Weight?!?!

[MYLOWFREQ]

So to those buyers, I say if you are too lazy to respond with your thoughts about the requested weight, you might be too lazy to play the low bottom beast known as bass.

So to you seller, I say if you're to lazy to post your sale with the weight of the instrument you're selling, you might not be old enough to understand what playing a heavy bass does to your body in the long term.

 

[Liam Wald]

Weight is important, but I believe that balance is more important.
Balance can usually be determined by looking at the design. Weight cannot be determined in the same way.
I, like many others, will want to know the weight of an instrument before I decide to purchase.
I do not think that this is just some sort of trend and feel that the weight of an instrument should be stated in for sale ads by the seller to begin with.

 

[Watchootognbout]

Weight is important, but I believe that balance is more important.
Balance can usually be determined by looking at the design. Weight cannot be determined in the same way.
I, like many others, will want to know the weight of an instrument before I decide to purchase.
I do not think that this is just some sort of trend and feel that the weight of an instrument should be stated in for sale ads by the seller to begin with.

I agree.
Balance is much more important than weight.
This comes down to the design of the bass.

My BTB676 weighs in at 11.09 lbs.
And balances perfectly due to the fact that the upper horn reaches the twelfth fret.

 

[sethlow3]

Why is giving the buyer more info some kind of debate?

People buy basses with hundreds of different preferences and weight is one of them. Just because they don’t reply doesn’t mean them (and many many other people) didn’t want to know what it weighed.

People want to know nowadays because it matters. If you don’t get a response, you’re still saving your time and that of your buyers because guess what? They care…

It’s usually the guys who don’t gig much that don’t seem to care about weight, but then they care about neck finish, nut width, or something not verifiable by a picture on the internet. You can find posts where they ask questions like that and don’t say much of anything after. So what?

weird post…

 

[Blake Bass]

Anything over 8 lbs is a no go for me. So I really appreciate sellers who post the instrument weight in their ads.

 

[Hawk256]

I had honestly never heard of weighing a bass before I joined this site. In 35 years no one has asked for a weight and neither have I. If it's important to you then more power to you but weight has never changed my mind on a bass that I wanted.

 

[sethlow3]

Maybe we just need a new acronym for responding to the OP topic on talkbass…

OMLT = Over my limit thanks.

 

[J Posega]

Some thoughts I have on our classified's most common question...

Now I'm a small feller that plays 4 and 5 string basses for sometimes up to 3 hours, and I have a bunch of different basses that all weigh different amounts. Besides sometimes vocalizing once in a while to the bass I'm holding, "Geez gal you are a little hefty." I don't really notice how the instruments weigh me down. I'm usually having a lot of fun playing, and I also purchased wide straps that are proper for the instrument. Basses are big, and I love that about them. Even the little ones like Mustangs, sound big and are at least heavier than a Strat. I think if a Mustang bass is too heavy, one should seek something in the skinny headless category. Lucky for you seems like there are a number of options there. However, I do see countless children and smaller ladies ripping full scale basses on YouTube, albeit sometimes in a chair, but I saw George Porter Jr. at Tipitinas last year playing in a chair and no one seemed to care about that. Me thinks the obsession with the weight of a bass is short sighted and a bit silly. If basses are too heavy, play keys, guitar, sax, whatever. You can tell your tale on a thousand different canvases and still plug in.

Also, is it just me or is "Weight?" the "Is it available?" for our marketplace? I can't count the amount of times I have had to weigh a bass for someone, respond with that weight, and then it's crickets on their end. So to those buyers, I say if you are too lazy to respond with your thoughts about the requested weight, you might be too lazy to play the low bottom beast known as bass.

To those of you that ask, "Weight?" and then respond, good on you. Maybe you can lead a new charge by asking, "how heavy is that hunk of wood?", or "what kind of over the shoulder boulder holder do you use to slap the B string on that sucker while dancing?"

