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Is a 9 pound bass too heavy?

Is a 9 pound bass too heavy?

  • Yes! I might break a nail!

    Votes: 30 15.2%
  • No! My junk is heavier than that!

    Votes: 168 84.8%

  • Total voters
    198
So, I guess the answer to the question is: For some folks Yes; for some folks, No. For me personally? No, it's not too heavy. 9 pounds is probably the median weight of my 17 basses, in fact. I don't have back/neck/shoulder issues (fortunately), so even my heaviest bass ('78 P-Bass @ 11.1 lbs.) isn't a problem. The M-60 machine gun (27 lbs.+/-) I carried around on an assault sling for 12+ years? That was a problem. ;)
 
This is more subjective than tone!

If the guy next door was selling the best sounding bass in the world and it weighed in at 12lbs and was up for sale at $10 I would go for the second best if it weighed 8.5lbs.

I don't have the luxury of saying tone is everything. I wish I still could but I don't.
 
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This is more subective than tone!

If the guy next door was selling the best sounding bass in the world and it weighed in at 12lbs and was up for sale at $10 I would go for the second best if it weighed 8.5lbs.

I don't have the luxury of saying tone is everything. I wish I still could but I don't.
+1. I sure would love the luxury of a couple of roadies carrying around a mother of an Ampeg SVT and fridge rig, but for me (and probably the majority of folk on here) this is not the case, so I cut my cloth to fit. Remember with a bit of luck we all get older and ageing brings with it change and new challenges for all, hence my shoulder being screwed up from years of playing. Anything over 7.5 lb now is a no no for me so I use a Sadowsky NYC and Duo strap.
Thankfully the introduction of micro amps and neo speakers has kept me in the game.
 
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You look to be much less of a pencil necked geek than me, so that helps extend the time frame. But I didn't buy a P Lyte a few years ago because I loved the P Lyte ;) I bought it to use when my shoulder bothers me.
 
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Well I can still enjoy it for 11 years before I need to sell it then.
I used a beautiful Jaydee roadie 11 boutique bass throughout my 20's and early thirties. It weighed around 11.5 pounds. A beautiful bass, with the best neck I ever wrapped my hand around and a real looker. I got older, it got too heavy, but I persevered until I done damage to my shoulder. It is long since sold. My only regret is that I did not retire the beast earlier and get something lighter. My body would thank me now.
Kinda the same deal with my hearing. Rocked out for many years, with little consideration for my hearing. Then developed tinnitus and for the past 8 years have been using custom ACS ear protectors. If I could rewind the clock, I would have protected my ears from the off. Guess hindsight is 20/20 vision.
Enjoy those heavy basses.
 
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My 5 string jazz weighs 14.5 lbs, my 4 string MM weighs just shy of 11 lbs, my Pbass weighs 10.5. I'm not sure I've even seen a 9 lb bass in the wild.

Are you sure it is 14.5lbs? That is about as heavy as I have ever seen a single necked bass in my 30+ years of playing. The very odd 70's Fender or early 80's Peavey would be over 12lbs and 13 was considered a boat anchor.

Almost all new basses you pick up in a music store are under 10lbs these days.
 

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