Questions for heavy bass players (heavy bass, not heavy players)

well my stingray 5 definately isn't the heaviest bass.. but it carries some weight to it. I have stood up with it for 2 hours.... i'm fairly animated when I play.. I don't jump around.. but I do groove when I play...

 

1) How heavy is your bass?

Not sure. Not that heavy, but I played on a friend's Warwick a couple times that weighed a bit, and another friend's '72 Fender.

2) What's the longest period of time you're able (or willing) to play it?

Sitting all night, standing about 2-3 hours.

3) How active are you while performing?

Depends, usually I just kinda walk around, sometimes I mosh.

4) Does the weight of the instrument hinder your playing in any way?

Sometimes it just puts a bit of strain on my shoulder.

5) What do you do to alleviate (literally) the problem?

Get a new bass? Hehe other than that, I got a padded strap, and put it on my shoulder (Which helps becuase the weight is on your bone instead of the tendon).

Please mention the model and material the instrument's made of.

Warwick (I Dunno what model) made of Walnut (I dunno Neck). Fender '72 Alder with Maple/and Maple Neck. My Fender 5 with Alder and Maple/PaoFerro.

 

1) How heavy is your bass? 10 lbs. (Roscoe Beck V, alder body, maple neck. Tuners are the ultralight kind, but the Gotoh bridge probably adds 0.5 lb.)

2) What's the longest period of time you're able (or willing) to play it? Standing, 2.5 hrs. Haven't gone to the limit.

3) How active are you while performing? Not very. Some full-body grooving and foot tapping, but no jumping or headbanging.

4) Does the weight of the instrument hinder your playing in any way? No.

5) Do you feel any ill effects from playing your bass? Sore shoulder at the 2 hr. mark.

6) What do you do to Make the bass more comfortable to play? A wide, padded leather strap helps a great deal. Keeping the strap length short and the bass up high on your chest stops the bass from pulling you forward. Weight training might improve stamina.

 

I have an Ash bodied G&L L-2000.

1) How heavy is your bass?

The bass weighs approximately 11 lbs.

2) What's the longest period of time you're able (or willing) to play it?

Almost as long as I can stand without it.

3) How active are you while performing?

Quite active.

4) Does the weight of the instrument hinder your playing in any way?

No. In fact I think it enhances it. More stability.

5) Do you feel any ill effects from playing your bass?

I feel ill from not playing it.

6) What do you do to Make the bass more comfortable to play?

Nothing. I like to torture myself with heavy basses. I just use a regular Nylon strap.

 

c.a. 6 kilo, i think

9 hours non-stop

Very

No, in fact.. if you are an active bassist.. jumping around etc.. a heavy bass is a MUST. it keeps tha bass in balance.

Nope, in fact.. i feel great while playing my bass

Wear it low.

Ibanez EDC705 with BTB1005 pickups and pre-amp, made out of Luthite.

 

Yeah, that way the pain in your wrists will outshine the pain in your back.

 

1. don't know but I think it's at least 12 pounds
2. up to an hour no problem, up to two I can feel it a bit, over that I haven't tried
3. not terribly
4. nope
5. nope
6. 3" leather strap, good posture

It's a Hanewinckel 6-string, bubinga neck and padauk / ebony body.

 

I don't see why everyone critisizes wearing a bass low. If you don't like how it looks, fine, I don't like how it looks when you wear your bass up high, but I don't critisize anyone who does.

As far as comfort goes, I find it more comfortable to have my right wrist straight instead of slumped over the bass at some ungodly angle.

 

well i play a vester argus bass and its made of solid rose would so it is a hefty bass , i cant stand with it for about 4 hours at rehersals , gigs i can for 1 hr 30 mins roughly ands iam quite active

 

I like how it looks just fine. Simon Gallup and Peter Hook are two of my heroes.

It's really the left wrist that's the main problem. I feel pretty solidly that it's silly to knowingly do something that makes it harder to play. You're right, wearing the bass so high that your right wrist is at a 90 degree angle doesn't work. But there's definitely a middle ground where both wrists are fairly straight. It also does depend on each person's shape, some have longer arms then others (mine are fairly short for my height, yes). Of course, the longer you play an instrument in a given position, the worse it feels when you try a different one. That doesn't mean the new one isn't better however.

