I only care about weight because i blew out my back a few years ago. It always hurts. but the heavier the bass, the heavier the extra hurt after a gig...
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Does a bass being a lightweight indicate a negative?
- Thread starter FishDub
- Start date
I had the Dingwall NG3 in this picture. It was awesome and very easy to play all over the neck. But I traded in for this Spector Euro and put the pickups and Preamp in and I have never had a better playing and sounding bass than the Spector. I do miss the Dingwall though. Should of kept it and bought the Spector outright
"Does a bass being a lightweight indicate a negative?"
No. It does not. The lightest Jazz I ever held was a '62. I'd guess around 7 lbs. The tone was sublime.
My Danelectro DC59 sounds huge. Probably about 4 lbs.
Sorry for the font size. I really am not shouting.
No. It does not. The lightest Jazz I ever held was a '62. I'd guess around 7 lbs. The tone was sublime.
My Danelectro DC59 sounds huge. Probably about 4 lbs.
Sorry for the font size. I really am not shouting.
So do I. I turned 64 last month. That is only the age. Actual mileage is higher than age would suggest. 9 lbs is too much. 8.5 is way better. 8.0 is better still.
- Jun 30, 2010
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Does a bass being a lightweight indicate a negative?
no
no
You can make a case for either (or neither). I’m not sussed about it.
True enough. I like my Mustang, but if Fender (or Squier) had any sense at all of what a short scale bass guitar should ideally be they wouldn't have put a large in-line-4 P-bass style head on it! An Ibanez style 2+2 smaller, lighter head would've made this bass ever so much better! (And the same holds true for their smaller Jaguar basses also...) Designing smaller basses just so they look like larger ones instead of putting ergonomics first is ridiculous!
-But there you have it; that's Fender.... 
Exactly! Design and engineering counts!True enough. I like my Mustang, but if Fender (or Squier) had any sense at all of what a short scale bass guitar should ideally be they wouldn't have put a large in-line-4 P-bass style head on it! An Ibanez style 2+2 smaller, lighter head would've made this bass ever so much better! (And the same holds true for their smaller Jaguar basses also...) Designing smaller basses just so they look like larger ones instead of putting ergonomics first is ridiculous!
I have wondered if you could get a short scale replacement neck with paddle headstock from Warmoth to address this issue on what is an otherwise wonderful bass. I stopped thinking about it when I figured out the cost and realized getting an entirely different bass was more cost effective. I really can’t abide neck dive, especially on a short scale instrument. It just introduces a host of other annoying issues.True enough. I like my Mustang, but if Fender (or Squier) had any sense at all of what a short scale bass guitar should ideally be they wouldn't have put a large in-line-4 P-bass style head on it! An Ibanez style 2+2 smaller, lighter head would've made this bass ever so much better! (And the same holds true for their smaller Jaguar basses also...) Designing smaller basses just so they look like larger ones instead of putting ergonomics first is ridiculous!
Thanks. EMG modded the mid board on my BQC I put in and put a toggle switch on in place of the mini switches. I put a Delano Sonar preamp in and ended up not happy w it. So I had a hole to fill and EMG did that mod for free! Very awesome. I also put in the EMG DCX pickups in place of the EMG TW's (which are still great photos l pickups.) But the x pickups are amazing! I am selling the tw pickups on Reverb at a very good price if anyone wants them...
It used to be a negative - way back in the day, when light was usually considered synonymous with "cheap & crappy". Those days have been over for a decade or five, now. Just depends what you want, these days...
Heavey basses are cooler than ever. But they are no longer the only game in town.It used to be a negative - way back in the day, when light was usually considered synonymous with "cheap & crappy". Those days have been over for a decade or five, now. Just depends what you want, these days...
I don't think light weight and lightweight are the same. The former means it doesn't break the scale you use to weigh it, the latter means it has been castrated sonically. A 12 lb. beast can sound either good or bad as can a 6 lb. bass. If you position most basses comfortably and use a wide enough strap that distributes the weight evenly the shoulder stress problem can be reduced. The older we get the more issues crop up that never bothered us before. I'm not knocking anyone who has an issue with weight but it doesn't matter to me. I do think some of the cause is the focus of the weight in one spot on your shoulder. Wide straps spread the load over a greater area and really help. Wrist pain can be reduced by holding the bass in more of an upright position. When held horizontally you must curl your wrists into a claw just to wrap your fingers around the neck. Let your elbows do the bending instead.
Back to the question. Hofner basses are featherweights but the tone is huge. So, no.
Back to the question. Hofner basses are featherweights but the tone is huge. So, no.
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Might work for you but I have wide straps, and though it does ease things up a little, the only thing that truly works for me is to use a lighter bass.
(edited) People write about tone and people write about weight. We can all be clear that these are not the same thing. They may be associated in various ways at various times, but they are independent. Lower vs. high weight is clearly better and objective--we can control for weight and compare other things. Timbre/Tone is subjective and not as easily controlled. We can't take two basses with an identical timbre and then pick the lightest one (unless we are looking at units of the same model at Sweetwater!). So the whole discussion is apples to oranges at some level. For a good sound, we want the least weight--an optimality problem. But there are so many varieties of 'good sound' that we are all looking for the lightest bass that has certain timbres/tones we are going after. So we will have to settle for optimal solutions within these subjective categories, and there will always be multiple solutions (i.e. local optima). What is the lightest bass that produces a great P-bass tone? Or, what is the lightest bass for metal? Most of us can't systematically try enough basses to answer that kind of question with much confidence, so we end up triangulating based on the few we can try. I gravitate without trying too hard toward the lighter basses I have that produce sounds I like--that's just a good compromise at best and everyone needs to make their own. (apologies if the previous unedited post seemed combative).
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Certainly an extra five pounds slung over your shoulder for hours feels like a ton. I haven't fallen victim to that yet. Maybe someday (soon).
