• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Bass weight?

#222
If I play for 45 mins to 1hr and im feeling the bass, i notice the weight.
Lacks of gigs during Covid might mean we werent standing up playing for quite a while.
I would class a couple of my basses as heavy but only because i have just got a light one. Before that I had no idea how much the basses weigh and i havent felt inclined to weigh them.
 
#223
LexD said:
Have you older members, and those with health issues considered sitting down?

View attachment 4581180
Click to expand...

I've sat while playing for the better part of 25 years and weight was not an issue.

Then nearly 4 years ago I had a mild stroke that messed with my right side. I could still walk, talk, and play (pretty much) and I can't play standing. The stroke left me with pain in my right hip and thigh that is exacerbated by the weight of my basses and my arm which I have to rest on edge of the bass when playing seated so now I need as light and instrument as possible and I pad my right thigh to spread the weight.

This is complicated by pain and heaviness in my right arm and hand which prevents me from playing my upright or EUB for more than a few minutes. I used to play both seated on a stool.
 
  • Like
Reactions: EarlTroutman and LexD
#224
Maku021 said:
So I was a member here TB and on AB years ago... I never have seen so many bass players asking about the weight of the bass as they do now. ??? I find this interesting as weight of a bass means nothing to me. I don't find any basses to be too heavy (I've heard these called boat anchors). I also play some hollow body basses that would be considered light by some. But... ultimately why do you care what the weight of a bass is? I have never turned down or bought a bass based on weight. Thoughts???
Click to expand...
I asked this same thing years ago. I think it just depends on the situation of the individual player. Health, the playing situation and so on. I’m 40. I’m 5’11” 230 lbs and built like a nfl linebacker. Have no health problems like a bad back or shoulder and playing heavy basses for quick 45 minute originals gigs is perfectly acceptable for me. I’ve even had a couple heavyweights in the 12-15 pound range. Where heavy basses became a problem for me is playing long cover gigs or marathon rehearsals with bands. For example the guys I play with are all spread out along I95 here in NC. I drive over an hour each way to and from band rehearsal. So it’s just not practical to get together more often for shorter rehearsals. When we have rehearsals it has to be long enough to make the time and cost of the drive worth it for everyone and I’m not a huge fan of playing sitting down in a band context.

For most of my 20s and 30s i played primarily short originals gigs and played in bands where everyone was local and we could literally just get together and run through the set once and call it a day. for some of these folks you gotta understand they are playing 3-4 set cover gigs or like me now dealing with brutally long rehearsals. Also some people just have physical issues with heavy basses. Maybe they have a bad shoulder or back for example.
 
Last edited:
#227
I've done a 10 hour gig. If you are Union then you get paid for it all. But you or your BL must set the rates in advance before you start your overtime playing. In a dive back in the day we played from 6am to 4am. Same songs all night but no one was there more than an hour so it was cool. They just dropped in to dance a song or two, grab a Jack Daniels, and hit the road. I think we got a flat $600 for the first three hours, then $100 cash per 50 minute set for the rest. Not bad for six college students in 1970. We paid in advance for a motel room but that wasn't for sleeping - it was for styling our hair! We drove home and slept in our own beds.
 
#229
Maku021 said:
So I was a member here TB and on AB years ago... I never have seen so many bass players asking about the weight of the bass as they do now. ??? I find this interesting as weight of a bass means nothing to me. I don't find any basses to be too heavy (I've heard these called boat anchors). I also play some hollow body basses that would be considered light by some. But... ultimately why do you care what the weight of a bass is? I have never turned down or bought a bass based on weight. Thoughts???
Click to expand...
I was thinking there are probably a bunch of older players in this group, and the weight of the bass takes it's toll on a longer gig. I play an Ibanez SR500, and it is a nice weight. My American Jazz is heavier and I am good for only several hours wearing it.
 
#230
Issues around weight isn't a new thing and isn't always about getting older!

Back in the early 70's I had a chance to buy an SVT and 810 but as I had no road crew at the time, I declined.

Around the same time, after struggling with a 5 piece band to carry a Hammond C3 up several flights of stairs, I made a mental note never to join a band with one of these monsters.

I wonder if the Talkkeys forum has Hammond C3 players posting that Nord players are wimps?
 
#232
OK, for those that say that weight is not an issue, ponder this:

You just bought a bass. It weighs 500 pounds Is that OK? No? well, we have established that weight IS an issue, all we're talking about is how much weight you are comfortable with. Now, watch the Olympics. How many 60 year old weightlifters do you see? Is your grandfather as strong as you are? No? So, as we get older, we don't deal with weight like we did when were were young. Do the women lift as much as the men? No? then there are other factors that determine how weight sensitive we all are.

Are there different classes of weightlifters, depending on how much you weigh? Do we pit 100 pound wrestlers against 200 pound wrestlers? I wonder why.....When I was 20, a 12 pound bass was OK. I'm now 63. Is it surprising that I now have a lower weight tolerance? I'm also a pretty big guy. Do you think that smaller people deal with weight the same as I do?

There isn't really any mystery here, if...you think for a couple of minutes about this.
 
#233
Maku021 said:
So I was a member here TB and on AB years ago... I never have seen so many bass players asking about the weight of the bass as they do now. ??? I find this interesting as weight of a bass means nothing to me. I don't find any basses to be too heavy (I've heard these called boat anchors). I also play some hollow body basses that would be considered light by some. But... ultimately why do you care what the weight of a bass is? I have never turned down or bought a bass based on weight. Thoughts???
Click to expand...
You must be young and/or very fit.
 
#237
The weight of a bass doesn’t faze me if it’s under 10 lbs. i did however, downsize my rig considerably. I’m using a single 12 with a 4lb head. Going direct to the mains using IEM so I dont even need that but I haven’t made the emotional jump to completely ampless yet. Gone gone gone are the days of lugging full stacks and tube heads. Apologies to the purists, but if it had wheels, it’s sold.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back