Please help me spec the lightest possible Warmoth P-bass

[mongo2]

Not Waarmoth but my lightest P bass is a singlle coil P bass style using a slab paulownia body from Guitar Mill, an Allparts neck, Gotoh Res-O-Lite tuners, Fender threaded saddle bridge, Lace Alumitone humbucking pickup for a Stratocaster, Allparts control plate, Switchcraft jack, plastic jack plate, plastic pickguard (or no pickguard depending on my mood) aluminum strap buttons, mini pots, mini chickenhead plastic knobs and a light weight orange shellac finish.

It weighs 5 lbs 13 ounces.

Another of my lightweight bass collection is my Hofner Ignition Club Bass that weighs 4 lbs 8 oz.

My lightest bass is a 2.5 pound '80s Guild Ashbory.

 

[MobileHolmes]

You may also want to look at neck dimensions. The standard warmoth bass neck is pretty chunky (but I like it). They also have a slim taper, which I haven’t played

 

[Ric5]

basswood body

 

[Killing Floor]

DeTemple makes a titanium plate bridge with titanium saddles. Save a few grams and it will never rust. He also has titanium neck plates.

 

[Ric Vice]

While, I’m all for lighter instruments Gruv Gear Duo Strap distributes the weight over both shoulders and really helps with back and arm issues by helping to prevent them in the first place.

 

[Sharon Lewis]

Making a light bass is something that takes attention to ALL the parts. Here's a Warmoth build that came in at 7.31 pounds (aka 3314 grams on my postal scale):

View attachment 4702305

Note that it's a 5 string - a similar build I did for a 4 landed it at 6.6 pounds. Anyway, this body was from their showcase - I knew the weight on it (3 pounds, 4 ounces) before I bought it. It's roasted swamp ash, the neck is roasted maple (with graphite reinforcing bars, not steel).

The bridge is a Hipshot A in aluminum, the tuners are Hipshot Ultralites, the neck mounting plate is aluminum; even the knobs on the thing are aluminum (plastic is even lighter). The pickup on this is heavier than a P pickup - you'd save about 80 grams if you used a standard P pickup.

Anyway, the lesson here is it's not just about the body and neck - you have to get light parts everywhere if you want a light bass. And whatever you do, on a bass this light, DO NOT use standard Fender style clunky steel tuners - half a pound of extra weight out on the end of your neck is something you really don't want.

One final note: if you want the lightest body possible, roasted swamp ash is your friend - call Warmoth and order it over the phone. Ask for their lightest blank - they will charge you something like $40 to do that (they won't do that over the web site - it's a kind of off menu option), but you will get a light body that way - I've done that a few times, and even my heaviest 5 string (2 pickups) comes in at 7.75 pounds, and they all (because of the light tuners) balance perfectly.

Oh yeah - Warmoth makes a G4 body that's got skinnier horns than a P bass - you can get the P pickup and all that, but it'll be a bit lighter than a strict P shaped body - it looks kinda like a G&L SB-1 body, so it's "Fender-esque", but a more modern shape than the old P shape.

WOW! You’re reply is EXACTLY what I needed to learn—-thank you so much for all the specific details—-I definitely can do this now!

 

[Sharon Lewis]

This is right up my alley, though I don't have direct experience with your build. I do have 2 warmoth basses, 2 Carvin LB76s, and am actually pondering a lightweight build as well, because I'm playing 4 hour gigs in my country band (and 3 hours in my R&B).

A few thoughts-
1. Why not just get a chambered Dinky J like your friend? The LB70 is sort of J like anyhow.
2. I'm not a huge fan of the LB series pickups/preamp, but I don't dislike them enough to change them out. I'm not sure that Keisel sells parts but Carvin used to. That said, I think there are a lot of LB70s out there with swapped pickups and electronics and you could probably get somebody's used stuff.
3. Definitely get light tuners and the graphite neck bars. That's about a pound of savings right there.
4. My Warmoth J (10 lbs because it has all the heavy choices) has Nordstrand NJ4SV humcancelling pickups and an Audere preamp, and it is a killer sounding combo. I prefer the sound of this bass to my Carvins.

I appreciate your reply since you play BOTH Warmoth AND Carvin basses. In what ways is a Kiesel/Carvin LB70 more like a J-bass than a P-bass? (I thought it might be the opposite.) Specifically, is the Kiesel/Carvin LB70 fretboard as narrow as a J-Bass? If I ordered the Dinky J body, which MIGHT be a lighter body(?) than a chambered P-Bass, then put P-pickups on it in the normal P positions, would it sound more like a J or a P?

 

[micguy]

WOW! You’re reply is EXACTLY what I needed to learn—-thank you so much for all the specific details—-I definitely can do this now!

You’re welcome - glad I could help.

 

[tpaul]

Hey, here's a shout-out to Asheville, I lived there (albeit briefly) around the year 2000. Wonderful town.

And here's an idea: if you love everything about your Kiesel/Carvin except the weight, why not look into getting a lightweight duplicate body made? Then you could transfer the neck and pickups/electronics to the new body. It would feel and sound like your bass, only lighter. (Get lighter tuners too if you want.) As others have mentioned, Paulownia is a very lightweight wood, so I'd start there and see if you can get it to the weight you want without chambering. You'd save a bunch of money because you wouldn't have to pay for a new neck and pickups, and most importantly, you would be assured that the end result would feel and sound good to you.

 

[Sharon Lewis]

Hey, here's a shout-out to Asheville, I lived there (albeit briefly) around the year 2000. Wonderful town.

