Am I the only player that prefers heavy basses?

[peledog]

OP: yes

 

[tbassist4]

I like to screw two basses together and tune one down six octaves. I wouldn't be caught dead playing anything under 30 pounds...

 

[thmsjordan]

A backpack is balanced on both shoulders and usually a waistband. A bass is putting all the weight on one shoulder and extending the arm on that same side out. This puts a whole different kind of strain on your shoulder and back. It forces your back muscles to pull more on the opposite side to counter it, which after long periods can cause pain between the shoulders.

You are really comparing apples and oranges.

+1
In addition to this - while the backpack is on, really you are just swinging your arms down at your side for the most part. You are traversing terrain which involves a lot of back motion and leg exertion. With a bass, part of the strain is in holding both arms up and in a playing position whole doing some pretty fancy small muscle movement over long stretches of time. In addition, the back remains relatively stationary and in weight bearing mode for long periods as well, which can be very taxing. There is a big difference here between these two activities in terms of physiology.

 

[richtea]

You guys must be young. The love of my life is A Jay Dee supernatural, I have had from new. At the age of 18 I would wear it on a cheap, thin little nylon web strap for 10 hours with a few breaks. We used to rehearse on a Sunday for the whole day. Now at 45 I can only tolerate it for max of an hour before the pain in my shoulder becomes too much to bear, this is with a very wide padded strap. I don’t know how heavy it is, I would guess at 15Lb or more. It is but it is by far the heaviest bass I have ever played, including the legendary mass monster, the T40. So yes and no, I love the sound but cant gig it any more. My Ibby SRX 750 gets all my gig duties now, not a super light bass, but light enough not to have me at the chiropractors the day after a gig. I am 45 years old, 6’ 4”, 210lbs, average build and pretty fit. If anything I am more muscular than I was at 18.
Age gets us all in the end.

 

[Korladis]

Fortunately, light basses will still be around when my shoulder and back start objecting to my heavy basses.

 

[alexorn]

For me it depends on what I'm playing. When I need to groove in some funk band or something I like to have a few extra lbs. on my bass, but in a heavy rock setting where I have to move around a lot for intense stage perfomances I love to have an extra light bass to throw around.

 

[nocontrols]

OK, here's a question for everyone who voted "Weight is a big priority, I have to play a light bass..."

How old are you? How old were you when you first started feeling this way? I'm just curious about age, I'm not prying into personal matters.

 

[nocontrols]

Another question to that same group: Did you consider a wider, padded strap before abandoning heavy basses? How about a dual-shoulder strap? Did you attempt alternative positions or playing styles?

The reason I ask is because I think switching basses would be a final option and you'd try to get by as best you could before that point.

 

[mongo2]

Another question to that same group: Did you consider a wider, padded strap before abandoning heavy basses? How about a dual-shoulder strap? Did you attempt alternative positions or playing styles?

The reason I ask is because I think switching basses would be a final option and you'd try to get by as best you could before that point.

Why suffer?

 

[Showdown]

OK, here's a question for everyone who voted "Weight is a big priority, I have to play a light bass..."

How old are you? How old were you when you first started feeling this way? I'm just curious about age, I'm not prying into personal matters.

Early 40s.

 

[nocontrols]

Why suffer?

Let's say, hypothetically, you found a "perfect bass"... great playability, great looks, and the ideal tone you've always wanted. You're finding it's too heavy but you like it too much otherwise to just instantly give up on it. Wouldn't you examine the possibility of a new strap or a new playing position or some other option before ditching your favorite instrument? And as you shop for new instruments in the future, are you willing to make weight a priority even above the sound and appearance of all new basses you try? I'm not saying you should "suffer" I'm just wondering how you get to a point where your priorities get flipped....

 

[Showdown]

Another question to that same group: Did you consider a wider, padded strap before abandoning heavy basses? How about a dual-shoulder strap? Did you attempt alternative positions or playing styles?

The reason I ask is because I think switching basses would be a final option and you'd try to get by as best you could before that point.

I tried every kind of strap you can think of. Wide padded (which is what I use), dual shoulder, waist belt. The dual shoulder was not comfortable, and only used regular narrow web straps (the Slider). The waist band required a hole be drilled in your bass(I tested it on a cheap SX). It held the bass in an unnatural position.

I settled on light basses with a wide padded strap. This has worked for me for nearly ten years and numerous gigs - without sacrificing tone.

