away in 2010. Drew was the best Audio Engineer and bass player that I've ever known. I learned a lot from him.

This bass dates back to a time when he was recovering from some shoulder surgery. He had somebody chop away everything that wasn't needed from the body. Yes, it was very neck heavy! But for his particular condition, he was willing to support it with his left hand. He mostly needed the pressure reduced on the strap.

I did some minor work on it for Drew around 2009. It played and sounded fine. I don't know what's happened to it.

Gibson chambers a lot of their Les Pauls and folks are still happy to pays a small fortune for them, so it must not be that bad for tone.

Our guitar player had a chambered Les Paul for a while.
Very deceptive: when you go to pick it up you almost throw it because it was so light!

Tone was a tad brighter than most LPs I've heard, but I don't know how much of that was due to chambering (if at all) or the woods themselves.

Just remembered one more: the Godin Radiator guitars had a huge pickguard covering the entire front of the body, and a lot of the body was routed out underneath. Here's one disassembled.



So, the bigger the pickguard the more weight you can remove. A 51-style P-bass might be a good one to do this kind of operation on, maybe a Squier Mike Dirnt...

Just for variation, RIC routs from the back and covers it with a maple cap on their semi-hollow guitars.

Apply that to a bass body and it's easier to hide the joint, and you can easily go 'guardless.

More and more makers are routing their bodies these days as sourcing light weight woods seems to be getting more difficult and players are not willing to accept 12 lb boat anchors anymore. I don't know if I have seen any chambers specifically beneath pickguards, but chambered and capped is fairly common.

Another option is making the body thinner like on my Dingwall Super P5. It is surprisingly light and comfortable and sounds great. I think the Fender Road Worn basses are thinner bodied too and they sound good as well.

I have heard people say that chambered bodies have a bit more punch. Some prefer the sound.

I had Jack Read create a custom body with sound chambers for my Modulus Quantum 5. Worked great! Lessened the weight considerably.

I dig it!