When did weight become the top priority in a bass?

[GrooveCaptain]

To all the macho guys calling people that care about weight fat and lazy.... It's has nothing to do with it. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of fat and lazy people nowadays , but it's simply that there's much better options available now. Do you also not understand people wanting to use a cell phone instead of a landline phone? Or a 3 lb laptop instead of a 100 lb desktop computer?

 

[noahw1]

As my back problems got progressively worse and the 3- 4 hours gigs got hard with my 10 lb bass.
Started with my cabs then amp and, finally, the bass.

 

[rockear]

To all the macho guys calling people that care about weight fat and lazy.... It's has nothing to do with it. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of fat and lazy people nowadays , but it's simply that there's much better options available now. Do you also not understand people wanting to use a cell phone instead of a landline phone? Or a 3 lb laptop instead of a 100 lb desktop computer?

This is me posting right now. (Note: Subwoofer for critically listening to pedal demos.)

 

[Addison]

Never cared until I started having chronic AC issues on the same shoulder my strap goes. It’ll get sort of better and then flare up again. I’m assuming I’ll eventually have to have surgery but lighter basses have helped.

 

[Pep]

I know, I know, plenty of you will say it's ALWAYS been important but I don't remember it being so high up on the priority list, or one of the first questions in a NBD post. I've been flipping local deals online for a while and don't remember being asked this until fairly recently. I have a beautiful 2000 EBMM StingRay 5 H on Reverb and the only question I've had, buy several different people no less, is what's the weight? It's a StingRay, it's heavy! (11 lbs 3 oz if you're curious) Someone on Facebook was asking if Sadowsky made anything under 6.5 lbs. I had a Hagstom Super Swede that was 7 lbs even, it felt like a toy. Maybe I've never picked up on it, it just seems like a weirdly recent phenomenon.

When a bunch of us got old and in my case, older than old.

 

[Jugghaid]

I started on a Peavey T-40 back in 1978. Weighed as much as my car. I'm not overly concerned about weight.

 

[Kirk Bryant]

I’m old enough to remember and have owned several 50’s and 60’s Fender basses weighing under 8.5 lbs. gigs were regularly 5 hrs long. Weight mattered then (in my 20’s) And it matters more at 74. Especially after getting in a head on with a DUI idiot.
I don’t play some great bases I own as much as I would if they were lighter. As evidenced by my new Warrior DM5 being relegated to back up to the Sandburg Superlight.

 

[gregbackstrom]

Sorry to hear that the weight question is interfering with your bass-flipping. My chambered Sadowsky’s and Lull sound better than my much heavier FBasses , Fenders and MM Stingrays. That’s why I’d ask. Of course, you’re under no obligation to disclose the weight, so don’t if it bothers you. Clearly there are plenty of prospective buyers that don’t care. I just don’t happen to be one of them.

 

[Petethebassman]

It's only maybe the last 10 years that it has become more of a thing. I think before, most people didn't think about. Most instruments were heavy, and it was just taken as a given. Now we have options, and people that have experienced how great it is to play with a well balanced and lightweight bass won't go back.

If you have a bad back, or shoulder problems, it's a life saver. Even if you don't, but spend hours standing at band practice, it makes a huge difference.
I see heavy basses and guitars as another "traditional" thing that needs to die. Tonewoods are a myth on electric instruments. Unfortunately, people buying guitars love traditional designs, no matter how inferior they are. For example, Fender's bent plate bridges. They're are a pain to change strings, and about as cheap as can be, and yet they're found on $2,000 basses. Same goes for the giant heavy steel tuners, that weigh down the headstock making the bass balance poorly. We know better!
A heavy bass is something that can be easily avoided, so people that know it's a problem for them are going to ask. More people are asking now simply because more people know there's another option.

“A pain” to change strings on a traditional Fender bridge? Ok, you have to remove the old strings and install new ones through the bridge, is that your issue with the design? It really doesn’t take much longer. One thing, the old style is durable: the Fender bridge shown here is 45 years old and it still works fine, no issues.

