More balance than weight

[Flatwound]

I'm one of those irritating people who always asks how much a bass weighs in the classifieds. There are a couple of reasons for this, the main one being that I have fairly advanced arthritis in my upper back and neck, and carrying very much weight causes pain. After some long gigs during the past year, I sometimes had back pain for days. I bought a GruvGear Duostrap Neo, and it has helped a lot.

I have two main basses that I play. I have a 1990 Jazz Bass Plus that I usually play in church, and a 1992 Fender American Standard "Longhorn" Jazz Bass. The Longhorn bass weighs about 9-1/2 lbs, and the Jazz Bass Plus weighs less than 8-1/2 lbs. However, the Longhorn balances perfectly on a strap, and the Jazz Plus has a bit of neck dive. Therefore, the Longhorn is just as comfortable to play as the Jazz Plus. If I play a 3 hour gig with the Longhorn, I have very little back pain. I'm thinking of putting Hipshot Ultralights on the Jazz Plus, even though it's already lighter, just to make the balance better. So I guess there's more to the comfort story than weight.

 

[chris_b]

Comfort and weight are two sides of the same coin. I have a Cort Jazz that a previous owner modded with Hipshot tuners. It balances well and is a bad-back loving 7lbs.

 

[Gervais Cote]

I want (and need !) both light weight AND balance.

That’s why I now build my own basses such as the one in my avatar picture on the left.

 

[Makten]

Try moving the rear strap button to this location. It will lessen neck dive a lot.

 

[jim nolte]

If you ever take the Longhorn bass to church make sure you don’t refer to it as the ‘ Boner ‘ bass

 

[lug]

I have a very light bass with light tuners that still didn't balance. Lighter tuners will help but if not enough...............

7.2 lbs

 

[JRA]

...there's more to the comfort story than weight.

of course! balance is everything, and i'm pretty sure all of the experienced hands in this forum would agree.

a lightweight that balances = better than apple pie!

 

[birminghambass]

Balance is so important. Unfortunately weight has become an obsession for some (not all, relax). I sell a lot of basses. I've only once had a buyer ask about the weight and ACTUALLY buy the bass. And that guy messaged me after complaining that the bass weighed 2 oz more than I told him. 2 oz!

 

[alembicbones]

This bass is by far my lightest bass.

I bought it used a couple of years back and I think it came up for sale due to the balance. I lived with it for some time but once I put Hipshot Ultralites on it, the balance was much improved. As the OP mentioned, weight isn't the only factor when it comes to comfort, balance is equally critical.

Bones

 

[wattsman]

I’m a big fan of Fender’s vintage series, but I don’t understand why they haven’t updated the tuners to use lighter materials, like the Reso-Lites. I’ve tested the swap myself, and it reduces the weight by about half a pound. It definitely makes a difference, especially in overall balance.

 

[micguy]

I make my own basses, and all of them (despite being 5 strings) are under 8 pounds (one is 7.25). They all balance beautifully on a strap - no neck dive, no grippy strap or strap button relocation necessary. A bass puts torque on your body, as it’s in front of you . A heavier bass means more torque. No 10 pound bass is anywhere near as comfortable as a well balanced 7.25 pounder.

And yes, Hipshot ultralites (use the USA ones, they are lighter) will help a case of neck dive - the clunky steel tuners that Fender and others use are twice as heavy, which is silly once you’ve tried the Hipshots.

 

[Lo-E]

Balance is definitely a big part of the equation. Given my druthers I’d have good balance and light weight (my back and neck are pretty shot) but I have some very heavy basses that I tolerate because they balance well (and play well and sound good, of course).

Depending upon the bass, lightweight tuners can make a big difference to the balance and can cut a full half-pound off the total weight!

 

[GrooveCaptain]

In reference to Fender not using Resolites or hipshot ultralites.....
Fender will never change that because they don't have to. People will still by their basses, just because that's THE bass. It allows them to be the laziest and most profitable brand... Just like Gibson. Most of their customers would probably revolt if they made any changes for the better, because it would ruin the vintage vibes. Gibson tried to change their disastrous headstocks that were so fragile, but customers wouldn't buy it, they wanted the crappy necks that snap cause that's what it's supposed to be
To me, there's a bunch of no brainer features that should be on almost every bass, but unfortunately you have to do most of them yourself. Things like...
-lightweight tuners
-quick string release bridges
-better pickups
-proper balance/ strap button placement
-spoke wheel truss rod adjustment
-shielded cavities

 

[BassicJazzy]

I'm one of those irritating people who always asks how much a bass weighs in the classifieds. There are a couple of reasons for this, the main one being that I have fairly advanced arthritis in my upper back and neck, and carrying very much weight causes pain. After some long gigs during the past year, I sometimes had back pain for days. I bought a GruvGear Duostrap Neo, and it has helped a lot.