 

[Showdown]

Let's say, hypothetically, you found a "perfect bass"... great playability, great looks, and the ideal tone you've always wanted. You're finding it's too heavy but you like it too much otherwise to just instantly give up on it. Wouldn't you examine the possibility of a new strap or a new playing position or some other option before ditching your favorite instrument? And as you shop for new instruments in the future, are you willing to make weight a priority even above the sound and appearance of all new basses you try? I'm not saying you should "suffer" I'm just wondering how you get to a point where your priorities get flipped....

You don't have to sacrifice sound or appearance. There are a lot of great sounding, great playing, great looking light basses. I have about 20 of them. No one has ever complained about my sound, and I've played a lot of gigs with a lot of bands. I'm currently in two bands, but recently was in three. They seek me out, so I don't think they have a problem with my basses or tone.

 

[mongo2]

Let's say, hypothetically, you found a "perfect bass"... great playability, great looks, and the ideal tone you've always wanted. You're finding it's too heavy but you like it too much otherwise to just instantly give up on it. Wouldn't you examine the possibility of a new strap or a new playing position or some other option before ditching your favorite instrument? And as you shop for new instruments in the future, are you willing to make weight a priority even above the sound and appearance of all new basses you try? I'm not saying you should "suffer" I'm just wondering how you get to a point where your priorities get flipped....

There's no bass worth hurting over.

Weight has been my #1 priority of mine for the last decade or so with wearable basses. There's plenty of great sounding lightweight basses out there. Even so, my decision to switch to an EUB was even better, now the weight doesn't matter much at all.

 

[nocontrols]

Early 40s.

I tried every kind of strap you can think of. Wide padded (which is what I use), dual shoulder, waist belt. The dual shoulder was not comfortable, and only used regular narrow web straps (the Slider). The waist band required a hole be drilled in your bass(I tested it on a cheap SX). It held the bass in an unnatural position.

I settled on light basses with a wide padded strap. This has worked for me for nearly ten years and numerous gigs - without sacrificing tone.

You don't have to sacrifice sound or appearance. There are a lot of great sounding, great playing, great looking light basses. I have about 20 of them. No one has ever complained about my sound, and I've played a lot of gigs with a lot of bands. I'm currently in two bands, but recently was in three. They seek me out, so I don't think they have a problem with my basses or tone.

There's no bass worth hurting over.

Weight has been my #1 priority of mine for the last decade or so. There's plenty of great sounding lightweight basses out there. Even so, my decision to switch to an EUB was even better.

Very interesting. Thank you.

I'm interested to see how some of the other guys, particularly the older guys, answer my above questions as well.

 

[Showdown]

Very interesting. Thank you.

I'm interested to see how some of the other guys, particularly the older guys, answer my above questions as well.

Getting older kind of sucks. I've got the weight thing figured out, but now I'm having trouble with arthritis in my hands. Makes it painful to play sometimes. I'm learning to deal with it.

The moral of the story is if you really love doing something, and want to continue doing it, you will do whatever you have to do. That includes giving up your heavy basses (although I still have a couple for recording. The weight doesn't matter if I'm sitting down).

 

[richtea]

Another question to that same group: Did you consider a wider, padded strap before abandoning heavy basses? How about a dual-shoulder strap? Did you attempt alternative positions or playing styles?

The reason I ask is because I think switching basses would be a final option and you'd try to get by as best you could before that point.

I’m 45. Yes to all the above, I tried everything I could think of, (except dual straps, I just knew I wasn’t going to get on with them). The photo is the last gig I played with my heavy bass, padded strap and all, which did help.
I could barely move my neck the following day. That was the moment that a lighter bass became important to me. I wanted to enjoy my playing, and not have to rush to the loo’s to give myself a shoulder massage between sets. It was not an easy decision to abandon my favorite bass of 27 years.

I have always suspected that the weight of a Jay Dee is one of the reason's Mark King switched to playing a status live.

 

[ljazz]

While I'm getting older, I still exersise, and feel as young as ever...... and I never really gave any thought about the weight of my basses until I gigged the first time with my '08 MIA P. That bass comes in a hair under 8lbs, and the difference after a long gig was noticable...... and it become even more noticible when I did a gig with one of my other basses (a 9+ lb'er) a year later. I thought my shoulder, neck and upper back were going to be permanently damaged after that gig. It took several days to recover. The heavier stuff stays home now.