BTW, If I hear the argument "don't criticize me because i don't criticize you" again, I'm going to scream. Besides, I wasn't criticizing people who wear their bass low, I was criticizing the the recommendation to wear your bass low.

 

my Ibanez ATK 5 string isnt the heaviest bass ive ever played... but its damn close. Im not sure on the exact weight. but its the USA model, which has the tension free neck. the extensive steel reinforcement adds some wieght. its a bit neck heavey too. I use a wide padded strap to remedy this. it helps make it not so uncomfortable to play, and not neck dive so much.

i do a lot of jumping around on stage at times, but usally confine myself to moving with the beat of the music. accents often become bodily contractions and the bass gets thrown downwards on these.

the longest gig ive ever played was about 3 hours straight. i was not happy to say the least. i can comfortably go for about 2 hours nonstop. two hour and a half sets are also attainable. (can ya tell i play in a band that like to jam?)

the bass is made from swamp ash, but with a larger body. so its kinda heavey. its a bit like a stingray5. neck woods are maple and walnut. the weight defenilty does effect my playing, as does the neck dive. its much easier to play loger periods of time on my lighter weight and more balanced LB75.

after a long gig with my ATK my left shoulder often hurts where the strap rests on it. my left forearm can get sore too from holding the neck up, as its neck-heavey. my right arm usually hurts too, but i have a feeling thats from constant slapping.

i wear my basses at mid level. not up to my chest, and not at my knees. perfect level to have a belt buckle dig into the back. <sob>

 

FYI, Swamp ash is one of the lighter woods, just a bit heavier than alder. I think the ATK basses (along with 70s Jazz basses) are just plain ash, which is pretty heavy.

 

Of an Ibanez GSR200, made of Agathis (synthetic)

1) How heavy is your bass?- Roughly 5 pounds, maybe a little shy.

2) What's the longest period of time you're able (or willing) to play it? However long I want. It's usually my feet, not back or shoulders that give mee beef.

3) How active are you while performing? They call me Hyperball

4) Does the weight of the instrument hinder your playing in any way? Not that I'm aware of.

5) Do you feel any ill effects from playing your bass? Other than a hand that's kinda beat up, nope.

6) What do you do to Make the bass more comfortable to play? A wee of padding on the shoulder of the strap.

Please mention the model and material the instrument's made of.

 

Agathis is a type of wood, last I heard.

 

And since when was 5 lbs heavy?! I think it weighs more than 5 lbs.

My bass, when I had it, was a Tun Bullsye 6.

1) Almost 14 lbs.
2) Longest I played it was at a 3½ hour rehearsal, all standing.
3) For anything that I used it for over an hour, not very. Mostly jazz band and my own band's rehearsals. Never got a chance to gig with it in my own band, and jazz band performances were usually about 4-5 songs, but I was standing and reading, so it wasn't a lot of movement.
4) Nope, not once I got my Comfort Strapp. I preferred the weight, because the bass never shifted from where I would put it.
5) Nope, I didn't.
6) Comfort strapp comfort strapp comfort strapp. Made my huge bass feel like almost nothing. Playing the basss high didn't hurt, either.

 

Well, not to say "You're wrong"..but I'm fairly sure it's a man made material. I'm looking right at it, and it's a pale grey color (there's a chunk of finish missing near my brigde strap pin that happened during shipping) and has no grain to speak of.. I believe MF even mentioned it in the description for a while. Ibanez.com doesn't make reference last time I checked, though I haven't been there in quite some time.

 

Sure feels heavy whenever I don't wanna practice

That, and it's about there according to my bathroom scale, which we all know is THE reference point when weighing something...

 

i'm not sure howm uch my bass weighs (ibanez SR405) but i play pretty low (almost to my knees: http://www.nakedandfree.com/bitter_disposition/images/120801/ramen01.jpg ), and just lean to offset the weight. for example, if the song is slow or i'm doing something complicated i'll lean forward, and if i'm starting to show off then i'll lean forward. i angle it pretty high though, so while my right wrist is straight my left wrist isn't too badly bent because i angle the guitar so high.
i can play for over 4 hours straight without so much as a shoulder pain this way.