Let's talk about weight

[Robroy]

Do you know why people trip on sidewalk cracks? It’s because, when walking, we lift our foot just barely high enough to clear the ground. You can call it lazy, or you can call it efficient, but humans just naturally find the lowest energy expenditure method of doing things.

The up side is that by conserving energy you have MORE energy to expend on other things. When you can load 100 lbs in and out vs 300 lbs, you will usually go for the first option unless the latter offers a tangible benefit that justifies the extra expenditure.

And experienced players have learned, via their gigging experience and audience response, what weight is justified and what weight can be shaved. You just naturally find yourself trimming down the quantity of stuff to find the right “weight to value added” sweet spot. And it is different for every person based on both their goals and biases.

 

[Jim Carr]

...When you were 16, you knew that the bass amp was bigger and heavier than the guitar amp, right?...

I started when I was 13 in 1963. My first amp was a tube radio. There were no SVT's, no CA9's, no Peavey, and in fact hardly any bass amps much over 40 lbs. Your premise is not sufficient.

Yet, you seem to want to criticize the choices made by people who want or need lighter gear. Why not just be happy that they can get what they want, you can too, and that most people participating on TB are among the fortunate few of the earth?

 

[hasbeen]

I would have gladly become a lead singer! I sing lead on some songs but I'm not a lead singer. That's the cool gig right there. A lot of responsibility but a lot of reward if you can make it work.

A few years ago, I gave up giving a crap what anyone else does, and I also gave up caring what they thought about what I do. No bass player is ever going to hire me for a gig, so why should I care what they think? It's pretty freeing. I have big amps, I have little amps. If I want to bring a big amp, I'll bring it, and if I want to bring a little amp, I'll bring it, too. Anyone who has a problem with it is welcome to leave.

that live and let live nonsense has no place around here.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

don't have to worry about weight (roadies, whatever) deliberately chose SS and digital options.

I am sorry, I mean no disrespect just you keep using digital when referencing class D amps. Just to clear up some misinformation, class D power amps are analog. please read this Thread. All is answered in the first page.
Class D: Analog or Digital? How to tell? | TalkBass.com

Now Back On Topic.
Use what works for you.

 

[KramerDon]

For me the main thing is weight but I'm surprised no one's talked about stage volume.Even in the late 70's we were always trying to get a lower stage volume to help the singers hear better and to avoid feedback but were always limited by drummers and guitar players volume.With my Markbass setup now if I can't get loud enough,then the stage volume is way too loud and I'm not interested in participating.I've already got enough hearing loss(something you youngsters w/your mega stacks will learn about later!) I'm a firm believer that the lower the stage volume,the better!!!

 

[sharkbait130]

In a similar thread , someone tagged me "Grandpa Commando."
62 years old and still taking the SVT cl and 8 10 to just about every gig. I like the way it sounds , simple as that.

 

[PullThePlug]

As Dave Chappelle once said, "Different strokes to rule the world." Some folks have their preferences, weight being one of them.

To be honest, I thought the weight of an amp head was a silly subject (except there's some physical issue - fatigued muscles, torn rotator cups, arthritis, etc.). My SWR 750x head weighs a ton, and it weighs even more when in a rack unit. But I don't mind dragging it around for now, while I'm still physically capable.

 

[Neon Blues]

I love the responses by those who think it's a pissing contest into who's tougher because they gig a rig that's 200 lbs.

 

[spaz21387]

I have 2 rigs. Most shows ill take my carvin mbe 2x10s and carvin bx500. Sometimes the v4b takes the place of the carvin but not all the time. My swr goliath sr stays home all the time. I prefer the light setup just because i can load out in 1 trip.

 

[kevteop]

When I go to a gig, or more pertinently a rehearsal because we rehearse in a room on the third floor, I have the following stuff to move:

Two bass guitars.
A fairly large pedalboard.
A fairly small synth (Bass Station II).
A stand for the synth.
A quite heavy bag of cables and spares.
A speaker cabinet - a Neo 2x12 which if necessary I can carry in one hand but two handed is more comfortable.
An amp head - a Class D head which is the lightest and least bulky of all the things on this list.

Sometimes I also have a 3/4 double bass, but I'm not gigging that too much these days so I'll skip that.

