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Why are people obsessed with weight??

#721
Monsterbass74 said:
Why are people obsessed with the weight of a bass?

It's self explanatory. This doesn't need a thread.
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I agree. For the people who complain that someone asked them the weight when they're selling a bass, why wouldn't they? It's information, just i.e. like whether the bass has a rosewood or maple fingerboard, kind of electronics or hardware.

If I contact a person about a bass for sale, and they don't want to weigh it (or claim no access to a scale) then I'm not going to go any further with that contact. That just tells me they don't care enough about selling their bass and makes me question the other information about it.
 
#722
I didn't care, one way or the other about weight. I have always been very strong:

Then I had an MRI last week. Now I'm looking at having custom bass cradles built...at only 43 years old.

I can't help but think what I could have avoided if I had considered lighter instruments "back in the day".
 
#723
I don't care THAT much about weight, I have some heavy basses and my main player (Carvin SB5000) is 9.5 pounds, not a ton but not exactly a feather.

But... I just bought a Lakland 55-94 from a TBer. It's a non-chambered, 35" scale 5 string, and it weighs 7.6 pounds!!! And, it sounds *very* heavy and thick. I'll still play my heavier instruments, but all other things being equal, light is pretty darn nice.
 
#726
Asking "Why are people obsessed with weight??" is like asking "Why are people obsessed with tone". Not only that these two features are of equal importance, but I personally have come to a point that weight is more important than the tone itself. Bad tone won't damage your ears, whereas heavy weight will seriously damage your health.
 
#728
mmbongo said:
It's been bothering me and I gotta ask....why are people so obsessed with the weight of a bass? Almost every FS thread I see has somebody inevitably asking "what does it weigh?? what does it weigh??"

Why does it matter? Why the obsession? I never cared about weight as I figured most any bass in in between 8 and 11 pounds, and there are other factors that matter more. I'll take a heavy bass that's properly balanced over a light neck diver any day. Maybe these people are weak and can't hold up a bass? ;)
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Maybe some of em have back problems and do not want the weight on their neck like that balanced or not?
 
#730
Kwin Smith said:
I didn't care, one way or the other about weight. I have always been very strong:

Then I had an MRI last week. Now I'm looking at having custom bass cradles built...at only 43 years old.

I can't help but think what I could have avoided if I had considered lighter instruments "back in the day".
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I have had surgery on my neck. I had C5 and C6 fused together so weight is a concern I am 44 so I know how u feel.

mmbongo when you have probs w your back / neck and still love to play you search for alternatives. :)
 
#731
nostatic said:
Depends on your budget and patience. Sadowsky nycs are often around 8lbs. Have a Nordy 5 showing up that is 8.25. Skjolds are often around 8 as well.
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The obligatory Rob Allens are super light. Elrick and Cliff Bordwell have some really light ash that make for really light basses.

To be honest, it wasn't until after playing the Rob Allens and CBs that I started to notice the benefits of light basses. Plus, they sound awesome.
 
#732
My Deep 5 is 7.2 lbs. The MB-2 is 6.1 (but is a 4-banger). When I take that bass on a gig with the Fender AmDlxP, the 8.7 lb Fender feels heavy. All relative but I can say towards the end of a 1.5hr set I'm ready to shed the Fender. The RA doesn't bug me at all.
 
#733
I've been gigging a couple of 8 lb'ers for a awhile now - a CB Ball and a Carvin LB70. Since I've been using these exclusively and leaving the heavier lumber at home, there has been a significant improvement in the way I feel after gigging. No pain, no issues. No having to sit after a gig and let my back recover. No lingering pain the next day, or that day after that, or the day after that. No more worrying when I have three gigs in two days. These were all regular parts of my life for several years prior, and the instruments I was using then weren't really a lot heavier; but enough. Weight matters. It's not an obsession, just a fact of life.

/rick
 
#739
Someone may have already addressed this elsewhere in the thread, but the one thing that always fascinates me regarding weight questions is the psychological value of the 10 pound mark. I would submit that say, 9 pounds 14 ounces and 10 pounds 2 ounces are functionally the same(it's a 2.53% difference in the example I cite), yet -for some- once it crosses the 10 lb. mark, it's "run, don't walk, in the other direction".
 
#740
i dunno, i've gotten pretty sensitive to weight in my old age. about the smallest difference that i can feel is 2 ounces. at 9lbs 8oz, basses are starting to feel pretty heavy to me, so i'm glad that none of mine are over 9lbs 2oz, and most of them are around 8lbs

not many have mentioned it, but it's not just the weight for me, since i prefer the sound of the lighter weight ones too..
 

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