Bass weight. What accuracy do you expect?

[cattrax]

This is an interesting and timely thread topic for me. I'm looking for a used JMJ Mustang bass on the lighter side and just this weekend found one for a good price. I emailed the seller asking the weight and the response was "6.6 lbs on the bathroom scale". He then added the weight to his listing.
I'm thinking that's REALLY light for a mustang bass. So I emailed back asking how he measured it, weighing themselves with the bass, etc. And then somebody else snagged it before he replied. I wonder how much it actually weighed...

 

[Scottgun]

Don't forget that 9 pounds of Ash weighs less than 9 pounds of Alder and sound so different you will lose gigs if you don't pick the right wood.

 

[2F/2F]

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.

Your kitchen scale is certainly more precise. It displays smaller divisions of weight; it is more "fine." That is the definition of precision when it comes to measuring devices.

Whether it is more accurate, i.e. more "correct," has nothing to do with the system of units used. "More accurate" simply means that the scale shows you closer to the real weight of an item.

I would venture to guess that your kitchen scale is indeed more accurate than your bathroom scale. But this is only because it is engineered to be so, because it does a very different job, within a very different range. Its use of grams is not what makes it more accurate. It's engineering and build is what does. Kitchen measurements require finer and more correct readings, over a much narrower range, than do human weight measurements. So the scales are engineered for very different criteria. A kitchen scale is designed to display finely divided units over a relatively narrow weight range. A bathroom scale is designed to provide relatively coarsely divided units over a wide weight range.

Accuracy is about how close to true a scale measures something, which is usually internal. Precision is really all about how finely it displays that weight to the user. You could slap a gram scale or an ounce scale on the readout of any measuring device, and it would do nothing to change the accuracy of the device. In fact, I have a scale that can be set to read in grams or in pounds/ounces. It is no less accurate on either setting. It is more precise when set to grams, though.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I'm not going to read all that, I'm bored with this.
Bye!

 

[bucephylus]

Specified bass weights should be within a couple of oz’s, if a weight is quoted.

I use a fishing scale. Fishermen being such liars, I expect it is a bit biased on the high side, which is fine with me.

 

[2F/2F]

I'm not going to read all that, I'm bored with this.
Bye!

Understood. You don't know the difference between accuracy and precision, you won't learn it, and you will communicate in brief statements only.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I know, but I don't care. My argument is valid.
IF you have Grams & Ounces to the same decimal places, Grams is more precise.

You're not going to have a "teaching moment" here!

 

[2F/2F]

IF you have Grams & Ounces to the same decimal places, Grams is more precise.

That is not at all in opposition to what I was saying. Of course grams are more precise than ounces. The problem is that you were using the word "accuracy" to explain that concept. Now you have switched to using the word "precision," which is what I was trying to get you to do all along. So...I guess maybe you have learned after all. Or maybe you are just freely using both terms interchangeably.

I know, but I don't care. My argument is valid.

Your posts have clearly displayed that you don't know the difference between accuracy and precision. I do agree that you don't care, though. As far as your argument being valid, you haven't even made an argument. You've simply said that because your kitchen scale is more accurate and precise than your bathroom scale, then metric-reading devices are necessarily more accurate. The argument is over the definitions of the terms "accuracy" and "precision," and you have yet to provide your own "alternative definitions" of the terms to dispute the commonly understood ones that you have been misusing throughout the thread. The only "argument" you can make is to tell us the definitions of these terms that you adhere to.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I'm not sure why you want this argument so badly.
I already edited my original post. Semantics is what you want to argue about.

 

[Chips_on_Bass]

I'm like 5' 2" but any weight is fine with me.

 

[gln1955]

That is not at all in opposition to what I was saying. Of course grams are more precise than ounces. The problem is that you were using the word "accuracy" to explain that concept. Now you have switched to using the word "precision," which is what I was trying to get you to do all along. So...I guess maybe you have learned after all. Or maybe you are just freely using both terms interchangeably.



Your posts have clearly displayed that you don't know the difference between accuracy and precision. I do agree that you don't care, though. As far as your argument being valid, you haven't even made an argument. You've simply said that because your kitchen scale is more accurate and precise than your bathroom scale, then metric-reading devices are necessarily more accurate. The argument is over the definitions of the terms "accuracy" and "precision," and you have yet to provide your own "alternative definitions" of the terms to dispute the commonly understood ones that you have been misusing throughout the thread. The only "argument" you can make is to tell us the definitions of these terms that you adhere to.

Save your breath (or fingers). Some people refuse to learn.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I don't need to learn, I know the difference & unfortunately just used the wrong term in my first post.
There's no sense in badgering me about it 5 pages later!

 

[Kevin Wolfe]

I recall that in the 70’s we all wanted the weight. We equated weight with sustain. The heavier a Les Paul was, the better. Now the weight is killing us. LOL.

 

[Iridescentone]

If you're going to be selling guitars on a regular basis, and care enough to list the weights, this is all ya need. Accurate to way beyond what even the most anally weight conscious buyer would ever need to know. There are lots of these cheap shipping scales in the $20 range.

https://www.amazon.com/Accuteck-Shi...=1-23&keywords=shipping+scale#customerReviews

 

[ixlramp]

A weird thing about TalkBass is how over-represented the USA is, and how weight topics almost always state imperial measurements despite imperial usage being a tiny minority in the world, and even in the English speaking world.

 

[Kevin Wolfe]

A weird thing about TalkBass is how over-represented the USA is, and how weight topics almost always state imperial measurements despite imperial usage being a tiny minority in the world, and even in the English speaking world.

Your mileage may vary!

 

[Iridescentone]

A weird thing about TalkBass is how over-represented the USA is, and how weight topics almost always state imperial measurements despite imperial usage being a tiny minority in the world, and even in the English speaking world.

What's even weirder is why anyone would object to, or even make an "over-representation" assertion. Maybe you could round up all the other non-USA malcontents and form an Occupy Talkbass movement.

And how boring and obnoxious are the metric-is-best nazis with their incessant bleating whenever the weight topic pops up?...very.

 

[Iridescentone]

I recall that in the 70’s we all wanted the weight. We equated weight with sustain. The heavier a Les Paul was, the better. Now the weight is killing us. LOL.

Ha, true story.

Or...was the weight silently killing us then too, and we're finally paying for it now?

 

[bassbenj]

I figure that if I'm buying a bass from Craig's list, Reverb, or even TB classifieds. there is a good chance that a bathroom scale was used to weigh it. They are designed to be accurate up past 100 pounds or so and are notoriously inaccurate down in the bass range. You have to assume that to be the case. When I list bass weight I use my electronic fish scale which does pounds and ounces and seems very accurate. Businesses on the other hand might be as accurate as my fish scale, or they might just pull some "average weight" they guessed at out of their rear and go with that. Buyer Beware if weight is important to you.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

A weird thing about TalkBass is how over-represented the USA is, and how weight topics almost always state imperial measurements despite imperial usage being a tiny minority in the world, and even in the English speaking world.

Mostly because most of us will not ship overseas.