Bass Weight Obsession.

[FullumMusic]

This sounds a lot like what I have. Specifically, lumbar spinal stenosis, along with some arthritis. MRI, steroid shots, PT, stretching, chiro and massages. I've been able to manage it, but the symptoms come back if I'm not careful.....pain in the backs of the legs, sometimes going numb, lower back pain. Not fun to happen on stage in the middle of a 4 hour gig.

My basses weigh between 8 lbs and 10 lbs, and it just happens that my 2 favorite basses are the 10 lb ones. Usually, I'll take one of those and a light one, and switch as needed when I start feeling fatigued.

Yo. Absolutely not fun when you're halfway through a set and you realize you can't stand anymore. I feel your pain... literally!

Mine boiled down to a really fancy version of "it's all in your head." I mean, it's not, but it is.

MRI showed nothing. Epidural did nothing. XRay showed nothing. I would be given PT exercises that would help for a bit, until they didn't. Chiropractic adjustments and massages and tens machines and theraguns offered momentary relief but didn't fix it. A whole lot of Physical Therapists/Physios in NYC and Scotland looked at me and not only couldn't find what was wrong, were dumbfounded by how flexible and in shape i was. But it hurt.

Turns out for some unknown reason, either my hip was sending errant warning messages, or my brain was overreacting to the warning messages and causing pain. It's similar to putting your hand near a fire. It's hot and hurts as a warning before it actually burns you. My nerves or brain was misinterpreting me standing in a certain way as dangerous and told me it hurt to get me to stop doing it. I finally found a PT who knew what was what and since i saw him i've gotten it pretty much in check. Not healed. But i can prevent it from happening 90% of the time. PT said often it starts when you injure yourself a certain way and then get better, but your nervous system is extra cautious, but really could be anything, and you just have to retrain your nerves & brain not to overreact to the stimulus and it'll realize "Hey, standing is fine. It's just standing. I'm not getting damaged."

So i joke it's a fancy version of "all in your head." Or a more complicated "It hurts when i do this. Don't do that." I found the standing posture that causes the pain, and now i stand differently.

The PT also gave me the only exercise that has consistently helped: Heels no more than 1.5" away from the wall. Try to touch the wall with the small of my back so you can't slide a hand between it and the wall, while simultaneously getting my shoulders against the wall, while simultaneously getting my head against the wall & tucked chin & stretched neck. 90+ seconds a couple of times a day, every day for a few months and i couldn't believe the results. Now it's at the point where i just do it when i feel like it's been acting up, or if i've been on my feet too long.

And to bring this back to the OP, it's too easy for a heavy bass strapped over one shoulder for too long to put me in the wrong posture, especially in a gig with a tiny stage where i can't move around and i'm just standing there in one spot for 60+ minutes, exactly like how it all started trying to wash the dishes, except now there's a 12lb bass too. It ain't worth it. Don't care how good the bass sounds or how tough people who like heavy basses think they are. I'm gonna ask how heavy a bass is before i buy it.

 

[LowWay]

My limit is 7 pounds thanks to nerve damage in my shoulder/neck. And now 30” scale thanks to lupus. I’ve recovered from both of those, but my preferences have not shifted. 6.X pound 30” 4-strings are my current loves.

I have a beautiful 6.5 pound 34” 4-string I’ll probably sell when the sellers market is stronger again.

What started as a need has become a luxury preference.

 

[Smith357]

My tool belt weighs more than your bass, so weight means nothing to me.

 

[eddododo]

lol yes, obviously..

Of course there are pros who care about bass weight, and prefer a lighter bass. There are pros who put a premium on light weight. There are also certainly guys who don’t care, and even others who feel like heavier basses sound better or whatever.

If you can imagine a kind of person, they exist.. even moreso if the question is “Do you think there are pros who prefer something with an obvious advantage?”
I don’t have much interest in devolving into a Tonewood argument or anything, but even if there was a narrative that lightweight basses sound worse or something, there would STILL be people who prefer lightweight instruments, even if they view it as a sacrifice of tone or other qualities. (FWIW, I believe Roger Sadowsky even thinks that the lighter woods sound better, but again I’m not particularly engaging in that discussion)

 

[robassable]

Many of us early on didn't concern ourselves too much with heavier basses "What difference is a few pounds... pfft!" But after years of gigging/rehearsing they do take there toll on our aging shoulders and backs. Unbalanced basses with neck dive are also a culprit, perhaps more so.

