Heavy basses are the enemy. I get numbness in my shoulder and arm, and back pain (even using the best straps out there). I won't play anything over 9 lb. Luckily for me, I also happen to believe that lightweight basses sound better. A light bass resonates more, which I think contributes to a fuller sound. Heavy basses sound compressed and less lively to me.
And I have proven this time after time. I've done comparisons between 10-lb P-Basses and 8-lb P-Basses, and the lighter one always sounded better. Same thing with Spectors. At one point I thought that Spectors sounded so good because of the heavy maple body (although a small body, there are some heavy Spectors out there) until I tried an '80s NS-2 in natural finish (oil) that was no more than 8 lb, and it sounded like a monster and sustain for days, so there it went the notion that more weight = more tone.
Lastly, I'm a big fan of Sting Ray 5s, but all the ones I had where in the 10 lb range. I recently found a 9-lb one (I'm freaking ecstatic . . .
), to which I added Ultralite tuners, for a resulting weight around 8.5 lb, and I think it's the best-sounding SR5 I've had.
But I know that a large portion of the bassists' population can care less about the instrument's weight, both because of comfort and sound. I have this friend who is an accomplished jazz bass player, touring the world right now, and the guy plays an 11-lb bass (or that's what it felt like). He says, "yeah, it's a bit heavy, my shoulder hurts," with a shrug . . like he doesn't know better.
I cringe when I see those $8,000 Fodera that weight more than 10 lb. I wouldn't play those if they gave them to me for free.
I once had a Gibson sponsorship and they gave me a brand new $4000 6-string Tobias. I think it was more than 11-lb. I gave it back to them the next day, and I could have kept it for free . . . (should've kept it and sold it, I guess. . .
)
