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Bass weight. Does it make a difference?

#21
"The weight is sign of reliability" - Boris the Blade

Beyond my cheesy movie quote...One should choose an instrument on how it sounds first and foremost...and adapt to that. In the end, if what you're playing delivers the sound you want, find a way to make it work!

That being said, if Weight is an issue, lean towards Ibanez. Let's face it: their models are pretty light while trying to emulate a Fender Jazz or P (At least in Pickup arrangement). The 3 Ibanez SR series basses i've played...I have two things to say: one, "Holy sh*t, this is light and fast-playing" and "This sounds pretty awesome!"

This thread actually makes me remember Guitars, to tell you the truth. The age-old question of "Stratocaster vs. les paul". I could discuss how each one sounds, and they do sound different, but it takes a backseat as to which is more comfortable on the shoulder. It's more like, what would you rather have on your shoulder for 3 hours...a six pack of beer or a full keg???

I'm a Precision guy. But i'm also 6'3. I've played heaver basses. I've played lighter basses. I just go with how my instrument sounds, and adapt from there...if that means getting a thicker strap or sitting down while you play...it's about the sound. Adapt to that. If you don't want to sit down (and who does when onstage?)..i'd say look at the Ibanez line. Very light and not too shabby of a Bass.
 
#22
I mostly play pretty light basses. Contrary to guitard belief, light basses don't sound inferior to heavy basses. My Conklin at about 10-11lbs is my heaviest, but it's not bad for a 35" scale 6 string. My Peaveys are all in the 9-10lb range and just fine. When I got my Rob Allens and CB, all of which are 7.5lbs and under, the rewards of playing those all night felt great on my back and shoulder.
 
#23
fretlessguy said:
There is nothing wrong with wanting a lighter bass, regardless of the state of your health, especially if you are tired of messing with it after 5 sessions a night!
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+1

I'm a really small old guy - 5' 2" and under 140. I'm a retired jock that maintained good physical condition after the competitive years through three decades of aerobic sports and weight lifting.

My heaviest bass leaves me more tired the next day after a gig than my lightest bass does. The difference in weight is somewhere between 3 and 4 pounds.

At my small size, I figure the effects of the weight of the bass are larger in comparison to someone who is naturally 200 pounds. In my case there is difference in how I feel the next day, it isn't huge, but it exists.
 
#24
I recently got a fender 2008 American P and was pleasantly surprised by the ALDER BODY weight and excellent balance with the neck. My Dingwall 5 is well balanced and light too.
I'm spoiled. No boat anchors gonna stay here long. I'm not injured, just old! I used to have 2 of the same bass and one was acceptably light and one very heavy. Same wood species too. The sound and sustain were not much different.
 
#26
If you want to get a look at the variations in weight, you can either see the end of this thread I just updated...http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=409213&page=8

Or open the attached spreadsheet - there are 219 basses in it. NO, this is not a hack or virus - it's an update on a thread that ran last spring, and I've just added about 40 basses to the reference list.
 

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#27
I have a Fender Jazz with a Warmoth body that sounds great, but is very heavy. It is around 11lbs. I don't really play it that much except on shorter sets. I stick mostly to my Rickenbackers which are around... I'd say 8 or 9 lbs. I have an OLP/MM bass that is close to 7lbs. I also have a Brice Beatle Bass that is close to 6lbs. I use wide straps with all except the Brice.

I think that Warmoth body is made out of iron instead of mahogany. It is very high quality tone wood. But it is also very heavy and extremely hard. It would make a great club if I ever needed to cave a drunk person's skull in LOL!!:D
 
#28
cassanova said:
My ears prefer a heavier bodied bass to those of the lighter ones. IMO they just sound "fuller" than any light weight bass I've heard/played.
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This is nonsense IMO.

I think this means you've never played good quality light basses.

I own lakland DJ4 and it weighs 9.5lbs. It's the heaviest bass I've owned. It sounds full, but not fuller than the tokai p and j I've owned and they weighed 8.5 and 9. On the contrary it sounds more focussed and less full than the tokais. The rickenbacker I used to own was lighter and also sounded fuller. The Yamaha BBG was lighter but sounded less full. The sound definately doesn't sound less full with a lighter bass.

If you don't believe me, check the interview with roger sadowsky on behind the notes. He literally says that he prefers lightweight resonant woods sound- and comfortwise.

I think it's logic. A lighter wood is more likely to resonate than a heavy woodblock. That sounds very logical to my ears.

About the weightproblem. I don't think it's stupid to buy another bass for the weight. My dj weighs 9.5 and I find it to heavy. I'm gonna buy a comfort strap and see then. If it's still to heavy I'm maybe gonna sell it. I think lighter basses are way more comfortable than heavy even on not so long sets.

edit: All the old (60, early 70s) fenders were very light. I can't say they don't sound full to my ears.
 
#31
I own a Spector NS 5 XL. It weighs 10lbs 6 oz. I love it but the weight does get to me after playing 3 50 minute sets. I use a 4" wide padded strap which does help and I use proper posture and go to the back doctor once a month. What I have done to help my situation is that I have 2 other lighter weighted basses. Both in the low 9 lbs range. I switch to the lighter one for one set then the Spector for another. Plus I have found that the Spector is good for some songs and my Lakland is good for others sound wise.

