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Is the bass to heavy?
- Thread starter Elias Gravdal
- Start date
I dunno, I wanted to write a post about how whatever works for you works for you. But 12.4 pounds is a really heavy bass. Like, must be in the top 5%, of production basses anyway.
You might want to check in with Thomann to make sure it's right; it's so on the heavy side that there may be a mistake. Otherwise if it were me I'd find a lighter one.
You might want to check in with Thomann to make sure it's right; it's so on the heavy side that there may be a mistake. Otherwise if it were me I'd find a lighter one.
That bass is too heavy for me. I don't have any physical issues, but a four hour gig with that would not be fun.
I can't say if it's too heavy for you. You need to get tot a music store and try on a 12 pound bass and imagine how it will feel after a few hours.
I can't say if it's too heavy for you. You need to get tot a music store and try on a 12 pound bass and imagine how it will feel after a few hours.
Welcome to TB.
Yes, you’re going to hear many people tell you why they think that’s too heavy.
The scrawny kids in your high school marching band practice standing 6-7 hours every day in the summer with 40 pound Sousaphones. Those field Tom’s are also about 45#. Scrawny Frank Zappa played a 15lb Les Paul modified. He never quit. Even Suzi Quatro (5’0”) famously says she doesn’t care about it. She plays what sounds good and hauls around a Ripper like it’s a rag doll.
My advice first is play a bass that feels good in your fretting hand and sounds how you like. If you feel you will be happier/healthier with a lesser weight bass than get one.
But do not use weight as your singular metric unless it is your top priority.
Lauren Sevian is scowling below because her sax is almost 13 pounds and they don’t make 4” padded sax straps. She’s trying to look like TJ Watt.
Yes, you’re going to hear many people tell you why they think that’s too heavy.
The scrawny kids in your high school marching band practice standing 6-7 hours every day in the summer with 40 pound Sousaphones. Those field Tom’s are also about 45#. Scrawny Frank Zappa played a 15lb Les Paul modified. He never quit. Even Suzi Quatro (5’0”) famously says she doesn’t care about it. She plays what sounds good and hauls around a Ripper like it’s a rag doll.
My advice first is play a bass that feels good in your fretting hand and sounds how you like. If you feel you will be happier/healthier with a lesser weight bass than get one.
But do not use weight as your singular metric unless it is your top priority.
Lauren Sevian is scowling below because her sax is almost 13 pounds and they don’t make 4” padded sax straps. She’s trying to look like TJ Watt.
As said its a common bass. Unless its your thing why get a heavy one when you can get a lighter one?
10 pounds is my limit but it also has to do with how the bass balances on a strap, I have had lighter basses that had neck dive that bothered me more than my 10 lbs. Fbass that has perfect balance so it’s not just the overall weight of the bass.
nuh-uh:
NBD: 1978 Gibson RD Artist
Seriously, that's pretty heavy though yeah, there are much heavier basses out there... My Sire V series are all around 10.5 lbs, which is heavy enough but manageable. 12.4 wouldn't be a deal breaker by itself, but it could be a factor, yeah.
Though I think my RD Standard is over 15 lbs., don't play that so much lol.
Hi, I want to buy an Marcus Miller V7 Vintage Alder BMR 2nd Gen bass.
On Thomann they say that the bass weight is 12,4 pounds (5,66kg) an i think that very heavy...
Do you think that the bass is to heavy for me? i am 5,9 an my weight is 149pounds (68kg)
What do you think? i need som tips
As already has been said, try to see if that kind of weight would be acceptable to you, for me personally I’m fine with that kind of weight as long as it has a very wide strap and at a comfortable height. I cannot empathize a wide strap enough, even a light bass with a narrow strap hurts after a while.
agreed! but neck dive is wrong-er, IMO. an instrument should balance whatever its weight.
welcome to talkbass, elias! as @Joe Nerve said: "it's subjective." but you can tell from the thread responses that a 12 lb. instrument would be too heavy for most of us, for 3-4 hours, standing. and as most have indicated: lighter options are available. whatever you do, good luck with your choices!
12.5 pounds would be a big negative for me, and probably a deal breaker. But I weigh multiple factors when considering a bass so it's possible that, for myself, I could justify that heavy a bass. Not likely, though. FWIW, I once sold a 13.5 pound MIM Fender Jazz Deluxe 5 that I loved because I could find a lot of other basses that were much nicer and weighed considerably less. Since selling that Jazz, I've owned 10-12 such basses.
Ultimately, the decision is up to you, regardless how much the "Don't be such a wuss, man up and get your weak a** to the gym!!!" crowd might berate you. But, relatively speaking, a bass that weighs that much is in the heavier-than-average range.
Ultimately, the decision is up to you, regardless how much the "Don't be such a wuss, man up and get your weak a** to the gym!!!" crowd might berate you. But, relatively speaking, a bass that weighs that much is in the heavier-than-average range.
Yeah, but hers is a baritone sax. I've never seen anyone march a bari sax. But I personally have marched a Conn 46i double-bell euphonium . . . starting when I was twelve.
Actually back pain is a pretty big issue among sax players, so I hear.
Personally I never gave this a second thought, and to the degree I ever did have pain from a heavy bass it was pain in my shoulder where the strap goes, not my back. Then I turned 50 last year and almost as if by cue my lower back started acting up.
I made two determinations - one, that my sitting and working posture is awful; I lean forward like Larry King did. This made worse by the fact that I've been sitting at a desk more since April 2020 than I probably did over the ten year period before.
Second, I figured out via my weightlifting program that front-loaded core work is an issue for me - front squats are pretty much off the table now because the type of stabilization they require aggravates the weakest part of my back. I suppose 35 years of playing bass has to enter in somewhere, though I get the posture thing above is the larger factor.
I'm just thinking about it more than I used to, is all.
You ain’t kiddin. Just try selling a bass that weighs 10lbs or more here on TB.
Can't the bass builders screen the wood at the board level? Just check the weight of each sized board and set aside the ones that will be too heavy? Use it for a chambered body or something - geez. Who wants a 12+ pound, modern production model bass?
After 20 yrs of playing Bass, I won't even try one that is over 8 lbs.
my main player is 7lb 9oz.
BUT- everyone is different so weight may not affect you so much.
my main player is 7lb 9oz.
BUT- everyone is different so weight may not affect you so much.
WE EXIST! Big dudes like me enjoy heavy basses. I'm tall, huge, and keep it at a comfortable length with my strap. The physics of comfortability.
