Good P Bass option that doesn't weigh a ton?

[Adp43]

Hi guys.

 

I recently started to learn the bass. I'm a drummer by trade, but always wanted to learn the bass

 

I love pop punk so wanted that P bass tone, but after buying a Squire I sent it back within the week as it neck dived through the floor and weighed an absolute ton!

 

I got myself an Ibanez Micro, which is much more manageable and comfy, but I'm finding myself missing the P bass growl.

 

Any suggestions of basses to try that are affordable and have that tone but without weighing the earth or neck diving?

 

I've found some nice looking Farzely's and Harvey Benton's, but hard to try without actually ordering them. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

Edited June 20, 2023 by Adp43

[jrixn1]

Peach Guitars show the weight of most of their basses; e.g. there is one here at £394 which is 8lb 4oz.  Or how about this used one at £259 and 8.4lb (that's 8lb 6oz, I think) and has a 14-day returns period.  I've owned two Classic Vibe 60s and one Classic Vibe 70s - really good basses and they were all 8lb 9oz or under.  I would say your standard/average P bass comes in around 9 lbs.

[neepheid]

Wood be woody.  Buy from somewhere who are willing to go the extra mile and weigh the bass(es) for you prior to buying.

[Paolo85]

The problem in general with P basses is that by design (the headstock shape and the type of tuners) they either are neck heavy or they are pretty substantial. So it is difficult to get one that is both light and well balanced "out of the box". Also, I am not an expert, but wood being wood, you have no guarantee of what you are getting in advance.

I have a squier Affinity PJ, around 4kg. It was neck heavy. Not anymore with hipshot licensed ultralight tuners.

I have an old Chinese Squier P. The neck is a thing of beauty but a bit substantial (slightly thick back to front, but also a heavy piece of wood I believe). It is 4.2kg (so not light, but not horribly heavy). It balances well but its tuners, stock, are lighter than hipshot licensed ultralight (which is normally not at all the case).

I had an Indonesian Squier P. Not heavy I would say. Maybe 4kg or just a bit more. The neck was a baseball bat but somehiw relatively light. Certainly no more neck heavy than the Affinity PJ. For most people that would be ok with a good strap.

I briefly owbed a Squier Classic Vibe P. 4.2kg. The neck was not thick but was fairly heavy for some reason. I estimated that not even with hipshot licensed ultralight I would have got a really good balance.

What I would personalky do is to buy (again) a Squier Affinity PJ or a Squier Sonic P, which I understand tend to be very light AND buy hipshot licensed ultralight for another £100. If over time you want something more just replace the pickups and the neck. Lots of people think it's bonkers but to me makes total sense. Those lightweight poplar body have everything I want from a body: look nice, keep things where they should be, be light.

Harley Bentons in general have a reputation of ranging from "normal" weigh to horribly heavy but it is a case by case thing. Somebody here had one of their P basses, those that sell for less than 100, at 4.2kg

I have a Fazley fretless PJ and it weighs a ton. 

[Jonesy]

If you're looking at the lower end of the market then it's hard to beat Harley Benton in terms of quality and bang for your buck. I've had a 70s jazz bass that was pretty heavy and their 51 Pass that was average. 

 

If you had a bit more to spend then this is a lot of bass for the money too.....

 

https://www.andertons.co.uk/brands/gl-guitars/sb-series-basses/g-l-tribute-sb-2-bass-surf-green-maple-fretboard

 

It has the same pickups and bridge as the made in USA version and is essentially an angry precision. If you don't want to use the J pickup then just turn it down. Mine balances perfectly and is fairly light.

[TheGreek]

G&L is a good shout IMO.

[Paul S]

I keep posting about it but when they came out a few years ago I bought a Harley Benton PB Shorty.  30" scale length, weighs 3.1kg.  Cost at the time was under £70.  Straight out of the box it was great, nicely set up - I stuck my favoured TI Flats on it and immediately got a great woody vintage P bass tone - through my set up it sounded just like the P bass tone in Santana's 'Europa' which has always been something of a bench mark for me as a P bass tone.  It would be a good bass at many price points, for under £70 it is nothing short of miraculous.  I have since changed the pickup for a Tonerider (£35) for a bit more of an edge, but that is a choice on my part.  I keep looking at other short scale Fender-flavoured basses, especially the Mustangs, but always back out because this one has it covered.

[pbasspecial]

If you buy something like a comfort strapp then that will also help with the weight stress on your back and shoulders too. 

[Supernaut]

Look for basses made with Poplar, Nato or Swamp Ash has these tend to be lighter than Alder, Basswood and Mahogany. 

