Tricks to lower the weight on a bass?

[kevteop]

Helium filled balloons.

 

[bigmoosepi]

you could try pulling the bass to pieces, weighing the body then getting a replacement body that is 2lbs lighter, then put all the bits back on the new body.


Cheaper than a new bass but I think selling the current one and buying another bass probably ends with the least loss (or none at all).

 

[makaspar]

Remove the neck, strip the body, and run that sucker through a planer. Shave off about 1/4"-1/2" of wood and then reassemble.

Ha! Just make sure you only take wood off of the back, or your bridge won't sit high enough.

 

[P Town]

Take the Space Elevator to the moon, where your 10.4 pound bass will weigh 1.7 pounds.

You may have to get a longer cord.

Otherwise, buy a lighter bass.

 

[jmverdugo]

I like the other approach, hit the gym, strength your back and shoulder....

 

[smcd]

Ideas in ascending quasi-likelihood of working:

Grin and bear it with the wider strap.
Sit when playing.
Get a gym membership.
Sell it and buy a lighter one.

Those are the answers right there ^^.




Swapping out the tuners will cost you money, and will only gain about 2oz. total. Routing out the body under the pickguard is an insane idea. It will DESTROY the resale value of the bass, and will make a difference of less than 1lb. And it could possibly change the way the bass sounds.

 

[elBandito]

How much does a body weigh? 7 pounds for a heavy body. To shed 2-3 pounds, that's a significant reduction in mass. But then, every ounce helps.

 

[tjh]

When you chambered these basses did it have any negative side effects? Tone, neck dive, etc etc?

no ... but it was a lot of work for not a very substantial weight savings ... I wont do it again ...

 

[smcd]

In order to make any difference, a chambered body has to look like this -

Routing out that MM import is complete folly.

 

[radioface]

Try lifting weights.

 

[Jim C]

I have a 1983 Stingray; weighs a ton; the last year of Leo; it will always be left alone
Bought another Stingray off this board that was beautiful but misrepresented weight
Sold that and weighted until I found a mid 2000 that weighs in the low 8's.

They are out there; you just have to look.

FWIW I have a number of early 70's Fenders; I used to have more but sold all the heavyweights except for the one my folks bought me new in 1973.
I don't hear any difference in tone on these unmodified instruments due to weight and a flex 4" strap helps but not enough for me.

 

[brad houser]

+1000 to the exercise/workout suggestion. my workouts have made my basses feel a lot lighter. it's great to be in better shape now.

 

[ImNotJoel]

+2000 to work out and exercise you could lift weights, arny presses, low rows, trap flys.

Doesn't have to be weights just improve your posture sit up straight if you have an exercise ball sit on it straight.

Or simply keep playing standing no point I'm cutting up or selling a bass just because it's heavy.

It's not the basses fault.

 

[mongo2]

Usually I'll just use lighter hardware if it's available but I find wide neoprene straps to be very good at reducing the effect of a hefty but otherwise well balanced bass on my shoulder and back. With the strap placed properly on the shoulder it can make a heavier instrument easier to handle.

 

[polkaman81]

I dropped almost a pound of my ATK300, it was 10.27 and now it's 9.29. I did this by changing out the heavy chrome knobs for plastic jazz hats, the honkin big bridge for a lighter Fender one and also routing out some of the preamp cavity a bit more. I did it in different stages, didn't notice a change in tone with the preamp cavity routed out, but didn't lose a whole lot of weight either.

Do you have any pics yet of your ATK with the mods? I have an ATK3EX1 (basically an ATK300, was made for 6 months in 2007 exclusively for Guitar Center) and I too would love my ATK to loose a little weight. I'm really curious as to what a different bridge will look like on an ATK especially since you will have extra holes from the original bridge. I'm gonna swap the knobs on my Fender Jazz and see what they look like on the ATK. I tried weighing both my ATK and Fender Jazz but my bathroom scale sucks and says they weigh the same and there is no way that is true (anyone wanna sell me a new scale too!) If I had to guess, I would think my ATK would be right around 10 lbs. where yours is and my Fender Jazz around 8-8.5. My back does not bother me when I play my Fender but I have played a few gigs with my ATK and my back was a little grumpy by the end of the night. Thanks!

Curt

 

[decentbassbreh]

switch to guitar?

 

[Fenwick]

Do you have any pics yet of your ATK with the mods? I have an ATK3EX1 (basically an ATK300, was made for 6 months in 2007 exclusively for Guitar Center) and I too would love my ATK to loose a little weight. I'm really curious as to what a different bridge will look like on an ATK especially since you will have extra holes from the original bridge. I'm gonna swap the knobs on my Fender Jazz and see what they look like on the ATK.

I don't have any pics at the moment, once I switch the preamp I will do a thread with pics. I removed the pickguard too so there is a bunch of holes, but I left all the original screws in them...it' a look. I like the look of the ATK with the small old school Fender bridge and the reverse P that I added. Oh and the jazz hats look great on mine, it's natural grain and the black really pops against it (I have an additional blend knob too).

 

[polkaman81]

I just weighed out the tone knobs on a 5 lb Pelouze scale and here's what I found:

ATK chrome tone knob= .7 oz / 21 g 4 knobs= 2.8 oz / 84 g
Fender plastic tone knob= .2 oz / 6 g 4 knobs= .8 oz / 24 g

So you can see that changing knobs will save you about 2 oz. Gotta start somewhere.

 

[ih8law]

Get aggressive with removing the dead weight in the body and neck:

 

[Munjibunga]

I Suppose this takes the weight out without a refinish or anything else, does it kill the value?

Modify the bass, the value goes down. I'm with the "sell it and buy a lighter bass" crowd.