Weight?!?!

[soulstew]

What are going to do with all the time you saved by not listing the weight?

He just blew it all on writing a very long post about how much he objects to people caring about weight.

 

[Ronnie Pudding]

Simple. If you want to sell a bass on line, you need to give potential buyers enough information - Sufficient photos and description, and spend 30 seconds and weigh the @$^#!!-in' thing. If you don't want to be bothered, take it to GC or a local store that does consignment, so THEY can do the work (and get paid for it).

+100

 

[fourstringbliss]

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?"

When I was a younger player I never gave weight much of a thought, but then I was trying to find and play the best bass that I could afford. There came a time in my bass playing journey when I no longer wanted to play heavy basses and had the money to avoid it.

For instance, check out these L2500 Tribute basses:

They're all the same price, so I would choose the lighter one. Many times I've seen these at almost 11 lbs - why would I chose that when I could go for a lighter one?

 

[soulstew]

Seems like there are a lot of injured bass players out there...

Well, there are a lot aging ones. Live long enough and be moderately active and you are bound to accumulate injuries or serious aches and pains. Joints wear out, get arthritic, need surgery. I’m 64 and broke my wrist 11 months ago skiing, and it still affects my playing, and may from now on. I’ve been lucky with shoulders, but had close calls. I play a lot of 4-hour gigs and am usually pretty achy when I finally crawl into bed. A fairly light bass gives me a little relief, for which I’m grateful.

 

[retslock]

Seems like there are a lot of injured bass players out there...

Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.

 

[ChrisCassisi]

I personally like a bass with some heft to it. Needs to feel like a weapon on me. I play doom/sludge and pound the hell out of my instrument live. If it's too light it will fly all over the place.

 

[somatose]

Why is the these small ladies can play big huge basses a qualifier EVERYWHERE? There are indeed small ladies, with small hands, who own heavy full scale basses that just make playing miserable. I stuck it out on my original bass for so long because the internet, my family, and other bassists kept repeating that mantra. Better straps didn’t help, playing while sitting put my leg to sleep… then I found the joy of a lighter short scale.

It does matter so I am happy to be a “weight weenie”. And I refuse to not play bass.

 

[4string5string]

Which bass weight is the best for metal?

 

[Geri O]

Seems like there are a lot of injured bass players out there...

As well as old.

Is there a point?

 

[Sid Fang]

Which bass weight is the best for metal?

Heavy.

 

[Lesfunk]

Weight doesn’t matter

until it does…

 

[Syco_bass]

This is a slight derail, but what happens when you are weighing the bass and discover you cannot weigh the bass? I had been using a bathroom scale, just to satisfy my own curiosity, and discovered that the weight reading could vary by as much as 1.5 pounds depending on where on the scale I positioned the bass.

So I got a Harbor Freight postal scale, and now find that I cannot weigh some of my basses -- mostly FSOs -- on it. The platform upon which the bass sets is too small for the bass to balance. Other than putting a large book on the scale to add to the contact area with the bass and weighing the book, and then putting the bass on the book, weighing that and then subtracting the book's weight, I don't know how else to obtain a reading. Hanging fish scale, perhaps?

I weigh myself on the bathroom scale, then I pick up the bass. The bass weighs the difference. For best accuracy, use a digital bathroom scale.

 

[G RICH 5]

I'm a little confused about how so many of us can go either way on weight. Im 57, 5'3" tall, suffer from degenerative disc disease, and neck and shoulder issues. Weight is the 1st thing i ask. I can't play a bass heavier that 9lbs. Its either a light bass, or stop playing. I like the whole discussion, but please be kind, and behave appropriately. Different strokes for different folks.
Its not a wrong, or correct, way the choose an instrument, only different.

For some people, for many reasons (age, injuries, body size, etc.), weight is an issue.

Would you rather get a dozen messages on your thread saying "never mind, it's too heavy, never mind, I just bought another bass, never mind, I just lost my job and can't afford it, never mind, I decided not to buy"?

Simple. If you want to sell a bass on line, you need to give potential buyers enough information - Sufficient photos and description, and spend 30 seconds and weigh the @$^#!!-in' thing. If you don't want to be bothered, take it to GC or a local store that does consignment, so THEY can do the work (and get paid for it).