5 45 minute sets! That must be a long night! What kind of cover band do you play in?
I thought my nights were long ones. Hope this helps.
 
#32
Thunderitter said:
Before you sell you bass and no offense meant but you may want to have a look at your posture. Even a 6lb bass is going to give you trouble if you posture is off and I'm afraid that happens to us all as we age.

If you're not exercising regularly you may want to think about doing some light, but repetitive stuff, particularly on your shoulders neck and core. I've been doing this for the last wee while and noticed a huge difference when I'm standing playing bass for an extended period of time.
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I have NO plans on selling my bass and certainly no offense taken. Yes, I have bad posture as I found out doing an exercise the physical therapist showed me and my girlfriend. Yes I am out of shape. :( As many have stated in this thread, I do need to do some core exercises.
 
#34
davidjbass said:
I own a Spector NS 5 XL. It weighs 10lbs 6 oz. I love it but the weight does get to me after playing 3 50 minute sets. I use a 4" wide padded strap which does help and I use proper posture and go to the back doctor once a month.
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What brand of strap is it?
What I have done to help my situation is that I have 2 other lighter weighted basses. Both in the low 9 lbs range. I switch to the lighter one for one set then the Spector for another. Plus I have found that the Spector is good for some songs and my Lakland is good for others sound wise.
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I would love to do that, however, the other fivers I have are in the 10+ range. I guess i could bring a 4 banger. Of course the one I would want to bring (79 Stingray) is 10+ :hmm:
5 45 minute sets! That must be a long night! What kind of cover band do you play in? I thought my nights were long ones. Hope this helps.
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We play both kinds of music... Country and Western. :D Actuall, it's a country, classic rock, oldies kind of music mess.
 
#35
My Mike Lull MV4 clocks in at 7.5 lbs. that plus a comfort Strap (tm) = bliss. It has convinced me that a quality bass can be both light weight and have a great tone.

Every time I swing by Bass NW and try an Alembic made of mahagony (or concrete or whatever), the weight seems completely ridiculous.

I think the 7.5 lb Sadowskys and Lulls and other boutique basses have pretty much demonstrated how marginal a heavy /dense wood actually is to a good tone. Quality components and construction, and esp. the electronics, are much more influential. IMHO.
 
#37
bobunit said:
I have NO plans on selling my bass and certainly no offense taken. Yes, I have bad posture as I found out doing an exercise the physical therapist showed me and my girlfriend. Yes I am out of shape. :( As many have stated in this thread, I do need to do some core exercises.
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I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but when it comes to paying big doctor bills, sometimes a new bass is a lot cheaper. The trick with most health problems is to know how to make the change before too much damage is done. I know you dig the tone of your Spector, but I'm fairly certain there is a luthier or two (or 10) who can make something like that sounds almost exactly like it.


cassanova said:
My ears prefer a heavier bodied bass to those of the lighter ones. IMO they just sound "fuller" than any light weight bass I've heard/played.
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I think many kid themselves on this aspect. Several pickups like the MM, P, and J have such a strong colored tone by design that placement is really the only thing that influences the tone and lumber choice is almost arbitrary. The ultra heavy Fender and Ernie Ball basses I've played didn't sound significantly better or worse than the lighter variants.
 
#38
I believe the lighter the weight, the more "resonant" the sound is. Now, this has to be a balancing act, as the more resonance one desires, you will start running into more "resonant peaks" in the sound....which is of course the bane of any sort of hollowbody instrument...which exascerbates this problem.

After researching for a couple of years, I decided that a light weight tone GENERATING wood was in order, and designed a lightweight body around it.

My basses use western red cedar( one of the lightest of the topwoods ) for the SOLID BODY...I then carve away to a shape that allows both strength and resonance, and reduces by a great degree those pesky resonant peaks.

Most of my basses weigh in right around six pounds....ebony appointments make them just a few ounces heavier. I'm working on a walnut necked bass for myself right now, with pao ferro appts that will be less than six pounds when completed.

The bass in the photo is just a hair over six pounds...maybe six lbs one oz.

Bass1a.jpg
 
#40
dave251 said:
I believe the lighter the weight, the more "resonant" the sound is.
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Very much so!!!! The ultra dense and heavy basses I played seemed to have a nice attack, but very quick decay. While I don't know if anyone has done any studies published studies lately of various density vs. conduction of hardwoods, I would think extra density translates into resistance rather than resonance.

As a guitarist, I used to believe that heavier=more sustain, but my lightest basses have sustain for days while the heavy basses I've played didn't necessarily have it in abundance. Although I still can't deny that a Les Paul has much more sustain than your average Strat, but perhaps the guitar and bass frequencies prefer different density sweet spots to conduct the usual frequencies.

...then again, you don't see acoustic instruments being built out of the popular very dense hardwoods for a reason. I once played an Ovation with a bubinga top (some sort of anniversary model) and it had to have been one of the most dead sounding acoustic guitars I've ever heard. I was able to play something with the same bowl and a spruce top that sounded much more vibrant, then my old Adamas, which had a thin graphite top that absolutely sang.
 

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