It was years ago but I custom ordered it from Guitar Mill as a variation of the Mustang guitar body they offered but without the top routings for the guitar parts. I made the pickup and control cavities myself and adjusted the neck pocket to fit my MIJ Mustang neck.
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Lightweight bass with no neck dive - Is it possible ?
- Thread starter johnh89
- Start date
It was years ago but I custom ordered it from Guitar Mill as a variation of the Mustang guitar body they offered but without the top routings for the guitar parts. I made the pickup and control cavities myself and adjusted the neck pocket to fit my MIJ Mustang neck.
I bought two basses that are really lightweight. They balance well also. So it’s possible. You just have to shop around and be patient. I always play strapped in so the bass plays the same/similar when seated or standing. The two basses are:
Hofner Greenline (4.6lbs) balances a bit more horizontal when seated, but doesn’t neck dive. Absolutely killer flat wound tones with a pick.
G&L LB-100 Empress (6.8lbs) balances great! Empress wood. Ultralight tuners. Fantastic P tones.
So, I didn’t need to go custom from the ground up. I was just patient and kept my options to 7lbs or less. This will lead you to a lot of hollow, empress, and pine basses. Light ash and alder exist, but it’s much easier/convenient from the start to go with empress or pine.
Hofner and P bass tones cover a lot of standard sounds tonally also. So don’t let any fluff from TB get ya. Light basses that balance well do exist and they have standard tones also. I didn’t have to shell out super 2k+ custom prices either.
Hofner Greenline (4.6lbs) balances a bit more horizontal when seated, but doesn’t neck dive. Absolutely killer flat wound tones with a pick.
G&L LB-100 Empress (6.8lbs) balances great! Empress wood. Ultralight tuners. Fantastic P tones.
So, I didn’t need to go custom from the ground up. I was just patient and kept my options to 7lbs or less. This will lead you to a lot of hollow, empress, and pine basses. Light ash and alder exist, but it’s much easier/convenient from the start to go with empress or pine.
Hofner and P bass tones cover a lot of standard sounds tonally also. So don’t let any fluff from TB get ya. Light basses that balance well do exist and they have standard tones also. I didn’t have to shell out super 2k+ custom prices either.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,020
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- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
I talked about it a bit in the Headless Club thread. It’s an experiment, but it works so well that I’m going to do a proper one from the ground up. This one is essentially a disposable proof of concept.
When I was a young bonehead I sanded too much off a Ricky and gave it neck dive. I repositioned the strap holes and taped together some heavy flat fishing weights that now hang down by the bridge strap screw and counterbalances the neck. BTW.. I also now always use washers between my strap and the screw . I watched a top name artist drop a plugged in and roaring Gibson Les Paul on the stage twice because it fell off the ass end of his strap screw. My guitar player and I looked at each other and went to the hardware store right after the concert.
check out Leland Sklar on youtube ,talking about when he carved bits out of one of his basses and had to add a 2lb weight to the end of his strap to balance it
Actually the AFR Affirma is the predecessor of your old bass. The original Affirma was designed by Rolf Spuler in the early 90's and was produced by Ibanez in both 4 and 5 string versions. It wasn't a big seller. The Ergodyne composite instruments came later, borrowing the design of the Affirma or AFR. I remember the off gassing petroleum smell of those basses when new. Here's an original AFR from the nineties.
Quick and dirty solution....
Of course it adds 1.2 lbs. to your bass.
Of course it adds 1.2 lbs. to your bass.
I did my own custom build last year, which resulted in a lightweight bass that is perfectly balanced. I no longer need 4 inch guitar straps to make it through the gig comfortably. Just a skinny vintage strap is perfect.
The contributing factors:
The contributing factors:
- an unfinished roasted maple neck, which is a little lighter due to less moisture in the wood
- graphite stiffening rods, as opposed to steel
- Hipshot Ultralite tuners
I did, in fact, snatch up that bass as soon as I saw the Empress body and 6.7 pounds. Greg at Rocket Music outdid himself on this one. All my basses have a 1 1/2" neck so this one is a great fit. If I were ordering one I might opt for the 9 1/2 " radius, but I can live with the 12".
Back to the balance. If I play it sitting down without a strap (I usually use a strap to practice) there is some slight neck dive, mostly if you let the bass go. If you're holding the bass, it really isn't tugging on your hands.
Standing with a strap (I use a Sadowsky Neoprene strap) there's zero neck dive. This is my lightest bass and wonderful to play, my 69 year old neck and back loves it.