 

[younggun]

Yep. The classified safety monitors. Sometimes, they need you to post a recording of the low B.

View attachment 5317292

I have a bass listed in the Classifieds right now, that I had both questions happen to. I complied with both...posting the weight is no big deal, but then I really wasted a morning trying to create a recording of the B string's sound. I doubt I'll do another "low B recording" when next I put something up for sale though. The idea that every private seller is a recording engineer, and has the equipment and know how to capture the character of the B string (or any other string for that matter), is kinda laughable. From the quality of interface, to the player's skill, to the eq settings on the bass/amp/interface/end user's output and their speakers or headphones, not to mention what kind of software settings were used in the recording, etc, etc...there are too many variables to make such a recording worthwhile for the seller or "interested party".

 

[Manticore]

I'm genuinely happy to hear you’re doing that well at your age. I’m 36 and dealing with the long-term effects of a serious spine injury, including multiple herniated discs and arthritis. The odds of me being able to play 4 hour gigs while standing at 70 are not in my favor. If I want any chance of making it that long, I have to play very lightweight basses. I hope this doesn’t make you laugh.

Anthony Jackson has been sitting through gigs for many years. Nothing wrong with sitting while playing well. So? A toast to many more years of enjoyable gigging from a seated position.

 

[Manticore]

I'm a little confused about how so many of us can go either way on weight. Im 57, 5'3" tall, suffer from degenerative disc disease, and neck and shoulder issues. Weight is the 1st thing i ask. I can't play a bass heavier that 9lbs. Its either a light bass, or stop playing. I like the whole discussion, but please be kind, and behave appropriately. Different strokes for different folks.
Its not a wrong, or correct, way the choose an instrument, only different.

I don't believe anyone here is showing malice toward the injured. As I noted before, there is nothing at all wrong with playing seated. Steve Hackett played many a gig seated. Kudos to those with health issues that keep the fire burning with music.

 

[Syco_bass]

I don't get the worry over weight of basses. Especially wit guys carrying more than a few extra ounces around their middles. Heh. I don't sweat s bass guitar's weight in the least.

WOW...how special to be you with no "extra ounces" around the your middle and a presumably youthful back. After 2 back injuries and a shoulder injury due to a car accident, my lower back and my left shoulder (I'm right handed) do not like basses much heavier than 9 lbs. 8.5lbs seems to be a sweet spot for me. Any heavier and I cannot play more than about 2 X 1 hour sets. That's not a preference or an opinion. It's a physical limitation..... I regularly play 100 to 150 shows a year with no less than 4 X 45 minute sets each. Casino gigs are 5 X 1 hour sets. Can't sit down cause it's not allowed. Due to my circumstance, I use an extra wide "zero gravity" strap, that works great. I build custom basses to my specification. I can build a 5 string P bass as low as 6.5lbs if the correct woods are chosen. I also have modified several basses that were 10 lbs + that now sit between 8 and 9 lbs. IMO, stating the weight of an instrument is as crucial as stating whether it is L or R handed. It should be listed on every sales listing. Sooo.... here is my unsolicited advice... before you continue to say "I don't get the worry over weight of basses". "Especially wit guys carrying more than a few extra ounces around their middles". "Heh. I don't sweat s bass guitar's weight in the least." you should stop and think about what you might look like or feel like in 40 + years. Some of us have been doing this since the 60's or longer. Weight may not matter to you, but it does to others. Just like size...LOL...

 

[Syco_bass]

Anthony Jackson has been sitting through gigs for many years. Nothing wrong with sitting while playing well. So? A toast to many more years of enjoyable gigging from a seated position.

Good for you. Glad you can sit. Some jobs I do and some band leaders I work with do not allow you to sit.

 

[Syco_bass]

Weight doesn’t matter

until it does…

Just like size...LOL

 

[Dominic D]

Anthony Jackson has been sitting through gigs for many years. Nothing wrong with sitting while playing well. So? A toast to many more years of enjoyable gigging from a seated position.

I'm sorry, but it looks terrible seeing one person sitting when the rest of the band is standing. I'd rather stop gigging if I can't perform to my standards.