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Why are Carvin Basses sooooo HEAVY?

#81
NoBlackTShirts said:
I was surprised when I first started hearing about people wanting lighter guitars. All through the Seventies people wanted them as heavy as they could get. I had a maple Strat that was extra thick and the corner rounding was a smaller radius to leave as much wood there as possible. It was like wearing a cinderblock.

I guess fashions done change. And I suspect that the average age of players is increasing.
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I never gave weight a thought until I ordered a bass online that was extremely heavy (my first heavy bass)! I estimate that the bass weighed 10 + lbs.

My age has increased over the years, but I think my knowledge of proper bass weight has increased as well

A musician should not have to buy a heavy duty strap, lift weights, stretch and do yoga to accommodate a boat anchor weight bass. ;)
 
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#83
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.
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This Carvin LB75W weighs about 9.7ish pounds according to my bathroom scale. What I did was weigh myself on it, then weighed myself again holding it in both hands. My bathroom scale is a more expensive one and seems to be pretty accurate.

For a more qualitative measure, it actually feels like it might weigh about the same as my MIA 4-string Fender Jazz bass.

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#86
What I find interesting is that the basses they send for review are fairly light. As an example, the current issue of Bass Player magazine has a review of two Carvin/Kiesel basses. I don't have the issue in front of me, but I'm thinking one was 9lb and the other was 8.5. I've seen other Carvin review basses with similar weights.

What does that mean? It makes me think they realize that weight is an important factor for a lot of players. And that they can make lighter weight instruments when they want to. I wish they would just make it a normal option (with an upcharge of course) to select lightweight woods. To simplify, maybe only allow that option on a couple varieties of wood. Just an idea.

BTW, when I ordered my PB5 earlier this year, I paid $40 for a light body option. That's all they said they could do.....apparently they don't select neck woods based on weight. My bass still ended up being 9.4lbs.....still too heavy for me. And it was neck heavy. I returned it.
 
#89
Lorenzini said:
My SB4000 is the lightest bass I own. Under 9 lbs.
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Every bass that Carvin produces isn't heavy. However, they routinely produce more heavy than light basses. You got lucky!

The Carvin basses I've seen for sale (TB, Ebay, Craigslist, etc.) tend to be heavy (9.8 - 10 lb. range).
In most cases, I notice that the seller does not mention the weight of the bass unless asked.
 
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#90
Mr_O'B said:
Every bass that Carvin produces isn't heavy. However, they routinely produce more heavy than light basses. You got lucky!

The Carvin basses I've seen for sale (TB, Ebay, Craigslist, etc.) tend to be heavy (9.8 - 10 lb. range).
In most cases, I notice that the seller does not mention the weight of the bass unless asked.
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Velly intelesting. I'll be honest, I prefer heavy-ish basses, because to my ears, the tone tends to be slightly different in the low end. But this Carvin is an exception to that. Sounds great, and I can't complain.
 
#91
Lorenzini said:
Velly intelesting. I'll be honest, I prefer heavy-ish basses, because to my ears, the tone tends to be slightly different in the low end. But this Carvin is an exception to that. Sounds great, and I can't complain.
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Heavy basses aren't for me, but I am not against anyone who prefers heavy-ish basses.
Seems like your SB4000 is a winner! :thumbsup:
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P.S. - I own both Fender Am. Deluxe and MIM Deluxe basses. Approx. weight of Am. Deluxe 7.8 - 8.0 lbs. and MIM Deluxe 9.1 - 9.3 lbs.
Wouldn't want to go lighter than 7.8 and not heavier than 9.3 lbs.
100% satisfied with the weight of both basses! :hyper:
 
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#95
Wally Malone said:
My fretless Vanquish V59K weighs 8 pounds, 1 ounce. When I ordered it I told them I needed it to be under 9 lbs. I was ready to pay the extra $50 for the one piece swamp ash and my salesperson called me back to tell me the custom shop said they couldn't guarantee this and suggested I consider going with Empresswood, which I did. After receiving this I liked it so much that I ordered two more Vanquish models using Empresswood, a fretted twin to the V59K tuned E-C as the fretless and a V49K set up for R&B/Funk gigs. It took a while for the wood to come in and will still be a while before being shipped. My first Carvin purchased about 16 months ago is a SB5000 and weighs 10 pounds, 7 ounces and came to realize one cause of my lower back pain over this past year. A couple of days ago I ordered an AC40 and got it more tricked out with the woods and no worry about weight knowing the base weight of these.

Wally
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I received the V49K a few weeks ago and the fretted twin to the fretless V59K will arrive today. I haven't been able to get pics since my time is involved with a family situation that truly deserves all the time I can give it. My online time is limited and before taking pics and being online I prefer my little bit of personal time to actually play my basses. I'm not even getting to playing until midnight most nights.

Wally
 
#96
After receiving my Vanquish V59K fretless I ordered two more Vanquish models and also an AC40 to continue on my retooling to have lighter basses. The initial fretless at 8 pounds 1 ounce ended up being the heaviest and a weight I am happy with and wanted the others to be there or lighter.

Vanquish V59K fretless 8 pounds 1 ounce
Vanquish V59K fretted 7 pounds 10 ounces
Vanquish V49K fretted 7 pounds 1 ounce
AC40 Fretted 7 pounds 1.5 ounces

Wally
 
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