Heaviest Bass You've Ever Owned?

[GreyBeard]

I think my 1995 poplar body SR5 is the heaviest bass I've ever owned. I'm 71 and I still play it. 4" strap.

 

[beadgc23]

Warwick ‘90 Thumb 6 NT fretless. 14lbs (just under) Sounded great for recording, physically painful on stage. When the 5.5 lb Turner Renaissance arrived, its days were numbered…

 

[WG Plum]

Custom FSO fretless Jazz bass. One-piece mahogany body, 11.2 lbs. It balances really well so you don't feel the weight when it's strapped on.

 

[spiritbass]

Kinal MK-21 @ ten pounds. The heaviest I ever played was a friend's Les Paul Recording bass. A good fourteen pounds of walnut...

 

[vegas532]

It was a tie between a Warwick NT 5 and an Ovation Magnum I. Both were physically painful to play for any extended period of time.

 

[logdrum]

There are Les Pauls that can beat that and they are smaller guitars.

For me long time gone is the ATK bass. It could have been over 12 lbs. It was heavier than Norlin Les Pauls but no proof from me.

 

[bassclef112]

I have a Warmoth alder body Jazz just under 11 lbs, and an Alembic Mark Ling just over. I can play each for one gig, but not two in a row.
By far the heaviest was a 1983 Fender Gold Elite II in ash. It was some years ago so I don't have a number, but by the end of one set I was done.

 

[BassRodent]

Heaviest bass i ever owned was a 1978 Fender P - 12lbs. Can anyone top that?

6 string LTD ESP B206 bass. 14 lbs. sounded great but sucked to play for more than 5 min and had no comfortable place to rest your arm. Have a peavey cirrus 5 now that sounds even better and only weighs about 9lbs

 

[Phud]

I've owned hundreds, and until the last decade or so I never bothered to weigh them, so can't be exactly sure.

My Travis Bean TB-2000 was probably the heavy-weight champ.
But my Rickenbacker Model 3000 was a close second! (Solid maple body about 1.75" thick...)
View attachment 4525456

Do you still have the Ric?

 

[Chickenwheels]

I was handed an Alembic Series II 6 string once...and it was the heaviest guitar I’ve ever held in my hands.
Runner up would be a mid-70s Jazz. An absolute boat anchor.
I don’t mind 10lbs-ish if it’s balanced. Having the right strap helps, too.

 

[jamro217]

I never paid any attention to the wight of an instrument until the topic seemed to show up here so often. Now that I'm aware of it, it still doesn't matter all that much. If I like an instrument, I play it. I did go shopping for a Guild B-302 a few years ago and was put off by its excessive tonnage. G.A.S. cured (temporarily). Other than that...

 

[The Thinker]

Of the 50-60 basses I’ve owned, I’m sure my first bass was my heaviest—and no surprise, it was a Peavey T-40.

 

[bikeplate]

Likely a T-40. My first bass. Junk

 

[BazzaBass]

2022 - same as it ever was

 

[SemiDriven]

There are Les Pauls that can beat that and they are smaller guitars....

Funny you say that.

At church a few months back, one of the guitarists (neither young nor old) turned to another guitarist and asked him if he thought his guitar was too heavy.

We all took turns hoisting his Les Paul. Had to be close to 10 lbs -- maybe more.

I just turned to him and said "Dude, you're getting old".

 

[GoesThump]

I've owned hundreds, and until the last decade or so I never bothered to weigh them, so can't be exactly sure.

My Travis Bean TB-2000 was probably the heavy-weight champ.
But my Rickenbacker Model 3000 was a close second! (Solid maple body about 1.75" thick...)
View attachment 4525456

My 3000 is definitely the heaviest bass I own / have owned. Love it, but it weights a ton.

R3000-3-jpg

• GoesThump
• Jan 1, 2022
• gt's ric 3000

GT

 

[2F/2F]

'77 Stingray fretless, same weight as the OP's bass. I learned to play on that bass starting at age 7, and used it exclusively until I got my L-2000 fretless about 10 years later.

 

[Danny O Danny]

Back in the early 80's I briefly owned a Kramer XKB-10 "Wedge". It looked like this one, only bright yellow. Aluminum neck, solid maple body. It must've weighed close to 11 pounds, plus had terrible neck dive.

 

[MobileHolmes]

Three stand out in my memory, though I never weighed them:

1) My first Warmoth build, a fretless P-bass with a solid birdseye maple body and neck

2) My first 5-string, a red 1988 Wal 5

3) My first 6-string, a 1990 Warwick Thumb 6 neck-through

My current Curbow singlecut 6 is no lightweight, either, but it’s an amazing instrument…

I had a maple warmoth fretless Jazz that I got off eBay. Never weighed it but it had to be 12-13

 

[JRA]

Heaviest Bass You've Ever Owned?

Can anyone top that?

i have no clue! if i ever cared to know i've surely forgotten by now.

i used to play some heavy ones. i thought: heavy woods + heavy hardware for balance = best possible tone/sustain! i just bought into that thinking for years.... i hope i wasn't the only one!

now i weigh everything.