 

[KohanMike]

For me it's been since the radiation treatments for lymph cancer long ago damaged the nerves around my neck, atrophying all the muscles. My bass ukes weigh about 5.5 pounds each, plus I can't have a strap over my shoulder, so I put together a quick adjust strap that goes around my torso.

 

[Petethebassman]

As for bass weight, I’m 58 and not a big guy (5’7”) but I still travel around town for rehearsals on public transport, with the bass in a gig bag on my shoulder. The P-Bass I play is pretty heavy at 11.5 lbs, but I continue to use it simply because it sounds great and has a really nice neck. The Jazz Bass is lighter at 9.9 lbs. I do plan my routes to avoid walking longer distances as with the leather gig bag the total weight is kinda heavy.

 

[kitter]

One could argue that the biggest issue with weight is some people having a problem with weight being one of the factors in other people's criteria for selecting a bass.

I have an L-2500 that's close to 11 pounds and my Big All is over 10 pounds, so I can deal with a heavier bass. But I've never felt a need to spend time wondering why any factor in someone else's decision for selecting a bass, whether it's weight, color, number of strings, type of strings, etc., etc... matters to them. It just does.

At age 78 with arthritis starting to creep into my back and hands I thought I would try a smaller scale neck (mainly for my hands) and ended up buying a medium scale (32") MTD LK4. I was not thinking about weight when I got it and did not realize it was so much lighter than my P bass and Ken Smith until I unpacked it. I've been playing it for a couple of weeks and now my other basses seem so heavy in comparison that I have not even been taking them to gigs. Weight was not a factor for me until I discovered that I could get everything I needed from a much lighter bass. My back and left shoulder is are thanking me to the extent that I'm even considering selling my two other great basses that I have loved and played for years.
PS Aside from the lighter weight and ease-of-playing of the shorter scale, the MTD LK with the Bartolini upgrade sounds fantastic... amazing value for a relatively inexpensive import model. A tip of the hat to Mike Tobias... and Lynne Keller who collaborated on the design of the LK.

 

[_Obra_]

When did weight become the top priority in a bass?​

When most of us bass players turned 45+

 

[Nashrakh]

To all the macho guys calling people that care about weight fat and lazy.... It's has nothing to do with it. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of fat and lazy people nowadays , but it's simply that there's much better options available now. Do you also not understand people wanting to use a cell phone instead of a landline phone? Or a 3 lb laptop instead of a 100 lb desktop computer?

So you agree it's often a lifestyle problem (as is muscular atrophy in your back, bad posture, et cetera), but advocate for sidestepping these issues with modern tech. It's truly a cyberpunk world we live in!

 

[fretno]

I will keep a heavy weight around if it is cool. My ‘68 tele is over 10 lbs but I usually take the light ones out to play.

 

[el murdoque]

For me, it was pure chance.
I played a six string bass as my main. An Ibanez single cut that was above 11lbs.

When hitting a double milestone in my life fell together with a sizable pile of cash available for "fun stuff", I decided to get myself
a really nice six string bass. While I did not look at weight at all when searching for "the One", the bass I found me was not only
extremely awesome, but also extremely light (8,2lbs) for a six string.
I played that exclusively for a while - because who would not? - and when I picked up the Ibanez a few weeks later, I realized that I don't want to bother with that amount of downwards pull on the strap any more.

I simply got used to playing a light bass, and did not want to play heavy ones any more.

 

[rolfplamperton]

how much do you gig?

 

[Gunga Din]

Probably with older guys who have experience with boat-anchor, early '70s Fenders.

 

[No such thing]

Before the internet there was limited exposure to what is "important" in a Bass.
Now trends abound.
On places like TB and beyond.

And of course as mentioned people got old and/or out of shape, medical issues whatever.
And have a place(s) to talk about it.

 

[BaltBass5]

I don't know about anyone else but for me it became an issue when I turned 50.

• I play 85-100 shows per year.
• Those shows are 3 hours of actual playing time each. (That's after load in, soundcheck, etc..)
• I am NOT the bassist standing in the corner quietly playing bass....I'm moving the whole time, working the stage, jumping, etc...
• I'm in great physical shape and I stretch, workout, etc..

HOWEVER, A few ounces, a pound, a couple of pounds makes a HUGE difference under those circumstances.