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I LIKE HEAVY BASSES


roonjuice

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8 hours ago, fretmeister said:

Wait until you get old.

More accurate would be to say “wait until you suffer an intervertebral disc prolapse”, as I did around 35 or so. Got a whole set of ‘em now. Also got problems with all my joints, which regularly sublux. It’s not necessarily age-related.

Anyone with serious back problems who chooses to play heavy basses “for the tone” is nuts. Of course those without serious back problems won’t understand until/unless they get them.

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I find that if you get a selection of 2.5kg and 5kg barbell weights and wrap them in gaffa tape (to prevent scratching) you can add variable amounts of extra mass to you bass. With the help of an assistant it's even possible to add or remove extra sustain, bottom end and presence just by varying the mass as you play.

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6 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I find that if you get a selection of 2.5kg and 5kg barbell weights and wrap them in gaffa tape (to prevent scratching) you can add variable amounts of extra mass to you bass. With the help of an assistant it's even possible to add or remove extra sustain, bottom end and presence just by varying the mass as you play.

I do that with my belly. I can basically adjust the bass' natural EQ on the fly.

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16 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

I do that with my belly. I can basically adjust the bass' natural EQ on the fly.

You must be using a fairly long strap for that ;)

BTW, do you find a zip or a button fly more effective (for adjusting EQ, obviously!)?

Edited by FinnDave
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9 hours ago, Kev said:

Tone.

Every lightweight bass sounds like a lightweight bass.  There is something special in the lows/low mids with a heavy body with a good dense bit of wood.

Until very recently, I'd have absolutely agreed with you, citing the low B of my Steamer LX6 as evidence.

I now own a 10 string Chapman stick. Lowest pitched string is Low "C". The tone and clarity are simply amazing. And this from an instrument that weighs very little indeed- about 6lbs at the most. I can't rationalize it. But it sure sounds good.

 

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I'm finding the older I get the more I actualy prefer a heavier bass. This is because, as I've gotten older my belly has started to protrude further beyond my belt. I find a good weighty bass to be better at pushing down on my belly and flattening it back out. 😁

In all seriousness though I don't really like the feel of an overly light bass. They just feel kind of flimsy insubstantial to me. Anywhere between 8.5 and 12 lbs and I'm pretty happy. 

Edited by Painy
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6 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

In my view the construction of the bass has more impact on the sound.

A through-neck headless lightweight with a vestigial body will have more sustain than many heavyweights with bolt on necks.

 Again, I'm inclined to reference my experience with the Chapman Stick. All one-piece, no body at all and very light/rigid (especially the aluminum railboards and bamboo sticks).

The sustain is ridiculous. But that may be attributable to the sensitivity of the pickups.

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Get yourself over to Thomann - they’ve got you covered!

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Seriously, though, I just find anything heavy to be a quite literal pain. It’s not just standing and playing the thing (though it is that, too), it’s also that I’ll regularly get dropped off near to a venue with two basses in gigbags, my pedalboard in its case, and a laptop bag full of amp head, cables and spares ..and sometimes a rucksack with other bits as well. I need all that to be one trip as there isn’t an inexpensive bit I can risk leaving by the side of the road while I nip inside, and when I get to where I’m going having carried it I need to be uninjured and not on the verge of collapse!

I have a heavy bass and a full size valve head that I’ll take to a rehearsal every now and then... just to remind myself how horrible they are to deal with and how little difference they make to my sound.

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I have always liked weighty instruments for no particular reason , having owned an Ibanez ATK, Gibson Les Paul, Washburn Scavenger, Washburn Idol, and other misc plywood bodied p basses. Sadly none of them seemed to like my left shoulder 😒.

Obviously to remedy this situation I now own a *nearly-as-heavy-as-the-Gibson* Tokai Love Rock instead.... currently looking at double strap options to deal with my now apparent weight-a-holic issues.

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A guitarist pal of mine, who is a fellow member of one of the bands I'm in, has a really really heavy Gibson LP.
When I first picked it up, I just couldn't believe how incredibly heavy it was :o
I mean, it's much heavier than any bass guitar I've owned, or even had a dabble with. So much so, that it made me ask whether it was actually a hollow body, which had been filled with lead

Anyhow, he plays that guitar on a rather fancy sort of strap. Forgive my ignorance, but I'm not sure what such straps are called - but it's got an elasticated section near each end.
Having picked the guitar up with my hands - it definitely felt lighter than I would have expected when on that strap. I asked him for details of the strap. He couldn't remember what it was called, or who the manufacturer was - but he did remember paying a lot of money for it. I must say, I quite fancy a strap like that myself..... as others have said, there comes a point when the weight of an instrument becomes an important issue.

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22 minutes ago, Bleat said:

Sounds like a Gibson Switchblade strap

Edit: Ok Gibson always has their name on the strap … ignore me.

It may be that's the one. Though he couldn't recall what it was - perhaps the word "Gibson" had worn off? Though I'm sure he would have remembered that...
Then again - he said he'd bought it many years back. Hmmm, I think I'll look into Gibson Switchblade now

I can remember Strawberry Switchblade..... I'll get my coat ;)

EDIT: Just found the Gibson Switchbalde strap - they're £89
Pricey - but if it helps heavy basses feel lighter, and helps those of us with ageing backs & shoulders...... hmmmm

Edited by Marc S
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I have touched upon the strap subject elsewhere regards heavy basses, there is the physicality of our build to take into account also with supporting our heavyweight friends. As I'm a lightweight with leaning forward shoulders and not the most of amount of meat on the bone, I have come to the conclusion that a strap that is always going to displace  all the weight onto the left shoulder area only, even with loads of padding and width will not eliminate the problem for me personally. Fortunately I have never suffered back problems so that aspect certainly isn't an issue.

Having had the Gibson Fatboy , which is similar to the Switchblade, it is an amazingly well built and padded bit of kit, certainly I think they are worthy of the price tag, though it is quite heavy within itself....their big straps are really more for guitarists imo, as the minimum setting of the strap sits around stomach level, which is ok if that's where you have a bass strapped (or lower)... you certainly won't find Mark King using one anytime soon. If I was a well built person with a stand upright, stomach in, chest out thing going on, then I think it would have drastically reduced the shoulder issues... it didn't for me.

Going back to the heavy bass= more *weighty* sound.... hmm no I don't really think that is the case at all. IMO the weighty sound will be dependant on the pickup type, how many ,positioning on body, active controls  etc etc

Personally I guess I may just mentally *associate* the physical heavy weight of an instrument with low, heavy, grounding frequencies that *any* bass produces, the weight maybe just physically reinforces that idea. … or something … or not.

🎸

Edited by Bleat
Grammar etc
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