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Stingray 5 ...very light!!!!

#21
Relive said:
Hi to all
I just bought an used Stingray 5 from a web customer; it's a honeyburst with rosewood board , mint condition , very beautifull.
Out of the box I immediatly noticed it weight because it' s very light. No other Stingray5 that I 've tried and used was so light. It's weight 4,2 kg ( 9,26 lbs).The bass sound great, with a remarkable B string.:bassist:
My questions are : is the weight of my Stingray so unusual ???
Can the light weight affect the B string sound in some way ???


Ps: hope you understand;sorry for my non perfect english ... :smug:
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Good for you!
a question;
How heavy are stingray 5s usually?
4.2 Kg isn't heavy, but also does not strike me as super light.
It's a comfortable weight though , one I sure wouldn't complain about.
And if it sounds good...even better :).
 
#22
awilkie84 said:
From a physics standpoint, that's not the best way to weigh a bass. The neck and piece of the body aren't having their entire weight displaced by the point making contact with the weight plate (complicated physics stuff that's hard to explain without writing an equation). Standing it up so that all the weight is centered over the plate would be more accurate.
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That seems to start an entertaining debate. Wait, need to get my beer and chips ... subscribed :D
 
#24
awilkie84 said:
From a physics standpoint, that's not the best way to weigh a bass. The neck and piece of the body aren't having their entire weight displaced by the point making contact with the weight plate (complicated physics stuff that's hard to explain without writing an equation). Standing it up so that all the weight is centered over the plate would be more accurate.
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The weight of my SR5 is calculated in this way:
Me on balance : 80.5 kg
Me and SR5 on balance : 84.7 kg
84.7 - 80.5 = 4.2 kg

More simple , more effective ...
 
#25
awilkie84 said:
From a physics standpoint, that's not the best way to weigh a bass. The neck and piece of the body aren't having their entire weight displaced by the point making contact with the weight plate (complicated physics stuff that's hard to explain without writing an equation). Standing it up so that all the weight is centered over the plate would be more accurate.
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My mind is still boggled by this "complicated physics stuff that's hard to explain". I mean, I studied Electrical Engineering and thus took all the requisite physics, statics, vector analysis, diff eq, and plenty of other related stuff. What am I missing here?

Back on topic, my old fretted SR5 (2002) was in the 9.5-10lb range. My newer-to-me fretless SR5 (1994) is probably closer to 11. It sounds fabulous, though, and balances nicely on a fat leather strap.
 
#27
lowfreqgeek said:
My mind is still boggled by this "complicated physics stuff that's hard to explain". I mean, I studied Electrical Engineering and thus took all the requisite physics, statics, vector analysis, diff eq, and plenty of other related stuff. What am I missing here?
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Same here. I have a masters in mechanical engineering, and I've been popping back in this thread hoping that guy would explain what he's thinking. I've concluded that he simply made up that statement off the cuff. Next he'll be telling us that keeping an amphibious rodent, for... um, ya know domestic... within the city... that ain't legal.
 
#28
k...here's an easy way to explain it to those of you with degrees who are missing what should be the simplest things to you.

Grab your bass & stand on a scale. Hold the bass upright & close to your body. Check the weight. Now, hold your bass out at a 90* angle from you (parallel to the floor). Check the weight again. The force applied to the scale is going to be different because the weight is NOT displaced over the central point.
 
#29
@awilkie84: The phenomenon you are describing is an issue on some scales because you are moving the center of gravity of the system being weighed out over the side of the scale. That puts a torque on the weighing platform that (again, depending on the scale) can result in some friction between the weighing platform and the measuring portion of the scale. Thus, the load seems lighter, because of some mechanical friction in the scale.

But, when the center of gravity of the weighed system is directly over the center of the weighing platform, that is not an issue. As in the picture from earlier.
 
#30
awilkie84 said:
k...here's an easy way to explain it to those of you with degrees who are missing what should be the simplest things to you.