I have two main basses that I play. I have a 1990 Jazz Bass Plus that I usually play in church, and a 1992 Fender American Standard "Longhorn" Jazz Bass. The Longhorn bass weighs about 9-1/2 lbs, and the Jazz Bass Plus weighs less than 8-1/2 lbs. However, the Longhorn balances perfectly on a strap, and the Jazz Plus has a bit of neck dive. Therefore, the Longhorn is just as comfortable to play as the Jazz Plus. If I play a 3 hour gig with the Longhorn, I have very little back pain. I'm thinking of putting Hipshot Ultralights on the Jazz Plus, even though it's already lighter, just to make the balance better. So I guess there's more to the comfort story than weight.

I too have a '90 Jazz Bass Plus. I have never weighed it, but to me it feels heavier than my other two basses, which each weigh about 8.5 lbs. I agree about the neck dive. I have two straps, one is wide leather 3.5", the other a bit narrower but has a less slippery back so balances the bass better. Plus I have a bad lower back, arthritis, nearly 71 years old. I love the Jazz Plus but don't like to play it for any length of time. I much prefer the Ibanez SR or the Sire P5 for both balance and comfort. Plus, I have never been able to play sitting down, the bass just isn't in the right position.

 

[Engle]

In reference to Fender not using Resolites or hipshot ultralites.....
Fender will never change that because they don't have to. People will still by their basses, just because that's THE bass. It allows them to be the laziest and most profitable brand... Just like Gibson. Most of their customers would probably revolt if they made any changes for the better, because it would ruin the vintage vibes. Gibson tried to change their disastrous headstocks that were so fragile, but customers wouldn't buy it, they wanted the crappy necks that snap cause that's what it's supposed to be
To me, there's a bunch of no brainer features that should be on almost every bass, but unfortunately you have to do most of them yourself. Things like...
-lightweight tuners
-quick string release bridges
-better pickups
-proper balance/ strap button placement
-spoke wheel truss rod adjustment
-shielded cavities

Agreed, but the Thunderbird NR reissue and the Les Paul Tribute both came with Hipshot Ultralights.

 

[BassicJazzy]

Hate to say it, but I really love the original F-stamped stainless tuners on my '90 J Plus, wouldn't ever want to change them just to shave off a few ounces. Regarding shielding, the bass has none. I just changed the battery and not a hint of shield in the cavity, but I've never gotten noise or interference on the Kubicki pre-amp, so maybe it didn't need it? To me, the parts all fit well on a Fender, everything does its job, nearly perfectly. I can accept a little neck dive. It just has a feeling about it. Leo knew what he was doing.

 

[J Wilson]

Balance is everything: What good is even a very light bass . . . . that you have to hold up against the neck dive? Pointless. And it's not some complex engineering task to figure C of G, but it seems few if any do.

Life is too short.

 

[BassicJazzy]

Balance is everything: What good is even a very light bass . . . . that you have to hold up against the neck dive? Pointless. And it's not some complex engineering task to figure C of G, but it seems few if any do.

Life is too short.

The dive isn't that pronounced. It's more due to the smaller body on the J Plus, something they tried out but it didn't really catch on so they only made about 1,500 of them. I don't find myself noticing it too often. Plus, gives me an excuse if I suck that day. Maybe that was the original name for the bass "J Bass Plus Excuse?"

 

[J Wilson]

The dive isn't that pronounced. It's more due to the smaller body on the J Plus, something they tried out but it didn't really catch on so they only made about 1,500 of them. I don't find myself noticing it too often. Plus, gives me an excuse if I suck that day. Maybe that was the original name for the bass "J Bass Plus Excuse?"

Yeah, I've had a few that were just slightly neck heavy ('Welcome to Alembic !), but deep down, it's aggravating that such a product that has an intimate relationship with its user can be so poorly considered. No one would buy golf clubs or tennis rackets or sporting clay doubles that just didn't come to hand properly, why do some musical instruments have to be just wrong and guys just say, 'well, that's the just the way that they are . . . . '.

No.

 

[Dincrest]

Ergonomics are complicated.

I once had a lightweight bass that I could shoulder for hours, but its compact body, 24-fret (and 35" scale) neck, short upper horn, and bridge placement made the neck jut out very far to the left and balance so horizontally that reaching the money notes was an uncomfortable stretch. No thank you.

On the other hand, I once had a bass that balanced absolutely perfectly on me. It was a 6-string and normally I struggle getting around such wide necks/fingerboards, but this one had everything within easy reach. Sadly, that bass was over 12.5 pounds so I couldn't shoulder it for more than 40 minutes. Were that bass a couple of pounds lighter, I might still have it.

My current #1 bass is a Fender Aerodyne around 9 pounds. Because it fits me so well ergonomically, it feels lighter than it really is.