 

[bnt]

To say Geddy Lee never cared about weight is pushing it a bit. In the 70s he had a P-bass with a lot of wood chopped off, the notorious “teardrop” bass in this picture:

And he’s holding a short scale Rickenbacker 3000, I believe? His Steinberger XL has already been mentioned: they were heavier than they looked, but still under 9lbs.

 

[Aidenn7]

Tim Commerford says he likes heavy basses
Around 7:00 on the video

I have owned many Stingrays and only the heavier ones (10lbs +) are my keepers. Currently selling my 9.5 lbs SR5 because it sounds too open and not as focused as my other heavier Stingrays.
I’m the opposite for P bass though. All the lighter ones I have owned sound better to me.

He's also a maniac of a person and player!!!!

 

[Jack Butler]

It doesn't matter, until you happen across a light bass that sounds great, then there's no going back. I never gave it a thought for the longest time...the bass is a large instrument, with big strings that is physically hard to play. I just dealt with it as reality that I had to accept. Then around 2009 I played a Roadworn P bass that was the best sounding P bass I'd put my hands on, and it weighed 7.8lbs. Swapped in some lightweight tuners got it under 7.5. Every time I picked it up I loved how light it felt, and like I said it gave up nothing in the tone department. So after that, could not see any reason to own a P bass over 8lbs. I could play a 12lb'er, there's just no reason to. Then doing my own setups and discovering TI Jazz Flats, I came to the realization that I could have a great tone and a bass that is very easy to play, physically. High action and bridge cable strings are fine if you like them, but not needed at all for a good tone.

 

[Aidenn7]

I'm building an extremely light p bass..

 

[Pilgrim]

My tool belt weighs more than your bass, so weight means nothing to me.

Do you wear your tool belt looped over one shoulder for 3 hours at a time?

 

[funkifiedsoul]

I played a 10 lb. Precision for 20 years without a thought about its weight, 'till I was pushing 40 years old. Suddenly I couldn't get through 1/2 a set without my left shoulder/neck protesting in pain. Since then 9 lb. has been my limit.
At least for a solid body there is such a thing as too light though, for me. Anything 7.5 to 8.5 is my sweet spot.

 

[DJ Bebop]

My tool belt weighs more than your bass, so weight means nothing to me.

Right now, give it a few years then get back to me.

 

[markjazzbassist]

Those guys didn’t play 3-5 hour shows. They did a solid headliner 90 minutes and that’s it. The weekend warriors doing covers for 3-5 hours it wears on you. I had shoulder issues I spent lots of money and time at doctors and chiropractors fixing. I play a fully hollow hofner now and have 0 health issues.

yes it makes a difference.

 

[Kubicki Fan]

Yo. Absolutely not fun when you're halfway through a set and you realize you can't stand anymore. I feel your pain... literally!

Mine boiled down to a really fancy version of "it's all in your head." I mean, it's not, but it is.

MRI showed nothing. Epidural did nothing. XRay showed nothing. I would be given PT exercises that would help for a bit, until they didn't. Chiropractic adjustments and massages and tens machines and theraguns offered momentary relief but didn't fix it. A whole lot of Physical Therapists/Physios in NYC and Scotland looked at me and not only couldn't find what was wrong, were dumbfounded by how flexible and in shape i was. But it hurt.

Turns out for some unknown reason, either my hip was sending errant warning messages, or my brain was overreacting to the warning messages and causing pain. It's similar to putting your hand near a fire. It's hot and hurts as a warning before it actually burns you. My nerves or brain was misinterpreting me standing in a certain way as dangerous and told me it hurt to get me to stop doing it. I finally found a PT who knew what was what and since i saw him i've gotten it pretty much in check. Not healed. But i can prevent it from happening 90% of the time. PT said often it starts when you injure yourself a certain way and then get better, but your nervous system is extra cautious, but really could be anything, and you just have to retrain your nerves & brain not to overreact to the stimulus and it'll realize "Hey, standing is fine. It's just standing. I'm not getting damaged."

