Why all the concerns about weight?

[tycobb73]

I have cerebral pulsly and lower back pain (a comfortable strap won't help lower back pain. do a free body diagram through your lower back and you will see that those muscles are still supporting the force and the moment of the bass). I can't even stand for long periods at a time without anything on my back and it not hurt. therefore, I go for light basses.

 

[Pilgrim]

I'm not sure age matters. I simply have no desire to suffer while playing music, and when a bass is over 9 pounds it takes a very wide strap AND a well-balanced instrument to keep my shoulder from suffering.

If there are those whose shoulders are not bothered by weight, good for them. I'm not among them. I have 10 basses and only two of them are a couple of ounces over 9 pounds. One of them is an Epi EB-3 that I really like, but it tends to neck-dive a bit and I find that the combination of 9+ pounds and neck dive means it sits on the wall hangar most of the time. I may sell the EB-3, buy another EB-0 and add a bridge pickup to get a much lighter (and short scale) SG-style bass with dual pickups and better balance.

Also, there is no reason for a bass to weigh much over 9 pounds. If you want one made of some exotic dense wood that weighs 12+ pounds, then you're asking for pain!

 

[lonote]

I'll be 60 in 25 days; I have 2 displaced vertabrae and arthritis in my lower back. Weight, in and of itself, is not a problem but balance is. If a bass has neck dive, it won't be in my stable.

 

[Showdown]

Something here has always baffled me.Why are so many concerned about the weight of a Bass? I mean, I can see it if you have a serious back injury or something but other than that,I don't get it. I'm 56,( an old fart to most here) and the last thing that would keep me from buying a certain Bass would be the weight.And after 30 years of being a mechanic my back isn't the greatest. So help me out because if I really love a certain axe,weight is a non-factor.

I'm 47. For the last ten years if I play a gig with a bass over 9 lbs. my back aches badly during the last set. Badly enough that it not only ruins the experience for me, but it also negatively affects my playing. I'm tall and thin, so my spine is long. That may have something to do with it. Someone short and stout may not have the same problem.

The bottom line is that everyone is different. What doesn't bother you might be very painful for me.

 

[Stone Age]

Why not play a 25 pound, 40" scale electric bass with spikes sticking out of the back??? Because some people just don't want to. Some people enjoy being comfortable when they play.

 

[Jjango]

Apparently for some people, the weight makes no difference. For others, age or previous injuries/illnesses make heavy basses uncomfortable.

I don't fall into either of the above categories. I simply prefer a comfortable instrument, and to me, heavy instruments are not comfortable. They are uncomfortable in the lap, but even more so on the shoulder.

It's funny how just a pound or two makes such an extreme difference in comfort, but to me, it really does.

 

[Buskman]

I play a 12.5 pound bass and love every minute of it.

Okay, but you're also 19 (checked your profile). Come check back with us in about 10 years of 3-4 hour gigs!

 

[banditcosmo]

A heavier bass really bothers me after a while at practice but at gigs it does not seem to bother me as much. I guess it's an adrenaline thing.

 

[jmain]

Asking why someone wants a lighter bass or plush strap seems analagous to asking why he wants to sit in a comfy chair rather than on a park bench. To each his own.

 

[RonChase]

Not knowing how many gigs you have performed the answer to this is fairly obvious to some and not much so to others.I have crippling infectious arthritis and I guarantee that a light bass is good to have.I can play a heavy bass.My jazz and my LTD are heavy.The LTD is real heavy but my daughter gave it to me for my 50th so I use it sparingly.I have 4 gigs with 4 lineups this weekend and I own 2 hofners so I carry a solid and a hollow but it is the hollow ones I do shows with,If you have to ask then you dont need to ask but come back in 20 years and you might ask about weight preference

 

[WarriorJoe7]

And do you play a light bass?

for 4 hour shows YES I do.

I do own a few heavy basses, one in particular that is VERY heavy. It is a very early modulus graphite neck... they are not hollow like the new ones, but solid. The body is a pretty heavy warmoth walnut jazz body. It is heavy enough that the neck doesn't dive too bad. Overall it's a very heavy bass.

I play a TBC that is under 8 lbs for the 4 hour gig. It has a chambered body. I replaced the subpar electronics with nordstarnd and aguilar stuff. The playability is fantastic. I have better basses, but not light enough for a 4 hour show.

 

[Bongolation]

It's funny how just a pound or two makes such an extreme difference in comfort, but to me, it really does.

