As you age you will prefer lighter basses. If someone leaves out the weight of their bass just assume it is heavy.
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Weight
- Thread starter zon5string
- Start date
Whenever I buy a bass, weight is never a factor I consider. How a bass sounds, feels and the flexibility it offers are what’s important to me. I’m in my mid 70s and still play every week.
Then it should be obvious that many buyers DO consider it an attribute for purchasing. It'll sell quicker if you provide ALL of the information on what you're selling, not just the info you care about.
You inspired me to pull out my fishing scale and weigh my basses (there's probably a joke there, but I'm not gonna take the bait). Anywho, here's the results, from lightest to heaviest:
Fender Ashbory 2.45
Dean EAB 6.55
Unknown make headless-thing 7.1
Epiphone Viola 7.35
Raven 8.75
EPS LTD B-55 with Hipshot tremolo bridge 9.6
Blue Rock 8 string 10.65
ESP LTD B-206SM 10.9
Busuyi 10.95
Mothman 15.4
Fender Ashbory 2.45
Dean EAB 6.55
Unknown make headless-thing 7.1
Epiphone Viola 7.35
Raven 8.75
EPS LTD B-55 with Hipshot tremolo bridge 9.6
Blue Rock 8 string 10.65
ESP LTD B-206SM 10.9
Busuyi 10.95
Mothman 15.4
Balance matters more than weight, IMO.
I have a BNF6D that weighs over 10lb, and the elongated upper horn allows it to sit perfectly on a strap, and gig it all night.
I have played 8.5lb basses that were neck-heavy and the resulting fatigue kept me from being able to gig them.
I have a BNF6D that weighs over 10lb, and the elongated upper horn allows it to sit perfectly on a strap, and gig it all night.
I have played 8.5lb basses that were neck-heavy and the resulting fatigue kept me from being able to gig them.
When I was on the other side of 60, it didn't matter much. On this side of sixty it does. To those who don't care - more power to you.
What I don't get is people who are obsessed with people who DO care how much a bass weighs.
What I don't get is people who are obsessed with people who DO care how much a bass weighs.
- Mar 14, 2011
- 344
- 535
- Disclosures
- Nordstrand Audio, Empire Ears, Reunion Blues, Pig Hog Cables
I know a lot of people don't mind... but for me, I'm constantly walking through airports with my bass, standing for soundcheck, run throughs, and doing anywhere from 90min - 120min shows. There's also the occasional 3 hour corporate band gig. It helps my back if the instrument is a little lighter, especially my main instrument. I didn't mind as much maybe 20 years ago.
Geri....
Put down the mouse....
And step away from the computer......
Put down the mouse....
And step away from the computer......
I’ve quit buying basses because people are so rude when you ask what a bass weighs. The peer pressure to accept your heavy ass bass is tremendous, and I have my light basses anyway so who needs your boat anchors?
I do have a couple 5s that weigh slightly over 9 lbs. But they rarely get used and not for long when they do.
I do have a couple 5s that weigh slightly over 9 lbs. But they rarely get used and not for long when they do.
There's this bass I'm going to order at the end of the year (as a reward for quitting smoking) from a luthier.
He said the default weight for this model is 4.7 kg (10.4 lbs), but he could chamber the body to make mine weight 4 kg (8.8 lbs).
Do you think I should confirm my request to have him chamber the body in order to reduce the weight?
My experience with weight:
- I've got a Ovation Magnum II, I don't play it any longer because of its weight
- I don't know the weight of my G&L L2000 Tribute, all I know is that it's prefectly acceptable
- One of the reasons why I love my Acinonyx is because it is so lightweight at 3.5 kg (6.6 lbs)
My experience with chamber body: a few years ago, a friend made me a custom bass with a very dense wood, so the first version sounded good but it was too heavy for me. My friend then chambered the body, and this made a big difference in weight. But i think it also changed the sound significantly: I've had the feeling that the new bass being chambered sounded a bit "hollow", with a not so pleasant resonance. But it's hard to compare a sound you have now with a sound from my memory. It didn't dare to complain to my friend about the sound, after asking him to do the painful extra work of chambering the instrument.
So I'm afraid for the new bass, that if I ask to the luthier to chamber the instrument, it could alter the sound.
> Do you think 4.7 kg (10.4 lbs) is an average/ok weight, or do you think it's on the heavy side?
> Do you think that chambering the body might alter the sound significantly or not so much? The friend who built my first custom bass is really an amateur luthier, so maybe he didn't have the skill to do a good chambering, I could expect from the pro luthier of my next project to do a much better job of chambering without altering the sound too much?
What would you do if you were me?
[EDIT] On the positive side, even 10.4 lbs is not super heavy for a Les Paul shaped bass. I'm almost sure that the real Gibson Les Paul bass it's inspired from weights much more then that!
He said the default weight for this model is 4.7 kg (10.4 lbs), but he could chamber the body to make mine weight 4 kg (8.8 lbs).