So i joke it's a fancy version of "all in your head." Or a more complicated "It hurts when i do this. Don't do that." I found the standing posture that causes the pain, and now i stand differently.

The PT also gave me the only exercise that has consistently helped: Heels no more than 1.5" away from the wall. Try to touch the wall with the small of my back so you can't slide a hand between it and the wall, while simultaneously getting my shoulders against the wall, while simultaneously getting my head against the wall & tucked chin & stretched neck. 90+ seconds a couple of times a day, every day for a few months and i couldn't believe the results. Now it's at the point where i just do it when i feel like it's been acting up, or if i've been on my feet too long.

And to bring this back to the OP, it's too easy for a heavy bass strapped over one shoulder for too long to put me in the wrong posture, especially in a gig with a tiny stage where i can't move around and i'm just standing there in one spot for 60+ minutes, exactly like how it all started trying to wash the dishes, except now there's a 12lb bass too. It ain't worth it. Don't care how good the bass sounds or how tough people who like heavy basses think they are. I'm gonna ask how heavy a bass is before i buy it.

I commend you on not giving up on treatment$! It can be tough on the psyhe when you are faced with chronic pain and lack useful clues to a solution. It is depressing when you have to put down your instrument after just a short time right when the music has taken you over.

You make an important point: once hurt twice shy.

So, even when you recover you are not the same as when you were pristine, fresh and clueless.

Obsession in the thread title is hyperbole and incorrect. A weighted criterion is not obsession.

 

[Dynacord]

Did lightweight basses even exist in the 60's, 70's or even into the 80's? I never heard of a chambered bass until the 2000's. Other than a Hofner, I don't think a lightweight bass was available back in the day and heavy basses (by today's standards) were the norm.

Even in the 50's there were Danelectros, Kay and other hollowbodies and then Gretschs and Gibsons - and the popularity of Epiphone Rivolis with many of the British invasion bands. As previously mentioned a lot of the 50's and 60's Fenders were quite light. The 70's and 80's was the era of heavy basses (and guitars).

 

[Basvarken]

Weight seems to be something that concerns a lot of people.
I personally prefer a bass with substantial weight over a featherweight.

Neck dive is another pet peeve for many.
The first question I get when I present a new bass build is: how severe is the neck dive?
Or worse: assume it suffers severe neck dive.
(which none of my builds does btw)

 

[fhm555]

I guess I’m just lucky. I’ve never had any back or upper body chronic pain. Short form is bass weight has never been a consideration, even when I owned an ash bodied T40. Had it not been so fiddly with so many knobs and switches, I’d have kept it. Oddly enough I’m currently playing the lightest bass I’ve ever owned because left hand issues forced me to go to a shorter scale length which was accompanied by a smaller body. Physically smaller should equal lighter weight. I guess you could try to make a short scale heavier than a long scale, but why.
Given that, maybe those who require lighter basses should switch to short scale instruments.
As for lighter being more resonant, I’m not so sure. I’ve got a heavyazz Jazz that rings out forever if you want it to.

 

[Killing Floor]

You may think they vibrate better, but resonance is not something that is desirable.

I’d love for some YouTuber to film a bunch of basses and guitars in resonance.
One summer in high school I worked for JVC and the best task I’ve ever had was using high ampacity tools driving warranty returned audio gear into resonance so we could scrap it without worrying about anything sneaking back into the market.

 

[REV]

I have a couple of Geddy Jazz basses that are right at 10lbs. They sound incredible. I have a friend with a Mike Lull P bass that is about 7-7.5 lbs and he's trying to increase the weight (heavier bridge and tuners) because the bass lacks sustain. I guess what I'm saying here is that I'm more concerned about how a bass sounds than how much it weighs.

 

[Jack Butler]

My tool belt weighs more than your bass, so weight means nothing to me.

I can bench press 320, but I just like a light bass.