Maple body basses - why there's not that many?

[Bryan R. Tyler]

My Elrick SLC has a maple body and is very light for a 6-string at 8lbs 15oz, but it’s semi hollow; not sure how much more it might weigh if it was solid. Sounds fantastic though. Pedulla Buzz/MVP basses are maple too IIRC and those sound great.

 

[Aerotaub]

I guess I did have an uploaded photo of my Fender Steve Harris Signature precision bass. 13 lbs of maple. I absolutely love the sound of this bass over my other Fender Pbass's & Jbass

 

[mtdkingstonheir]

Very simply, weight - although I, personally, don't mind a slightly heavier bass than "normal".

 

[Aerotaub]

For me it's all about the sound. I compensate by using a wider strap but the weight can be a bit of an issue after a while. I'll put on one of my other Pbass or jbass and it feels light as a feather.

Very simply, weight - although I, personally, don't mind a slightly heavier bass than "normal".

 

[Flaked Beans]

My Elrick SLC has a maple body and is very light for a 6-string at 8lbs 15oz, but it’s semi hollow; not sure how much more it might weigh if it was solid. Sounds fantastic though. Pedulla Buzz/MVP basses are maple too IIRC and those sound great.

Exatly! But my all maple MVP6 (except ror the ebony fingerboard) is about 12 pounds.

 

[deepestend]

I’ve been reviving an old all maple G&L sb-1

 

[bobyoung53]

Almost every Rickenbacker full scale bass ever made (33 1/4") has been all maple except for a few mahogany ones made recently as far as I know, every one I've had has been all maple except for the fretboard.

 

[deepestend]

Almost every Rickenbacker full scale bass ever made (33 1/4") has been all maple except for a few mahogany ones made recently as far as I know, every one I've had has been all maple except for the fretboard.

i never realized this about ricks.

 

[songwriter21]

Current US Spectors and older Euros are entirely maple. And they are some of the heaviest basses out there. My old NS5CRFM had solid maple wings and was over 11.5 lbs.

And yet no one ever complains about companies like Fodera, who average around 10 lbs. And for how much they cost, especially Alembic (heavier average weight)...no thanks!

 

[MobileHolmes]

I had a solid maple Warmoth fretless J (bought off eBay super cheap). It was the heaviest instrument I’ve ever played. I also didn’t think it sounded very good. Seemed to be all fundamental with no overtones. I will say, this is pretty much the pedulla formula, and they aren’t super heavy and are excellent sounding

 

[Bikeguy57]

I think they average around 12lbs. Some are "only" 11, some get north of 14.

That's a man's bass baby...Just not this man!

 

[fretno]

“Soft” Maple is on the light side. “Rock” Maple is on the heavy side

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Ric got around the weight by making the bodies 1-1/4” thick, a full 1/4-1/2” thinner than most FSO’s. I love maple, it machines and takes finish beautifully, but I wouldn’t use it on an 1-3/4” thick Jazz Bass.

 

[Jefenator]

I wouldn't want for every bass to be like this, but I freaking love my Warwick Streamer Stage I with the solid flame maple body wings! (Sometimes a cosmetic veneer just doesn't cut it...)

 

[deepestend]

Weight relief on my g&l

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

As said before they are usually heavy although I have an Ibanez that's not. I got an old Steinberger Spirit XT25 that had all maple construction. It was about 9.5 lbs. Now they're making them from other woods that are not as heavy.

 

[RichterScale]

Soft maples like silver maple and red maple aren't actually soft. It's still a hardwood and about as hard as black walnut and black cherry. Just not as hard or heavy as hard maple. Which, hard maple is only 2 lbs p/cubic ft heavier on average than ash.
I had a 5 string neck-thru with soft maple body wings that weighed 9 lbs. I would imagine that most most manufacturers using maple for bodies are using one of the lighter "soft" maples.

 

[CK McLaughlin]

I have two all-maple Gibson L9S Rippers that both weigh in at about 10 pounds, comparable to hard-ash Fenders and MMs. They sound great as the brightish maple compensates for the darkish Bill Lawrence humbuckers. Still, that's a bit too heavy for my ancient shoulder so I now use basses mostly in the seven pounds range for stand-up gigs. The Rippers are featherweights compared to the Alembic Series 1 that I once had that weighed almost 14 pounds! I also had an all-maple Ricky 4001 that was about nine pounds, but the combination of single-coils with maple was a bit too strident for my tastes.

 

[Snert]

It was about 9.5 lbs. Now they're making them from other woods that are not as heavy.

The NT is all maple, just the tiny wings are basswood or summat.

My Ibanez SR 4 and 5 strings are maple bodies and not all that heavy.

 

[Tubehed]

My Peavey Dyna Bass Unity Ltd is neck through and all maple except for the stringers. Weighs a bit over 9 lbs.