Grab your bass & stand on a scale. Hold the bass upright & close to your body. Check the weight. Now, hold your bass out at a 90* angle from you (parallel to the floor). Check the weight again. The force applied to the scale is going to be different because the weight is NOT displaced over the central point.
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Yikes! You're making my insides spasm. :^)

Assuming the scale is the only thing supporting the bass, and there is no rocking on the point of balance (making the reading fluctuate), then the scale is taking -- and sensing -- the full weight of the bass. That weight doesn't change according to positioning -- so long as the scale is the only support, and the point of contact is balanced and stable.

In your world, a boxer struggling to make his weight class could weigh in lighter if he lay across the scale! :^)
 
#31
awilkie84 said:
k...here's an easy way to explain it to those of you with degrees who are missing what should be the simplest things to you.

Grab your bass & stand on a scale. Hold the bass upright & close to your body. Check the weight. Now, hold your bass out at a 90* angle from you (parallel to the floor). Check the weight again. The force applied to the scale is going to be different because the weight is NOT displaced over the central point.
Click to expand...

If you base your understanding of gravitational force on how your particular bathroom scale behaves, I think you need A) a new scale, and B) to spend a few minutes boning up on your high school physics. There's this dude named Newton than came up with some very basic laws to describe this very thing. In particular, you should review his first law, though the others are useful, too.

Moral of the story: My Stingray 5 weighs the same whether I balance it vertically on it's bottom strap pin on my nose or I hold it in a more conventional horizontal position on a strap over my shoulders.
 
#33
awilkie84 said:
k...here's an easy way to explain it to those of you with degrees who are missing what should be the simplest things to you.

Grab your bass & stand on a scale. Hold the bass upright & close to your body. Check the weight. Now, hold your bass out at a 90* angle from you (parallel to the floor). Check the weight again. The force applied to the scale is going to be different because the weight is NOT displaced over the central point.
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Ooof!!

Should have let sleeping dogs lie, amigo. :rollno:
 
#34
StuartV said:
@awilkie84: The phenomenon you are describing is an issue on some scales because you are moving the center of gravity of the system being weighed out over the side of the scale. That puts a torque on the weighing platform that (again, depending on the scale) can result in some friction between the weighing platform and the measuring portion of the scale. Thus, the load seems lighter, because of some mechanical friction in the scale.

But, when the center of gravity of the weighed system is directly over the center of the weighing platform, that is not an issue. As in the picture from earlier.
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your quite right.. i have a weighing machine at work.. its for weighing pallets of goods, so is big, and very accurate, ive tried this.. i stand on it with a 4 metre metal pole pointing upwards.. i weigh 220 pounds, when i turned the pole horizontal i still weighed 220 pounds... some scale dont have a stable weighing platform, thus when you put a weight of center it alters the reading...
 
#37
My Stingray 5 weighs 9 pounds on the dot. Rare, indeed. The weight and string spacing is what sold me. I bought it used and payed a little more than what they go for, but I know how hard it is to find a light Musicman. The body is super light. I could probably get this thing close to eight pounds with Hipshot tuners. Congrats, we should start a lightweight Musicman club.
 

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#38
jlepre said:
I have owned 10 SR5's and they varied from 10 to 11.7 pounds. I would say you got a light one. Lucky you. It won't effect the sound. The lightest EBMM 5 string I've ever owned was a Sterling 5 at 9 pounds! I wish I'd never let that one go.
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I had a 95-96 SR5 in the same finish and FB as yours. It sure seemed pretty beefy to me.
 
#39
Here's my recently purchased 2012 PDN SR5. After playing some 5ers in the 10lb range, I spent a lot of time looking for the lightest one I could find (and missing out on one that weighed 8.8lbs) I bought this one and couldn't be happier.

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Weighs 9.2. That's what they told me at Music Zoo and I confirmed in on my home postage scale. This one has the roasted maple neck, pao ferro fretboard and mahogany body. Have no idea if any or all of these factor in the weight.

IME, this is light for an SR5 and light for a Stingray in general. I had originally planned to get a Stingray Classic but most were closer to 10lbs.

Speaking of light weight tuners, bummed to learn that MM is just starting to use them only on some of the newer model like Reflex, Big Al and Gamechanger. Would prob shave 1/2 lb of any bass. I'm not aware of any 3rd party alternatives.
 

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