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Bass weight. What accuracy do you expect?

What do you do abou

  • I expect it to be less than an ounce off

    Votes: 27 19.3%

  • A few ounces don't bother me

    Votes: 63 45.0%

  • Half Pound?

    Votes: 19 13.6%

  • Eat more carrots and don't be a weight wimp!

    Votes: 31 22.1%
  • Total voters
    140
#41
2F/2F said:
It's more precise, not more accurate.

Precision is about how small the smallest demarcated units of measurement on a scale are. In another word, it means "fineness."

Accuracy is about how true to actual weight a scale reads. In another word, it means "correctness."

A scale can be quite precise (e.g. allows you to read weight down to a milligram), yet wildly inaccurate (i.e. simply gives you the wrong weight). Accuracy is usually more important than precision...and the units of measurement used have nothing to do with accuracy.

In the OP's case, unless it is a damned fine instrument that you can't bear to part with, it should go back for having been sold with a false description of the weight.
Click to expand...
Nicely explained.
 
#42
2F/2F said:
It's more precise, not more accurate.

Precision is about how small the smallest demarcated units of measurement on a scale are. In another word, it means "fineness."

Accuracy is about how true to actual weight a scale reads. In another word, it means "correctness."
Click to expand...

My kitchen scale that measures in Grams is more accurate than my bathroom scale that measures in Pounds & ounces.
IME, Grams is usually more precise & more accurate.


Slevage said:
It’s only as accurate as the device being used.
Click to expand...

Check my response above^


themarshall said:
grams will give you a more accurate weight than ounces
Click to expand...

True!
 
#45
Killed_by_Death said:
My kitchen scale that measures in Grams is more accurate than my bathroom scale that measures in Pounds & ounces.
IME, Grams is usually more precise & more accurate.
Click to expand...

No it's not. It's just a different unit of measurement. A quality analytical scale can be switched between the two. Equally precise and accurate in either system.
 
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#46
I was considering a Musicman 5'er listed here in the classifieds. I asked the seller to include the weight but was ignored. Five months later the bass was still listed for sale.

If I ask for the weight, it is because I want to know. I have no interest in estimates, interpretations, bathroom scales or other bs. If a seller is too lazy to provide accurate weight, I'm too lazy to make an offer. The only thing that annoys me is when someone tries to manage my expectations.

OP, IMO YGRO.
 
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#51
I think they should be pretty accurate, within a couple ounces. I've had to return one or two that were way off what the advertised weight said.

I also find it quite aggravating when someones answer is "It feels about (xxx)lbs." or "The website lists it as (xxx)lbs".
 
#54
My cheap postal scale will weigh to the fraction of an ounce. If it is listed as 8 lbs 6 oz, that's a very exact measurement. Would I return it for 8 lbs 7 oz? No, but whatever weight you list should be accurate. Take it to FedEX and get an accurate weight there if you need to. It's not that difficult. Similarly, if you received a bass that's listed as black, but then you find out that the white balance was completely off when the pics were taken and it's more of a dark blue, how black would it need to be?
 
#55
Yesterday I borrowed the postal scale from work, took it home and weighed fifteen instruments. I was really VERY surprised when the apocryphal "12 pound" Kramer (according to multiple checks on the digital bathroom scale) actually turned out to weigh 10 pounds, zero ounces. Twenty percent margin of error!
 
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#59
Spidey2112 said:
Yep... not sure why, but I'd expect the electronics to have tighter tolerances, but I bet most fall into the same plus/minus...
Click to expand...

I would suspect end user's "technique" is more at fault than the electronics - ignoring bathroom scales that are designed to be accurate in the 100-300lbs range rather than 10 lbs. Setting the bass on the scale, holding the headstock just a little to help balance, except balancing is actually removing a bit of weight.
 
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#60
I'm closer to 70 then I am to 60, I've led a good, full, healthy lifestyle, and have steadily been playing bass in gigging bands since the mid eighties. It's no longer my back that limits the weight, but my shoulders. After a 20 year bass merry-go-round, know to the ounce what my left shoulder can handle for gigs or long practice, it's in the 9 lb 2 ounce range. More than that causes strain and pain, so it's not preference it's necessity.

I still grieve over having to sell my 9 lb 6 oz Warwick 2000, what a beautiful great sounding bass. Life dictates it had to go. I don't know why anyone can't give accurate weights, a fish scale is just over $10 dollars at Walmart, and I've also had USPS, UPS and FedEx weigh basses for me. And yes people selling basses to me using the bathroom scale method have been off over a lb.
 
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