And here's an idea: if you love everything about your Kiesel/Carvin except the weight, why not look into getting a lightweight duplicate body made? Then you could transfer the neck and pickups/electronics to the new body. It would feel and sound like your bass, only lighter. (Get lighter tuners too if you want.) As others have mentioned, Paulownia is a very lightweight wood, so I'd start there and see if you can get it to the weight you want without chambering. You'd save a bunch of money because you wouldn't have to pay for a new neck and pickups, and most importantly, you would be assured that the end result would feel and sound good to you.

Thanks—-I love your ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking!

 

[Thumpin6string]

You can chamber a body, but the type of wood will determine the weight. I recommend asking Warmoth which body wood is the lightest and then get that chambered. My Caruthers 5 string fretless jazz style bass is an alder body with a maple cap. It has a maple/rosewood neck with hipshot ultralites, a pizzo bridge, Barts and a 3 band pre. It weighs right at 6 pounds. So, I would ask the builder. They should have the knowledge to get you what you want.

 

[MobileHolmes]

I appreciate your reply since you play BOTH Warmoth AND Carvin basses. In what ways is a Kiesel/Carvin LB70 more like a J-bass than a P-bass? (I thought it might be the opposite.) Specifically, is the Kiesel/Carvin LB70 fretboard as narrow as a J-Bass? If I ordered the Dinky J body, which MIGHT be a lighter body(?) than a chambered P-Bass, then put P-pickups on it in the normal P positions, would it sound more like a J or a P?

The more like a J, I just meant that they have J style pickups, although that really depends on years. Mine are from the early 90s and all they offered were humcancelling J pickups, although later they offered MusicMan style humbuckers as an option (and maybe even the soapbars out of the Icon?). Sound wise, a bass will mostly sound like the pickups you put in it, regardless of the body shape. So if you have J pickups in your LB70, throwing J pickups in another bass, regardless of shape, will get you in the ballpark. If you put P pickups in, it will sound pretty much like a P. Personally, I'm not all that picky about which tone I use (as long as it is a good one) for fingerstyle playing. In my country band, I used to mostly use a Warmoth J. It's electronics went goofy at a gig recently, and I played a stingray all night. Sounded good too. Recently, I put together a Warmoth P (with flats) that I had never gotten around to finishing, played it at our last gig, and it worked too (it's probably going to be my main bass for that band because while it's still heavy, it's lighter than the J or stingray).

Neck shape is the one bummer with buying warmoth, because you can't play it first to see how you like the feel. I can't find reliable dimensions for the Carvin neck size, but it appears to be closer to J dimensions in terms of nut width (i've seen claims of 1.54 and 1 5/8 in a little googling). Carvin will do a 1.5 or a 1 5/8 nut on J necks. They claim that the standard profile is close to modern fender, though I haven't played a fender J in a while, so I'm not sure. You could go play a couple fender Js just to see how you like the neck size (and double check the dimensions on their site). The sense that I have is that the carvin Necks were a little thinner front to back than a fender neck (Both of mine are 6 strings, so I don't know how the 4 shape compares), so you might want a thin taper warmoth neck. Or you might not. I like the standard one fine

 

[MobileHolmes]

Hey, here's a shout-out to Asheville, I lived there (albeit briefly) around the year 2000. Wonderful town.

And here's an idea: if you love everything about your Kiesel/Carvin except the weight, why not look into getting a lightweight duplicate body made? Then you could transfer the neck and pickups/electronics to the new body. It would feel and sound like your bass, only lighter. (Get lighter tuners too if you want.) As others have mentioned, Paulownia is a very lightweight wood, so I'd start there and see if you can get it to the weight you want without chambering. You'd save a bunch of money because you wouldn't have to pay for a new neck and pickups, and most importantly, you would be assured that the end result would feel and sound good to you.

The LB70 is a neck through, unfortunately

 

[MultiScaleMale]

If you like the bass other than it's weight, would something like this help? Leather Ergonomic Guitar Straps

 

[skycruiser]

Personally I would prefer a hard wood body with extensive chambering over a light, soft wood. I had an extremely light p body that would dent if you just looked at it wrong. Those low density bodies feel fragile to me. Easy to strip bridge screw holes.

 

[GroovyBaby]

I have had a few Carvins (including the LB70) but never a Warmoth. Here are a few thoughts though as someone who has had a few J and P basses over the years.

- The biggest impact on sound is the pickup and strings. Little else makes much of a difference. If you want the new bass to sound like your Carvin, you want similar pickups and strings. I'm not sure what those Soapbar pickups you have are, but if they are singly coil jazz pickups, then getting single coil jazz pickups will replicate that tone best. How do you mix the pickups on the Carvin? If you favor the front pickup exclusively, then that is similar to a P bass, but not the same. I have both and love both, but they are different.

- Sometimes buying a light weight bass is easier and less risk. Sandberg makes some incredible basses. They have fast necks (kind of like Carvin if my memory is correct) and their craftsmanship is top notch. There is one in the Classifieds now listed as 8-8.2lbs. My two sandbergs (one is a P (VS4) and the other a J (tt4)) are both 7.6lbs and a dream to play for hours. I'm with you, I didn't care about weight until I did. Now I shoot for under 8lbs. It makes a world of difference and has no noticeable impact on tone in my opinion. No relation to seller, but here is the Sandberg jazz, https://www.talkbass.com/threads/sandberg-tt4-passive-2021-natural.1562813/

- In my opinion, the biggest thing you need to decide is if you want another jazz style (like your Carvin I suspect) or a P bass. They are different beasts.

 

[tpaul]

The LB70 is a neck through, unfortunately

Ah, so re-bodying wouldn't work. Sorry, I wasn't aware of that.

 

[Sharon Lewis]

Personally I would prefer a hard wood body with extensive chambering over a light, soft wood. I had an extremely light p body that would dent if you just looked at it wrong. Those low density bodies feel fragile to me. Easy to strip bridge screw holes.

I agree with you, and will stick with chambered, roasted swamp ash.