Yup sure thing,mee too.
What I'm trying to say is I'd never give up my favorite bass just because of its weight. I'd rather sit with it.
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Weight?!?!
- Thread starter Fat Bottom Kyle
- Start date
What I'm trying to say is I'd never give up my favorite bass just because of its weight. I'd rather sit with it.
You're more than welcome. And, thank you all for my retirement check...
Yup sure thing,mee too.
What I'm trying to say is I'd never give up my favorite bass jsut because of its weight. I'd rather sit with it.
I build my own, and I've figured out how to make basses that inspire me that are consistently light enough as well, so I never face the issue of "I love this, but it's too heavy".
I'm not sure if I ever will. I'm about 6'3" but it can mean nothing, anything can happen.
Luckyle two of my favorites are the Super heavy Spectors, but also the MIJ Jazz Bass Specials which is featherweight. So if anything happens, I'll just stick with the JBS.
What I am confronting is the reality that my #1 bass (and others), after being taken up again after a long hiatus, now are too heavy for me to use comfortably. I used to be able to do four hour-long sets standing and never feel a twinge. Now I feel a twinge just taking the bass off the stand and returning it to its case. This grieves me deeply, because I have a really long gigging history with this bass; but I know that if I continue to use it as before I will pay a price.
Playing seated exclusively is a gorilla in the room, although I have yet to confront it head-on. And even seated balance, reach, and stretch are still issues even with weight no longer a consideration.
I think what we all want is a bass that we can just play, without distractions, discomforts, or impediments. But good luck with finding a Goldilocks bass like that.
Playing seated exclusively is a gorilla in the room, although I have yet to confront it head-on. And even seated balance, reach, and stretch are still issues even with weight no longer a consideration.
I think what we all want is a bass that we can just play, without distractions, discomforts, or impediments. But good luck with finding a Goldilocks bass like that.
This looks impressive, even appealing, but I do not think I could bond with it.
A buddy of mine loaned me his "stick" bass on a couple gigs and surprisingly, I dug it.
I think there are a couple factors when it comes to weight.
How heavy ARE the basses you can choose from?
Are you sitting or standing?
How well does your strap distribute weight?
Does the neck dive creating other support issues?
How long are your gigs/rehearsals?
HOW OLD ARE YOU (and your muscular/body condition)?
In no particular order... My answers...
I'm over 70 now so my body ain't what it used to be, especially after cancer treatment.
I'm lucky that I can sit most of the time or elect to stand if I care to. Which I do intermittently.
The basses I play the most are my Fender Jazz 5 at just over 10 pounds, my Sandberg and my Yamaha, both at 8.5 pounds. BTB675 at 9 pounds+, but I rarely gig the BTB any more. Yamaha is not strictly for rehearsals unless I need that sound with EBCF strings.
My basses have limited to no neck dive and my straps tend to be 3" to 3.5", single ply leather with some grip or padded for the Fender. Good distribution. Helps keep the bass in place.
Rehearsals can be 1-1.5 hours for normal gigs or up to 8 hours for musical theater (but always seated there).
So right now I gig my Sandberg 80% of the time and Fender about 20% though I still love it.
How heavy ARE the basses you can choose from?
Are you sitting or standing?
How well does your strap distribute weight?
Does the neck dive creating other support issues?
How long are your gigs/rehearsals?
HOW OLD ARE YOU (and your muscular/body condition)?
In no particular order... My answers...
I'm over 70 now so my body ain't what it used to be, especially after cancer treatment.
I'm lucky that I can sit most of the time or elect to stand if I care to. Which I do intermittently.
The basses I play the most are my Fender Jazz 5 at just over 10 pounds, my Sandberg and my Yamaha, both at 8.5 pounds. BTB675 at 9 pounds+, but I rarely gig the BTB any more. Yamaha is not strictly for rehearsals unless I need that sound with EBCF strings.
My basses have limited to no neck dive and my straps tend to be 3" to 3.5", single ply leather with some grip or padded for the Fender. Good distribution. Helps keep the bass in place.
Rehearsals can be 1-1.5 hours for normal gigs or up to 8 hours for musical theater (but always seated there).
So right now I gig my Sandberg 80% of the time and Fender about 20% though I still love it.
It doesn't take much. If your back or your knees or your feet are hurting, 30 seconds of sitting on a stool can bring enough relief to get you through the next ten or twelve or fifteen minutes without pain, or at least with less pain. A few such breaks can make a huge difference at the end of the night.
i never cared about the weight of my basses till i tore my rotator cuff and damaged an ankle. everything improved, but not 100% - i can only stand playing a super very light bass, and even sitting i find 8 pounds is close to my max.
I have one of those EUBs, and I personally *love* working with the instrument on a tripod like that. I may not be able to move around on the stage with it, but at least I can dance around it pretty freely without it falling over or my losing my position on it. I'm very seriously thinking about trying to make an adapter for my Chapman Stick for one of those tripods. It's not the weight of the Stick that's an issue, it's that I've never liked the belt-hook-and-shoulder-strap system that Chapman invented for it, and my experience with the NS Designs EUB is that I'm fine with not having the instrument strapped to me. Not sure about bass guitar, though. When the instrument is mostly vertical, like an EUB or Stick, one can move from side-to-side and a bit around the instrument and maintain a playing position. A bass guitar held up horizontally seems to me to provide less freedom of movement.
I'd have to try playing a bass on one of those. Intuitively, it seems like it would be awkward, that I'd be limited in my positioning more than would be comfortable.
A few months ago I took my now retired Sadowsky Jazz to a rehearsal. After 2 hours I was thinking more about the pain in my lower back than on what I was playing.
Last night I took the same Sadowsky to it's first gig in over a year, only because I could sit on a stool. Most gigs I can't. Today my lower back is sore but I got through the night. After the first number the drummer leant over and said, " That sounds great".
It's a dilemma, the best sounding bass I've owned and I can't play it on most gigs!!!
Something to ponder, when Tom Araya(Slayer) had his neck surgery, his brother rigged up a weightlifting belt to hold his bass so Tom wouldn't be holding it with his neck/shoulders. I can't remember if he still used a shoulder strap just with less weight or it was entirely the belt, but he used it on tour for a bit.
If you have a bass you like but it's just too heavy, perhaps try tinkering with something to help redistribute the weight. Think along the lines of backpackers. Probably don't want tons of straps all over, but might help save a beloved bass for a bit longer.
If you have a bass you like but it's just too heavy, perhaps try tinkering with something to help redistribute the weight. Think along the lines of backpackers. Probably don't want tons of straps all over, but might help save a beloved bass for a bit longer.