I think the laziness is on the side of sellers that don't just take the 2 minutes to weight the instrument but then have the time to cry about someone asking for the weight. Some folks aren't actually interested in buying your bass, they just know that it's a very common question and want the information posted so someone else doesn't have to ask.

I'm sure you'll also be surprised to hear that not everyone shares your preferences and capabilities. Yeah, I've seen some little kids play full scale basses like they're the reincarnation of Jaco. I've also known players with devastated shoulder joints and vertebra and honestly it's not your business why someone wants a lightweight bass.

 

[Killing Floor]

Toured for many years. Have played thousands of times worked for a conglomerate instrument manufacturer for 7-ish years. Have never weighed a bass or guitar. Even when I was doing QC for guitars and basses the only time one went across a scale was when we put the UPS sticker on it.

Weighing basses is relatively a new phenomenon spurred by forums.

Admit it. If you didn’t subscribe to TB you wouldn’t have considered buying a fish scale to weigh your basses. You’d just play it or not play it.

“Play it or weigh it”. Jaco Pastorius

“There’s more to rock’n’roll than old dudes griping about how much their gear weighs”. Paul Simonon

“Your kid’s Sousaphone weighs 45 pounds”. Jack Bruce

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Some thoughts I have on our classified's most common question...

Now I'm a small feller that plays 4 and 5 string basses for sometimes up to 3 hours, and I have a bunch of different basses that all weigh different amounts. Besides sometimes vocalizing once in a while to the bass I'm holding, "Geez gal you are a little hefty." I don't really notice how the instruments weigh me down. I'm usually having a lot of fun playing, and I also purchased wide straps that are proper for the instrument. Basses are big, and I love that about them. Even the little ones like Mustangs, sound big and are at least heavier than a Strat. I think if a Mustang bass is too heavy, one should seek something in the skinny headless category. Lucky for you seems like there are a number of options there. However, I do see countless children and smaller ladies ripping full scale basses on YouTube, albeit sometimes in a chair, but I saw George Porter Jr. at Tipitinas last year playing in a chair and no one seemed to care about that. Me thinks the obsession with the weight of a bass is short sighted and a bit silly. If basses are too heavy, play keys, guitar, sax, whatever. You can tell your tale on a thousand different canvases and still plug in.

Also, is it just me or is "Weight?" the "Is it available?" for our marketplace? I can't count the amount of times I have had to weigh a bass for someone, respond with that weight, and then it's crickets on their end. So to those buyers, I say if you are too lazy to respond with your thoughts about the requested weight, you might be too lazy to play the low bottom beast known as bass.

To those of you that ask, "Weight?" and then respond, good on you. Maybe you can lead a new charge by asking, "how heavy is that hunk of wood?", or "what kind of over the shoulder boulder holder do you use to slap the B string on that sucker while dancing?"

It seems to be a huge issue across a large percentage of the posters on this board where the difference between a 1/4 ounce can mean agony and or relief, being able to play or not. Like you, not having an issue with gear weight even at age 71, I used to think posters were obsessed with having lightest rig possible. After reading the many stories here of health issues and the relief found using lighter gear which allows them to continue with their passion, I’m all for it.

As I’ve posted many times, the world is a better place with each note played. If they need lighter or smaller gear to make that happen so be it.

 

[Sid Fang]

…Also, is it just me or is "Weight?" the "Is it available?" for our marketplace? I can't count the amount of times I have had to weigh a bass for someone, respond with that weight, and then it's crickets on their end.

I don’t understand why you had to weigh any bass more than once. After that, telling people what it weighs is no more work than telling them what color it is.

Some people care about color. Some people care about comfort. Neither directly affect the music, but if you want to successfully buy/sell musical instruments, you need to respect the desires of people who don’t necessarily share your priorities. Speaking for myself, I care about the weight of basses quite a bit (old back injury), and if I was considering buying a bass online, I would insist on knowing the weight before even CONSDERING the purchase. So, if you advertised a bass that looked cool but had no weight listed, I’d ask how much it weighs even if I wasn’t very serious. If you don’t want to be “ghosted”, just list the weight up-front.