So that's seven things. Some of them have shoulder straps but some don't, and because of that and the fact that in total I've got two hands, it takes me two trips from the car to load in.

If I had a 4x10 cab and a valve head, it would require two of us to get the cab up to the rehearsal room, and I wouldn't want to carry too many other things over my shoulder while carrying the amp. I also live in a first-floor flat, and I've had a 4x10 cab before and frankly it was a nightmare getting it up the stairs on my own.

So that's why I have a portable-as-possible bass rig. Also it sounds excellent.

 

[CTW68]

One thing that's yet to be mentioned is the good old hand truck. My gear ranges from sorta heavy (Mesa M3 1x12 combo) to quite heavy (Mesa Buster 200 + SWR 8x8 or a heavy Mesa Diesel 2x10.) I have a bad neck, but if I use common sense lifting procedures (back straight, knees bent) I can get everything I need on/off the hand truck except the 8x8, which has tilt back wheels.

My M3 sits quite nicely on a light duty folding hand truck, but I use a standard duty one for the Buster + 2x10.

Lighter stuff might be in my future, but I love the sounds that I can get with what I have now, and my wallet's empty.

 

[wmhill]

I do 100+ gigs yearly, sometime 2 per day. weight is second only to tone, for me. Amp's gotta sound awesome, first then be light weight. My choice is Tecamp Puma 900 (2.2 pounds) and Tecamp S212 cabinet (42 pounds)..................love it!

 

[Chef]

I ask: how can an amp's weight really matter? It has just always struck me as totally inconsequential. Explain it to me. I mean, if you wanted a lightweight gig, shouldn't you have become a lead singer instead?

That's just, like, your opinion, man.

 

[Chef]

I moved The Heavy for decades.
In The Past.
This is, like, The Now.
Which, in The Past, was The Future.

In The Now/Future:
I don't Have to Move The Heavy No More.
So I don't.

Pretty easy, conceptually, I'd think.
Maybe not though.

 

[electracoyote]

For me the main thing is weight but I'm surprised no one's talked about stage volume.Even in the late 70's we were always trying to get a lower stage volume to help the singers hear better and to avoid feedback but were always limited by drummers and guitar players volume.With my Markbass setup now if I can't get loud enough,then the stage volume is way too loud and I'm not interested in participating.I've already got enough hearing loss(something you youngsters w/your mega stacks will learn about later!) I'm a firm believer that the lower the stage volume,the better!!!

+1

In theory, once everyone reaches the relative volume of the drums, that's kind of the ceiling for a good stage or rehearsal mix (the exception being the vocals, which should be just a bit above).

Unfortunately, that's a theory that gets ignored and disproved fairly regularly.

 

[markjazzbassist]

like the OP i have never understood this. tone is always first for me. weight is an in/out issue and not that big a deal with helping bandmates.

 

[Chef]

tone is always first for me.

Me too.
It's really nice that my GK MBF800 and LDS 15/6/1 work way better than everything else I use to use in The Days of The Heavy.

 

[electracoyote]

Markbass LMT 800 through Markbass 104HF 4X10 at 4 ohms/800 watts...

Sorry Ampeg guys, there is more than one way to approximate that tone pretty convincingly on the small- to medium-sized stages I play, minus about 75 pounds.

 

[asands]

I'm sure this was said but I don't plan on reading 6 pages of comments to be sure... Weight isn't really the issue for me. It's more about dimensions. Often we (my cover band) are barely able to fit all the gear into our our hauling setup. The smaller the footprint the easier loading is before and especially after the gig. My Markbass F1 slides into my backpack that also holds all of my cables and pedals. That's the real advantage IMHO

 

[Walker83]

For me it has always been about the compromise between tone / weight. I lugged around the SVT VR and Anvil case for a while but that is an honest 2 man job at over 100lbs; I have no back problems to date and I would like to keep it that way. I now run a DB751 and AE410 for large shows and the TH500 and CN112 for small shows. The DB751 to me was a great compromise between tone / weight and the TH500 is close tone wise but I am still willing to lug the DB751 around for the extra "oomph" when needed. I appreciate the dedication that others have to tone without compromise but IMHO the FOH is what the crowd is going to hear; if they hear my cab over the FOH I am probably too loud. I also enjoy the single trip to the car on smaller gigs.