It's quite amazing. Two pounds feel like twenty.

Similarly, how a seven-pound cat sleeping on you will make you wake up feeling as though you've been hit by a train. Or that seven-pound cat completely pushing you out of bed as you sleep.

These are mysteries.

I have lots of guitars and basses. The ones I play are the lightest ones. Everything else is secondary.

 

[pankykapus]

I'm 19 but I'm having a tough time using my Bongo for rehearsals (3-4 hours standing with only a couple of 5 minute-long breaks). Though it sounds much better on the majority of our setlist, it feels so good going back to my Jazz as I don't have to sit on the amp from the second half of the rehearsal because of my back. And I'm just a fresh young lad with no injuries and pain whatsoever.

 

[Steve S]

I'm 60 and my main bass is my 8.5 pound P. I have a Lull and a jazz but they are both heavy, probably over 10 pounds so I'm trying to sell them. When I first started playing, a 14 pound jazz was really cool but not now. I also have arthritis in my right thumb so it hurts during long gigs.

 

[PRUNEFACE]

I agree... but I may not count because I couldn't be considered old by any standards...

 

[Joe.shaffer]

Shatter a disc or two in your back. Thats when I took to lighter basses.

 

[Kipaste]

For me personally, I don't really care how much a bass weights if it's under 20 lbs, it's just doesn't matter at the moment as I'm a pretty big guy. I've never actually thought about the weight as a factor when choosing a bass, I first realized that weight could be an issue when I started reading this board.

Anyhow, for some reason my favourite basses have always been on the heavy side. It's probably just a coincidence, but I did once change my stingray to another that sounded a lot fatter and weighted about 2-3 lbs more.

But since the weight is not a factor for me, it would be the last thing to take under consideration when buying a bass. But maybe in a few years I'll see thing differently. Hauling huge aquariums weekly will probably kill my back sooner or later.

But I got to say, the best bass I've ever owned weighted a ton. I hated hauling it around. It didn't really matter when playing even though a typical rehearsal was around 5-6 hours, but when I had the gigbag on my back I did notice and dislike the weight.

 

[rcarraher]

Something here has always baffled me.Why are so many concerned about the weight of a Bass? I mean, I can see it if you have a serious back injury or something but other than that,I don't get it. I'm 56,( an old fart to most here) and the last thing that would keep me from buying a certain Bass would be the weight.And after 30 years of being a mechanic my back isn't the greatest. So help me out because if I really love a certain axe,weight is a non-factor.

A heavey bass DOES wear on you if you stand all night, I'm 54 now, and have had two back surgeries and a neck (spinal) fusion, so to stand all night with a 9 lbs bass does wear on you.I also had a knee replacement 4 years ago, so the legs aren't what they used to be either.Now a days, I sit on a stoll for the better part of the gig, even the heavey rock gigs, and get up and move around as the spirit strikes me. I still use a realitivly heavey 70's jazz alot tho', course, the Hofner 500/a is welcome not only for the woody sound but the light weight too. But I'll never get rid of the jazz, because I still love the heft. I just adapt, and no one ever wanted to see me dance or leap or jump up on the speaker cabinets anyhow. That for the lead player.

 

[A.Denis]

I won't buy a bass that is heavier than 9lbs. When I play one I get a really bas headache that last for hours: some neck/nerve problem. I also use a double strap: this really helps. I don't consider myself in bad shape either.

My brothers plays a real heavy Rick and never complains. I guess everyone is built differently.

The Spector I play is around 8lbs, I can't play my G&L because it weighs over 10lbs, despite the fact that I really like the neck. Now I'm looking for a plain P style bass that is around 8lbs or less. Since not all retailers show the weighs it's not easy to find, even Sadowsky's on-line store don't show the weight for Metro's, and when shopping locally I have no idea how to weigh a bass "in store"? In the store they all feel "ok".
Lately I saw a Fender P MIA Standard. It feels just around 8.5lbs but I'm not sure...

(By the way, this [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] advertized at 7.5lbs is already sold..I tried buying it months ago, still on the web site...??)

 

[Bassgrinder77]

Do you play gigs?
My usual is three 1-hour sets over four hours, 9:30pm to 1:30am.
I get shoulder aches sometimes, fortunately not every time.
I've never weighed my basses but my Spector Euros and Rickenbacker 4001 feel heavy by the end of the night.