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does weight affect tone?

#61
JIO said:
Speaking of which… a friend made a fretless w/the body made from of an old maple butcher-block. It was a big, thick Jag shaped body and it weighs a bloody ton. He has G&L L-2000 pu's electronics in it and it sounds like Moby Dick! - deep, full, rich and flavorful. But even playing it sitting will give your leg cramps! Maybe for a recording, but I would never consider playing it live. So the point is there is always a happy medium based on rational function that needs to be achieved in our romantic quest for ultimate tone.
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There it is.

I used to be a 100% swamp ash guy (I had it in my head that Alder was somehow "cheaper") - what I've learned is that a well made Alder bass can sound great - very little difference in sound. The P'ups have a MUCH bigger influence on the tone. So now, I'm pretty much a "light as possible" guy.
 
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#62
SanDiegoHarry said:
There it is.

I used to be a 100% swamp ash guy (I had it in my head that Alder was somehow "cheaper") - what I've learned is that a well made Alder bass can sound great - very little difference in sound. The P'ups have a MUCH bigger influence on the tone. So now, I'm pretty much a "light as possible" guy.
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Alder is my favorite - my latest build is made of red alder. It'll come in around 8 lbs. Can't wait to hear it!
 
#63
SanDiegoHarry said:
There it is.

I used to be a 100% swamp ash guy (I had it in my head that Alder was somehow "cheaper") - what I've learned is that a well made Alder bass can sound great - very little difference in sound. The P'ups have a MUCH bigger influence on the tone. So now, I'm pretty much a "light as possible" guy.
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I agree when the woods are close as alder and swamp ash. The difference in electronics is everything. But I know hard maple is going to have highs that many softer woods won't. Picture how a pine piano would sound. Now mic it up and boost the treble:eek:

And yes, my old Ripper and PJ were pretty heavy. I didn't love picking them up.
 
#67
Greg Jones said:
The more I weigh the bitchier I sound ..... I've dropped 30 lbs over the past year, I'm sounding better than ever! ;)
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I've found just the opposite. Been in good to excellent condition all of my life until I trashed my knee almost four years ago and put on 35lbs. An unexpected side effect wast all the pain from old upper spine injuries I dealt with daily for years has lessened by 60-80%. I can actually stand up with an 8.5lb bass all night now. Being fat sucks in most ways but I sound much less bitchy....and much less whacked on codeine at the gig too.
 
#68
I've always owned heavy basses, buying into the untested theory that the the strings vibrate more when they can't vibrate the body as much.
MM fretless 5 - a tank
Ibanez ergo dyne 5 - tank
Washburn BB6 - two panzers
the Washburn has been my main bass for almost a year now, but yesterday I traded a bunch of unused gear for an Ibanez SR505. What a huge difference. The body is way thinner than the Washburn, the neck feels downright scrawny, and it's pretty much half the weight.
Now, I totally understand that there are a crazy number of variables at work here, but here's my a/b between the stupid heavy Washburn 6 and the Ibanez 505- lightest bass I've ever played.

BB6- maple neck, the size of a tree. can't find body weight, but crazy heavy. Sounds dull in the upper registers, but absolutely pounds in the bottom end.

Ibanez 505- mahogany body, jotoba neck. very thin, very light, both neck and body. Sounds... "woody", unlike any of my other basses. I can see how people would call it "open". The high end resonates well and sounds like, well, like mahogany to me. The low end is clear and articulate with the same resonance, but sounds like it's lacking in fundamental pitch, and gets lost in a band setting. I find myself barely tickling the higher strings, but hammering the crap out of the E&B.

Halfway through the first practice with the Ibanez, the jack crapped out, and I had to switch to the Washburn. I made sad faces at every high note, and did a little pee dance at every open E & low D.

I am now gassing for the best of both worlds.
 
#69
I have found my tone has much more to do with the gear I use and my ear than my weight. I have fluctuated between 200-300 lbs for years and found it had very little effect on my tone....IMHO.
 
#70
Body thickness is way more significant than weight.

I had three basses made from rock maple.
Two weighed 13lbs and one weighed 9.5, with a thin body.

Of the two 13lb basses, one sounded remarkably close to the 9.5lb one(my Ric) and it had the same bidy thickness(13lb Epi Ripper).

The other heavy bass was a Warmoth PJ body made out of rock maple. Way too thick to be as resonant with heavy maple.
 
#71
Chef said:
Yes.
No.
Maybe.

That about sums it up :D
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I completely disagree with Chef on this. In typical TB fashion where we pride ourselves on picking nits, I think the breakdown is much more like...

Absolutely
Never
Sometimes

Now if we can just move on to a topic we all agree on - like tone woods, or best bass for metal, or best B string - we'll make some serious progress. :whistle:
 
#76
Yes, the lighter my instruments are, the more tone I can produce with them before collapsing.

My Gibson basses (7.1 and 7.4 lb.) are every bit as tone-rich and sustaining as my Peavey (9.5 lb.).
 
#77
{sigh} I'm not sure why I bother with these threads anymore. People with tin ears aren't ever gonna believe that what they can't hear still exits.

Of course the density or weight of the wood effects the tone of an instrument. EVERYTHING effects tone. And of course it will be a whole lot more subtle than changing strings or pickups but subtle still counts. Not only does it count, it MATTERS.
 
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#78
personally I like heavy basses, but I would say its probably a little more about playability than tone. I say playability because I hate light weight basses that flop all over the place. one of my main "tests" for a bass is while standing up I'll pop the d and g strings at the same time. If the bass flops up I don't even care to hear it plugged in anymore. You might ask how does that effect playability, well just like basses with horrible neck dive...if your using energy and your focus to hold your bass in playing position you have less to put into in what your actually playing. Basses that are super light do kinda feel like toys to me. And yeah part of it is tone, but builders are coming up with more and more ways to make basses that sound good and weigh less. I just wish theys come up
more designs where the bass was light weight but stayed put while being played better.
 
#79
Jeff Bonny said:
{sigh} I'm not sure why I bother with these threads anymore. People with tin ears aren't ever gonna believe that what they can't hear still exits.

Of course the density or weight of the wood effects the tone of an instrument. EVERYTHING effects tone. And of course it will be a whole lot more subtle than changing strings or pickups but subtle still counts. Not only does it count, it MATTERS.
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It's not just you. I feel the same way.:)
 

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