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Why are Carvin Basses sooooo HEAVY?

Mike Sorr

Mike Sorr

Oct 24, 2012
3,010
3,168
Manchester, NJ
www.graceandpeace.org
#1
I would really like to buy a Carvin 5 string. I've owned a few Carvins in the past and love their sound and options...but I always found them a bit heavy to play on long gigs. My B40 was over 9 pounds, which isn't so bad I guess, but for my bad back and shoulders it's a bit much. Other manufacturers can put out quality instruments at 9 pounds and under, why can't Carvin? They seem to be going in the opposite direction. Here's a link to their in stock page. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] Most of their 5ers are over 10 pounds and one is 12.5!! That's a little crazy if you ask me. Gorgeous instruments, and they could be the greatest sounding instruments on the planet, but at that weight I could never use one. Too bad really.
 
#5
It depends what they are made out of. I tried an old 80's Carvin bass that was made out of maple. It must have weighed 12 pounds. But my LB70 with alder wings is about 8 pounds. My LB75 with swamp ash wings also weighs about 8 pounds. And my LB76 is 8.8 pounds.
 
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#7
PunkKitty said:
It depends what they are made out of. I tried an old 80's Carvin bass that was made out of maple. It must have weighed 12 pounds. But my LB70 with alder wings is about 8 pounds. My LB75 with swamp ash wings also weighs about 8 pounds. And my LB76 is 8.8 pounds.
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Yeah, just don't on the maple bodies. I had a maple bodied franken J that was the heaviest instrument I've ever met.
 
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#8
I'm not sure what the deal is - the super heavy basses is a recent thing. A year ago it was pretty rare to see a bass on their in stock page more that 10lbs, now nearly all of them are.

Maybe they got a good deal on wood made from depleted uranium.
 
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#11
9 pounds no prob, but I gotta agree that 10 or 12 wouldn't be comfortable for most people. Actually, two of my basses are 8lbs, and they feel a lot better, weight-wise. I don't know why that's kind of a magic number.
 
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#12
My old Ibanez BTB776 was 11.6 lbs, and my Roscoe has to be at least 10.5. They never bother me, because I move around lot on stage, so I don't notice the weight. I think heavy instruments balance better, anyway. I do sit down, though, when practicing at home.
 
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#13
Roger Sadowsky started chambering the NYC line because he said the wood coming available for basses was just getting heavier.

I ordered From G&L for the reason that the "empress" wood they use come in about 7lbs-

While manly men will chime in and shame you for wanting light - it will be harder to find lighter basses.

Even chambered - some of Carvins stuff comes in at 10lbs

My P5 from Carvin is about 9 lbs. I lucked out
 
#15
Bassmunnky said:
Roger Sadowsky started chambering the NYC line because he said the wood coming available for basses was just getting heavier.

I ordered From G&L for the reason that the "empress" wood they use come in about 7lbs-

While manly men will chime in and shame you for wanting light - it will be harder to find lighter basses.

Even chambered - some of Carvins stuff comes in at 10lbs

My P5 from Carvin is about 9 lbs. I lucked out
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That's funny, I never thought of the manly aspect. I'm sure most of us could glue a 45er on the back of our bass and make it work, but I'm not really sure what that would mean. Me play big bass. Make BIG sound.
 
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#16
My LB75F isn't very heavy, but it's got less wood in it than some of the more recent designs.

My guess is that the "newer" designs especially their P and J style bases simply have more wood on them and therefore generally more weight.
 
#18
I must've gotten lucky, my 4 Carvins are well under 9 pounds, but they are four bangers.

But even fivers don't have to be heavy. Just got a LTD fiver that weighs 7lbs, 10oz (weighed on a shipping scale). Ash body, maple top, two pickups, active....all the things that usually contribute to "weight"....but didn't. It's not a "fluke" either, the same models that were listed on Sweetwater all showed phenom light weights as well.
 
#20
mcm said:
can you guys not hold 9 pounds for a couple hours?
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Sure why not?

Mike Sorr said:
I would really like to buy a Carvin 5 string. I've owned a few Carvins in the past and love their sound and options...but I always found them a bit heavy to play on long gigs. My B40 was over 9 pounds, which isn't so bad I guess, but for my bad back and shoulders it's a bit much. Other manufacturers can put out quality instruments at 9 pounds and under, why can't Carvin? They seem to be going in the opposite direction. Here's a link to their in stock page. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] Most of their 5ers are over 10 pounds and one is 12.5!! That's a little crazy if you ask me. Gorgeous instruments, and they could be the greatest sounding instruments on the planet, but at that weight I could never use one. Too bad really.
Click to expand...

For a long time bass designers, Leo Fender included, decided that to achieve maximum bass tone; woods for the body needed to be straight grained, dense and inflexible. For the most part, Maple, Walnut, Adler and Ash fit the bill. And for manufacturers, there was plentiful stock. These woods, even after proper curing, ideal moisture content is between 40- 62%. This can make for a substantial bass. I have a '77 Precision slab side that tips the scales at 10.2 lbs even after all these years. Modern bass designers go with; through body neck and strings, high mass bridges and exotic core woods to achieve the same tone. But nine pounds is about average.
 
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