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Is the bass to heavy?

#81
Killing Floor said:
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.
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15lb on Yamaha YBS-62. It does come with a peg id you play sitting down which is not part of the 15lb weight. The upside is that for Baritone players even if they are beer belly dudes, you need diaphragm support for your air and that usually equate to some muscles helping with posture. At least Lauren is tall. Kaho Takeda (classical player) is petite maybe not even 5 and she plays those Yamaha 62 series saxophones. Via FB she recommended the Breathtaking strap (from Japan). 220 bucks but it does work. I do not know if it translates to bass

I do not have any back problems but cervical issues are painful man - and a few grams matter between okay to really excruciating pain. Your tune may change if it is closer to you.

 
#82
logdrum said:
15lb on Yamaha YBS-62. It does come with a peg id you play sitting down which is not part of the 15lb weight. The upside is that for Baritone players even if they are beer belly dudes, you need diaphragm support for your air and that usually equate to some muscles helping with posture. At least Lauren is tall. Kaho Takeda (classical player) is petite maybe not even 5 and she plays those Yamaha 62 series saxophones. Via FB she recommended the Breathtaking strap (from Japan). 220 bucks but it does work. I do not know if it translates to bass

I do not have any back problems but cervical issues are painful man - and a few grams matter between okay to really excruciating pain. Your tune may change if it is closer to you.

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Actually thanks for the lookup. I’ve been enjoying some bari sax players lately. A really cool instrument.
 
#85
My '66 Sears Silvertone weighs right in at 10 lbs. Odd, because it's a poplar body and neck construction. It balances neck-up off the front strap button so it's not particularly hard for me to gig with it. I'm 65, 5' 10", 200 lbs which seems to be my wall for weight loss, too.

I had a Peavy T-40 that weighed over 12 lbs and it seemed to be a bit neck heavy. I also have a PartsCaster with an ash body, maple/maple neck. It weighs a few ounces short of 10 lbs. It balances well so an all night gig isn't bad.

For me, it's balance, either neutral or a bit body heavy as balanced off the front strap button and a wide, conformable strap or a decently padded strap. My straps for the heavy stuff are 3.5" wide bison hide straps, non-padded.
 
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#86
Crap, that's heavy. For me, I'd call that too heavy for a gigging instrument. But I'm 5'8" 150lbs and 40yo. Some beefy players may mistake 12lbs for just another Les Paul.

I've got a couple basses in the ~10lb / 4.6kg range and they're as heavy as I can manage. Luckily, they balance very well so I don't wear out too quickly
 
#88
Back in 2014 I used to have a 13.6 lb seven string bass.
I sold it three years later to Music Go Round.
Somebody bought it months later.
Go figure.

Two of my three basses weigh 10.5 lbs +-
One,the NS/Stick,weighs 9.5 lbs
Three 3.jpg




To me 10 lbs+- is the average weight of a six string bass.
But balance is the key issue.Not so much weight.
 
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#89
Elias Gravdal said:
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:)
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Where did you get the weight? They don't publish the weight on Thomann and they do not weigh them either (I asked). I don't think that's the actual weight of the bass, that's insane levels. It might be shipping weight.
 
#90
Real Soon said:
Crap, that's heavy. For me, I'd call that too heavy for a gigging instrument. But I'm 5'8" 150lbs and 40yo. Some beefy players may mistake 12lbs for just another Les Paul.

I've got a couple basses in the ~10lb / 4.6kg range and they're as heavy as I can manage. Luckily, they balance very well so I don't wear out too quickly
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My Les Paul feels as heavy as my G&L L2500 Series 750.

Les Pauls sound great, but they are an ergonomic nightmare and suck at staying in tune.
 
#91
I used to have a Moll 6 string that was fantastic in every way, except it weighed 12 pounds.

It was fine when played sitting down, but when standing, the weight took all the joy out of playing. It wasn't something one could just push to the back of one's mind. It seemed half the job of playing that bass was to actually hold it up, so I let it go.

Nowadays, I am very conscientious about the weight. If it's too heavy, I don't bother.
 
#92
Thank you for so many good answers:)
i can check out with Thomann if the weight is the shipping weight or not.
Very interesting to read so many different experiences about heavy basses.

On the other hand, I'm a little disappointed with people who take this to something negative to start commenting that I have to get to the gym to work out if I're wondering if a bass is too heavy. It may be a good idea for you as to this to think about who has actually asked this question. I am a 17 year old boy who trains at the gym 4 times a week to get stronger. oh is there anything no teens need then it is to be commented on by older men. Will probably not use this forum so much if it is the case that only toxic comments will come back. Think about this for the next time..
to you others: thank you again for so many good answers :) this helped a lot:thumbsup:
Elias (17)
 
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#93
Elias Gravdal said:
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:)
Click to expand...
Def too heavy. Unless you’re playing seated, then it will only cut off the circulation below the mid thigh of your right leg.
 
#94
Elias Gravdal said:
Thank you for so many good answers:)
i can check out with Thomann if the weight is the shipping weight or not.
Very interesting to read so many different experiences about heavy basses.

On the other hand, I'm a little disappointed with people who take this to something negative to start commenting that I have to get to the gym to work out if I're wondering if a bass is too heavy. It may be a good idea for you as to this to think about who has actually asked this question. I am a 17 year old boy who trains at the gym 4 times a week to get stronger. oh is there anything no teens need then it is to be commented on by older men. Will probably not use this forum so much if it is the case that only toxic comments will come back. Think about this for the next time..
to you others: thank you again for so many good answers :) this helped a lot:thumbsup:
Elias (17)
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Okay, a couple of things...
First; welcome to Talk Bass. Please don't let this first... exposure... to us, keep you from staying around. I promise you; we're a bit snarky sometimes, but we don't bite - well, not hard, anyway...;)
Next; if you do decide to hang around, you'll discover that there are... several... topics of discussion that are pretty much guaranteed to stir things up - every time. Rickenbacker basses, for example; the mere mention of anything to do with Gibson; mentioning that you never use effects pedals on the EFFECTS forum (even if somebody screws up and posts the question). And, as you've discovered, anything to do with "too heavy" is one of these topics. Please don't be offended; you just poked this particular bee's nest with a stick - and the bees came out. The next poor soul that asks a similar question, will get pretty much the same response - from pretty much the same people...
Finally; Is this bass too heavy? I agree with those who say 12.4 lbs. does seem too heavy for what it is. I'm also inclined to agree that the stated weight might be the shipping weight. My own P-Bass is a '78 Fender, and they tend to be real boat anchors. But, at 11 lbs., with an Ash body, it's lighter than that one. So,...? As for whether or not it's too heavy for you? Nobody can answer that - but you. If it is too heavy to make you happy? Then, pass it by. If not? Then enjoy your new bass, and play the snot out of it. All I can say for sure is that 40 years ago, when I used to run around playing war with a 34+ lb. M-60 machine gun, that bass wouldn't have bothered me at all. But, now that I'm 70? That bass - if it really does weigh that much? It's definitely too heavy for me...:cool:
 
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#95
My v9 is about 9 on the dot. but like all sires it has the neck dive. you might be bale to get the same bass at a lower weight if you look for the woods that it is made out of. some place like SW shows you the weight.
 
#98
It’s not too heavy for me…my Jazz is a hair under 12 lbs….a ‘70s Jazz with an ash body is the only bass I actively seek out looking for one that weighs at least 11 pounds..through my experience, it makes a difference sonically…not sure how it affects a Sire bass..it’s engineered to be very similar, so I don’t think it’s a bad thing…if you can deal with the weight, I’d be fine with it..
 

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