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HELP! I need to build an ULTRA light fender!

Y

YuriPavlinov

Jun 13, 2011
6
0
Melbourne
#1
Hi folks! 6 months ago I developed, serious back problems (2 herniated discs and associated spinal cord interference) After 2 months on the floor I'm up and moving again but I can't sit or drive and a bass on my shoulders is agony (but worth it)
My current Jazz bass weighs in around 9.5 pounds and my '57 R.I is 8.6 but its my baby (mint candyapple fullerton) and it rarely goes out gigging...
Basically I wish to construct a fender clone/frankenstein using the lightest parts possible as every ounce counts.
I am slightly snobbish in the sense I want it to be a classic Jazz or P-bass body shape but I love both so whichever will be lighter! I'm also leaning toward a (maple) Jazz neck as It's my personal preference and I think that they're lighter(?)

So far I'm considering hipshot ultralight tuners and a hipshot aluminium bridge.

I know that building this way will probably have some tonal compromise but I'm a firm believer that 90% of your tone is from your fingers so I'm happy to adapt.

Any advice ideas welcome folks! :bassist:
 
#2
The Jazz neck would only be a teeny tiny bit lighter, than the stereotypically chunky P neck--but even then, some P necks are thin from spine to fretboard, so they are lighter too. IOW I wouldn't use P and J as reference points. Honestly, I would recommend just sticking with the classic maple for the neck, and not look to lighter neck woods--as they will be more flexible, instead of the stiffness that makes a good neck.

Swamp ash is often much lighter than other body woods, so you could have a builder/supplier pick out their lightest-weight piece of swamp ash for the body. You can also get bodies that are chambered, so they look like classic Fender solidbodies on the outside, but they have empty air pockets inside.

Hipshot parts are 100% awesome, and they are a great company to deal with, too.
 
#3
I was about to mention Hipshot Ultralights - you already got that covered. I've had excellent results with Warmoth parts - and now they have a chambered J bass body - check their site - and go with the neck with graphite rods instead of steel. I don't know what the weight of a chambered body is or what they average out at, but I bet someone in sales would be able to tell you - the whole idea is to save weight anyway. I think Sadowsky chambers their NYC basses - and some are as light as 7#. Just my $.02 on the subject. The other option is to buy a Warmoth body out of their showcase or stock page. I've seen some extremely light bodies in there.
 
#4
FWIW, my 2010 MIA P-Bass weighed 8.3 lbs, completely stock. I was amazed by how light it was. Just throwing that out. That's only 3 ounces more than a Fender Aerodyne with Hipshot UltraLites on it!

If you need to squeeze every ounce of weight out, consider Gotoh Res-O-Lite tuners. They're lighter than even UltraLites.
 
#5
I was thinking a wile back that this would make for a fun experiment, just to see how light one could go.
I was thinking of carving a body and neck from balsa or some other super light material (foam?) and then coating it all in carbon fiber.
I know I've seen necks done this way so I would see no reason that it couldn't be accomplished.
Whether or not it will sound good and/or neck dive like crazy is another story though.

Also if you're thinking of having someone else do the work, you may run into some problems there.
I'd start by looking at some builders that work with carbon fiber necks as that would most likely yield the lightest neck possible.
As for the body, you could go with a custom builder or there's always Warmoth as they list the weight of their bodies.
Best of luck and I hope you recover well,
Samantha.
 
#7
Paulownia is a very light and resonant wood. I have used it on a couple of basses, both weigh under eight pounds with standard hardware! This is the one I just finished a couple weeks ago.

seafoamJ001.jpg


The bodies are available from Guitar Fetish. The only downside is that it is a fairly soft wood, so it will show nicks and dings easier.

Bass Bodies and Necks
 
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#9
Thanks everyone! Very helpful! I'll check out these tips and keep everyone posted! I will be assembling it myself but I don't have the means to build from scratch at this point so I'll have to wait a few years for any carbon fiber experiments! Although Samantha definitely has me thinking about an off the shelf carbon fiber neck, time to do some hunting!
 
#11
gjbassist said:
Paulownia is a very light and resonant wood. I have used it on a couple of basses, both weigh under eight pounds with standard hardware! This is the one I just finished a couple weeks ago.

seafoamJ001.jpg


The bodies are available from Guitar Fetish. The only downside is that it is a fairly soft wood, so it will show nicks and dings easier.

Bass Bodies and Necks
Click to expand...

+1. Pawlonia is about as light as you're gonna get. Go with a standard Fender style bridge( no high mass stuff), or one of the many aftermarket aluminium ones, ultra light tuners, and either plastic or wooden knobs. If your building a Jazz, you might look into having the control plate machined seperately out of aluminum, unless you can find that aftermarket as well. That's what I'd do. Or build it out of a nice piece of wood. Anything I could save weight on, no matter how small, would be fair game.
Incidentally, I'm building a P from some 100 year old pine my mother-in-law gave me. The body weighs in at 2lbs. I expect the entire bass will be fairly light. Looking forward to it. I don't have the problems that you have, but my aging back screams to high heaven after about 5-10 minutes of slinging a standard weight Fender around my neck. I know it'll probably be neck heavy, but I would much rather deal with a little neck dive than the back pain. Good luck, whatever you decide to do.
 
#15
This is one of my Moonshine STP Basses:
MVC-328F.jpg

MVC-325F.jpg

It is built in the Danelectro/Jerry Jones style; it has masonite for the top & back, The "rim" consists of swamp ash neck & tail/bridge block combined with a pine frame. It is fully hollw with the exception of a pine block where the P pickup will be routed.

This will be fully contoured with arm bevel & belly cut. I also do an early version that has less of a roundover & no contours. The bodies average around 2-3lbs.

Moonshine :bassist:
 
#17
darkstorm said:
Pawlonia can be good, but absolutely avoid cheap versions of it as they are rediculously soft wood. Also make sure you uswe five screw bridge instead of three. I seriously doubt a Pawlonia body would fair well with the tension of bridge mounted with just 3 screws.
Click to expand...

or just get some string furrels and make it a string through. keeps the bridge clamped down with the higher tension and generally makes for more sustain.
 
#18
Could you combine all of the above suggestions with a shorter scale bass?

Chambered swamp ash body
32' scale
Hipshot ultralights, aluminum bridge
Natural finish (would this reduce weight?)

Maybe this would get you in the 7lb. range. Honestly I'm not sure how much of difference a 1 or 1 1/2 lb. reduction is going to make given the problems you listed. I think just about anything is going to hurt considering what you have been through but I hope you find something.

If all else fails I know the Parker Fly basses were extremely light.
 
#19
True swamp ash is very light. Verify the weight before you buy. Warmoth will do that for you. Warmoth steel reinforced necks are heavy (nice, but heavy). But graphite-reinforced necks from Warmoth are lighter. A fully graphite Status P or J neck will weigh in pretty light too.

All the other suggestions and these are good. But the single easiest thing to lighten your load is a 4" wide strap. I've got 5 or 6 of them from Italia Straps (Black Leather Guitar Strap by Italia). The width of the strap disperses weight so well, even a boat-anchor weight bass feels pretty effortless. With the 2 for one sale Italia always has on they are crazy cheap for a great leather product. And, no - I'm not related. :p
 

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