[Boodang]

So I'm going to come out and say this.... most of the tone comes from the pickup. 

My fav P pickup from Creamery. 

https://www.creamery-pickups.co.uk/custom-handwound-pickups-from-the-creamery/scatterwound-bass-pickups.html

Plenty of others to choose from on the market but I would get the bass that feels right then slap one of these in.

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, Boodang said:

So I'm going to come out and say this.... most of the tone comes from the pickup. 

My fav P pickup from Creamery. 

https://www.creamery-pickups.co.uk/custom-handwound-pickups-from-the-creamery/scatterwound-bass-pickups.html

Plenty of others to choose from on the market but I would get the bass that feels right then slap one of these in.

Put one of those pickups (or sometimes any pickups) in the P position and you get something not a million miles away from what we think of as P bass tone. 

[ricksterphil]

I had a Harley Benton 5 string which wasn't Uber heavy and didn't neck dive.

They sometimes need a set up as some of the fret edges can be sharp, other than that they're fantastic basses for the money

[Dan Dare]

Whilst you can get lighter P bodies - swamp ash, poplar, etc - a P bass neck weighs what it weighs and there's little potential to lighten it. Those beefy tuners add to the tendency for neck dive, which tends to be more pronounced on a lighter instrument, because the neck makes up a greater proportion of its total weight. You can reduce that by using lightweight Gotoh or Hipshot replacements, but they're not cheap. I'd agree with those above who suggest a P pickup on a different style of instrument. Either that or try a strap at least 4" wide. I have a Pinegrove wide strap on mine, which is very comfortable. The Levy is nice and good value, too.

[Tokalo]

My Sandberg Electra VS4 is light (3.5kg) and a delight to play.

And now I’ve put a Kent Armstrong pickup in, it has a beautiful vintage sound too.

I previously had a G&L Tribute SB-2; it was a tad heavier at 4.0kg, but was very easy to play/hard to put down. The pickup has a great classic tone at about 8/10. When you go up to full volume, it reaches a whole new level of woah!

[ezbass]

It appears that the answer to OP's topic lies herein: 

 

[Paolo85]

13 minutes ago, ezbass said:

It appears that the answer to OP's topic lies herein: 

 

I would slightly disagree with that. Sires do not have a reputation for being light. They have a reputation for being either "normal" or on the havy side - depending who you ask - with significant variation among units. I had a V5 2gen (admittedly not a P) at 4.6kg! I would not extrapolate much from a single unit. I remember a youtuber BassAdvisor once having a lightweight HBJB75, which normally go at 5kg or over.

And as for balance, I understand that their tuners are certainly not lightweight. For what I have seen from LowendLobster reviews, it would appear that the consequences normally are the obvious ones for a P: neck heavy. That would obviously be more or less bad depending on the unit, with lighter basses being more likely to have bad balance.

Obviously, there is the possibility that recently Sire has started a process of strict selection of wood for weight (with particular focus on lighter necks). But I would find it unlikely at this price point

Edited June 27, 2023 by Paolo85

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, Paolo85 said:

I would slightly disagree with that. Sires do not have a reputation for being light. They have a reputation for being either "normal" or on the havy side - depending who you ask - with significant variation among units. I had a V5 2gen (admittedly not a P) at 4.6kg! I would not extrapolate much from a single unit. I remember a youtuber BassAdvisor once having a lightweight HBJB75, which normally go at 5kg or over.

And as for balance, I understand that their tuners are certainly not lightweight. For what I have seen from LowendLobster reviews, it would appear that the consequences normally are the obvious ones for a P: neck heavy. That would obviously be more or less bad depending on the unit, with lighter basses being more likely to have bad balance.

Obviously, there is the possibility that recently Sire has started a process of strict selection of wood for weight (with particular focus on lighter necks). But I would find it unlikely at this price point

 @Ander87 reports his new Sire P type to be less than 4kg, I'm just sharing the info.

 

Harley Bentons do have a reputation for being heavy, however.

Edited June 27, 2023 by ezbass

[Ander87]

Thanks @ezbass! Yep mine is 3.75kg and feels light but solid too. 
 

@Paolo85 is right on Sires reputation but I did research on the P5 and seems like this gen/series of passives has repaired much of this. 
 

the P5’s I’ve enquired about before buying new were 4kg dead on in most cases - note also LowEndLobster’s heavier bass (4.25kg I think?) was the 5 string version, could maybe be the carbon rods that Sire 5ers have that 4ers don’t? Asides from the obvious bigger neck and more hardware/extra tuner of course