I know some say it’s not worth it, but I’m in the camp that says removing ounces can matter. Of course there’s a point where either you get to diminishing returns, or get an unbalanced instrument.
I’ve routed beneath the Pickguard before , as well as other weight reduction tricks….and the way I approach it is to …..
1) make sure the bass is well balanced “as is”…. If not, you’re fighting a losing battle mostly. Although you can use some of the following tricks to get some of that balance back…. As well as trying things like moving strap buttons, etc….
2) change to an ultralight tuner set like Hipshot or Gotoh UL’s. Then I’ll measure the weight difference between old tuners and new ones. This is usually 3-6 ounces difference.
3) knowing that if I have, say “4 ounces of difference by changing tuners” … I then know I can take away 4 ounces of weight in the body and keep it balanced. This weight can come from moving to a lighter weight bridge, or routing under the guard, lighter weight knobs, etc. The one thing I’d keep in mind is that if you’re changing to a lighter bridge, keeping toward the “same” amount of weight reduction as the tuners is more important because the bridge is typically at the the furthest end of the body, so removed weight has a more extreme effect on balance.
4) if I’m removing by routing under the guard, I find I can remove a bit more weight in wood than the tuner swap saves…. Nearly 1.5-2x the amount. UNLESS I’m swapping a bridge as well.
To simplify, if I’ve saved 4 ounces by swapping tuners, I can use a 4 ounce lighter bridge and keep pretty close to the same balance. Weight savings would be 1/2 lb.
If I’m swapping tuners and ONLY relieving weight under the Pickguard, I can remove 6-8 ounces of wood from under the guard. On a lighter body, you’re unlikely to be able to remove this much, but on something like a heavy mahogany body, taking away 6-8oz can feel massively different, at least to me. To get that kind of weight removal generally requires routing though, a forstner but wound usually do it.
Of course as I’m doing these things I’m consistently testing balance on a strap. There are plenty of times where you can do all the weight saving things…. Tuners, bridge, knobs, and under guard relief. But I wouldn’t try all of it without testing balance each step of the way. But I’ve saved close to a lb on a bass before by doing this, and believe me…there is a HUGE difference between a 10lb bass and a 9lb bass to a gigging bassist with a bad back !
Long winded post, I know…..
PS: you can also save a little by ditching the heavy neck plate on bolt on necks and using ferrules instead.
I’m not saying that any of these things into themselves are usually a dramatic difference, but when you add them all up it certainly can be.