 

[birminghambass]

I listed a bass as 9.2 lbs. I was asked if that meant 9lbs 2 oz or 9.2 meaning 9lbs 3.5 oz. Ridiculous.
I've owned at least 50 FSOs, all weighed within 6oz on 9lbs. Also, in my 400+ transactions on TB I've never sold a bass to anyone who asked about weight

 

[red_rhino]

I always ask if the instrument was fabricated from responsibly-harvested woods. If an exotic wood from the Indian sub-continent, I want the name of the elephant who dragged the log from the forest.

 

[sean_on_bass]

weight is not a concern for me personally. it's a nice detail to know i suppose, but i'd also have my doubts that a seller can even accurately measure it, or buyer for that matter. based on that i wouldn't list weight in my ads and if that means some won't bite then so be it. i'd argue it might even be a liability to list the weight as a buyer could use it as a means to return the bass if they weigh it with their poopy scale and come up with a different number then you.

 

[Mustang Surly]

I tend to shy away from instruments weighing more than 9 pounds.

 

[Sid Fang]

…Weighing basses is relatively a new phenomenon spurred by forums.

Admit it. If you didn’t subscribe to TB you wouldn’t have considered buying a fish scale to weigh your basses. You’d just play it or not play it.
[Pre-internet era quotes from famous bassists].

I want to see this as trolling, but in context it seems serious. And dead wrong.

Weighing basses isn’t a forum thing. It’s an e-commerce thing. When people buy instruments in person, they can directly assess how comfortable a bass is to play. That comfort level is complex and personal. Weight is a factor, but balance and ergonomics also figure in the overall “gestalt” of physical interaction with the instrument. If you can just play the bass yourself, you know if it’s going to be tiring to play for a full evening. If you can’t - as is the case with online sales, all you have is the set of quantifiable contributing parameters - including weight - as a proxy.

 

[birminghambass]

I want to see this as trolling, but in context it seems serious. And dead wrong.

Weighing basses isn’t a forum thing. It’s an e-commerce thing. When people buy instruments in music stores, they can directly assess how comfortable a bass is to play. That comfort level is complex and personal. Weight is a factor, but balance and ergonomics also figure in the overall “gestalt” of physical interaction with the instrument. If you can just play the bass yourself, you know if it’s going to be tiring to play for a full evening. If you can’t - as is the case with online sales, all you have is the set of quantifiable contributing parameters - including weight - as a proxy.

Meh. I've sold over a hundred instruments here and just as many in eBay/reverb. I've never one time been asked about weight outside of TB. IME weight is a TB issue.

 

[Jack Butler]

This is exactly my thought. If heavy basses were the only option, I’d endure it. But I’ve owned a number of sub 8 lb basses that sounded as good or better than any heavyweight, so why on earth would I not go for the lighter option. It’s not like I can’t play an 11lb bass , there is just no reason to do so.

Call me a sissy, but I care about weight. There is NO reason to endure a 10 lb 4 string bass when there are SOOO many high quality feather light basses available that sound great. Unless money is a factor, I don't understand the stigma attached to refusing a heavy bass. Certainly an 8lb bass will sell faster and for more money than a 10 lb bass of the same type.

 

[Laurent]

Weight and basses is a bit like the cooking temperature on your steak or your vegetables. I like my meat medium rare and my veggies cooked. My wife likes her veggies crunchy and her meat beyond well done. Who's right?

When it comes to basses, I love the tone of a walnut 12 lbs bass but I play basses which are between 8 and 9 lbs. Most early 60's P Fender P basses seem to be in that weight range, so I'll take that as a nod from Leo Fender that it is what he intended. That's also what feels right to me and I get a good compromise and weight and tone.

 

[darwin-bass]

Replying "weight?" in an ad is a courtesy to remind the seller of something important they forgot to list. The one who posts that reminder does not owe the seller any sort of reply and to provide a reply just clutters up the ad.