Do you think I should confirm my request to have him chamber the body in order to reduce the weight?
My experience with weight:
- I've got a Ovation Magnum II, I don't play it any longer because of its weight
- I don't know the weight of my G&L L2000 Tribute, all I know is that it's prefectly acceptable
- One of the reasons why I love my Acinonyx is because it is so lightweight at 3.5 kg (6.6 lbs)
My experience with chamber body: a few years ago, a friend made me a custom bass with a very dense wood, so the first version sounded good but it was too heavy for me. My friend then chambered the body, and this made a big difference in weight. But i think it also changed the sound significantly: I've had the feeling that the new bass being chambered sounded a bit "hollow", with a not so pleasant resonance. But it's hard to compare a sound you have now with a sound from my memory. It didn't dare to complain to my friend about the sound, after asking him to do the painful extra work of chambering the instrument.
So I'm afraid for the new bass, that if I ask to the luthier to chamber the instrument, it could alter the sound.
> Do you think 4.7 kg (10.4 lbs) is an average/ok weight, or do you think it's on the heavy side?
> Do you think that chambering the body might alter the sound significantly or not so much? The friend who built my first custom bass is really an amateur luthier, so maybe he didn't have the skill to do a good chambering, I could expect from the pro luthier of my next project to do a much better job of chambering without altering the sound too much?
What would you do if you were me?
[EDIT] On the positive side, even 10.4 lbs is not super heavy for a Les Paul shaped bass. I'm almost sure that the real Gibson Les Paul bass it's inspired from weights much more then that!
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Heavy side. Couldn’t do it but if you have to, chambered. I don’t hear anything negative in basses with chambering.There's this bass I'm going to order at the end of the year (as a reward for quitting smoking) from a luthier.
He said the default weight for this model is 4.7 kg (10.4 lbs), but he could chamber the body to make mine weight 4 kg (8.8 lbs).
Do you think I should confirm my request to have him chamber the body in order to reduce the weight?
My experience with weight:
- I've got a Ovation Magnum II, I don't play it any longer because of its weight
- I don't know the weight of my G&L L2000 Tribute, all I know is that it's prefectly acceptable
- One of the reasons why I love my Acinonyx is because it is so lightweight at 3.5 kg (6.6 lbs)
My experience with chamber body: a few years ago, a friend made me a custom bass with a very dense wood, so the first version sounded good but it was too heavy for me. My friend then chambered the body, and this made a big difference in weight. But i think it also changed the sound significantly: I've had the feeling that the new bass being chambered sounded a bit "hollow", with a not so pleasant resonance. But it's hard to compare a sound you have now with a sound from my memory. It didn't dare to complain to my friend about the sound, after asking him to do the painful extra work of chambering the instrument.
So I'm afraid for the new bass, that if I ask to the luthier to chamber the instrument, it could alter the sound.
> Do you think 4.7 kg (10.4 lbs) is an average/ok weight, or do you think it's on the heavy side?
> Do you think that chambering the body might alter the sound significantly or not so much? The friend who built my first custom bass is really an amateur luthier, so maybe he didn't have the skill to do a good chambering, I could expect from the pro luthier of my next project to do a much better job of chambering without altering the sound too much?
What would you do if you were me?
[EDIT] On the positive side, even 10.4 lbs is not super heavy for a Les Paul shaped bass. I'm almost sure that the real Gibson Les Paul bass it's inspired from weights much more then that!
Thanks. I trust the luthier, I'm sure he would not propose the chambering option if he had doubts about altering sound (he's a member, I hope he won't read me, lol).
I guess I just needed some reassurance, thanks
I think it makes way more of a difference unplugged than plugged in. Not that they’d sound identical, but most of the anomalies I hear with similar basses in chambered and solid unplugged don’t show themselves as drastically amplified.Thanks. I trust the luthier, I'm sure he would not propose the chambering option if he had doubts about altering sound (he's a member, I hope he won't read me, lol).
I guess I just needed some reassurance, thanks
Good point. I remember a YT video where the guys demonstrates that for an electric 6 strings, the body makes absolutely no difference in the amplified sound.
For me and others it's simple ergonomics. I had a SBMM Stingray that I loved but it was over ten pounds.
By the second set of a 3+ hour gig my shoulder was killing me. The four basses I have they range between 7.5-9 lbs.
Weight is no longer an issue.
By the second set of a 3+ hour gig my shoulder was killing me. The four basses I have they range between 7.5-9 lbs.
Weight is no longer an issue.
My injured and never quite the same shoulder told me that I was stopping playing the BB424 immediately and the Matt Freeman in a few months time. I now have two basses just over 7 lbs. My shoulder, having forgotten all about the BB and the P, thinks one is the light bass and one is the heavy bass.
Sometimes I pick one up and say, "wow this feels nice and heavy" and othertimes "wow this is nice and light". I never think "heavy" is a negative
