What is the lightest bass?

[woolleydick]

Folks
my Doctor says I need to lghten the load on my back as it has some serious problems.
So the 70's stingray will go on the wall, and the 2005 'Ray will only be used for gigs (once or twice per month)
But I need something ultralight for all those rehearsals and jams.
What is really light without being godawful?
Hohner steinberger replica?

Your experiences are required

Cheers
Biggus

[Kiwi]

Some MTD's can be exceptionally light. There are some very light sadowskies that I've tried also, not to mention Status Stealths/Electros and semi hollow Moduus Quantums if that's your thing.

Also you could consider a custom bass with chambering in the body perhaps?

[stingrayfan]

Some of the cheaper Ibanez BTB range that's made out of basswood is pretty light. The Schecter range that Soundcontrol do is also similar I think. Bad back - ouch - you have my sympathy. Basses - esp Stingrays - aren't made for bad backs!

[OutToPlayJazz]

Yes indeed, sympathy all round! I'd say one of the smaller bodied instruments, like a Hohner B2 or Steinberger Spirit, or a Hofner Contemporary Violin Bass, like mine. Great sound, compact & very light.

[stingrayfan]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='41805' date='Aug 6 2007, 09:12 AM']Hofner Contemporary Violin Bass, like mine. Great sound, compact & very light.[/quote]
Oh yeah, good call - these are light as air. Feel a bit strange though if you're used to big bodied basses!

[poptart]

Without contravening forum rules - depending on your budget, may I suggest you check out the Roscoe LG series and the Skjold basses, these come in as low as 6.5lb and sound great. I am a great believer in using lightweight basses for comfort and practicailty reasons.

My Roscoe SKB 5 string weight less than 8.4 lbs and is very comfortable on a long (2 hr + ) gig and sounds brilliant.

Regards

[Beedster]

Shergold Marathon, mine weighs nothing, and sounds awesome. All that plus great 70's mojo and a neck to die for. They come up on ebay every so often and usually sell in the £200-250 range. If you try it and don't like it you won't have any trouble selling it on
Another option is to use a belt mounted attachement for the bass so that the pelvis and legs take the load as opposed to the spine. These can be picked up occasionally from the USA or, perhaps more usefully, can be made using a leather weight training belt and a few standard straplock attachments. It will restrict what you can do with the bass on stage and will entail modding the bass also, but if it's the difference between playing and not playing, who cares!
Good luck
Chris

[Mike Brooks]

How about a Fender Precision Lyte, comfortable to play, sounds OK, does the job and is only 7lbs in weight....I've used mine on several occasions when the back is getting a bit dicky.

Mike

[bnt]

I have a Hohner B2V: it's a solid chunk of wood, light but not quite as light as you might think..! The bass I really want is also very light: the [url="http://www.parkerguitars.com/code/models/models_bass_4str_intro.asp"]Parker Fly[/url], whose specs say it weighs 7¾ pounds. The Mojo is the same, but the cheaper PB41 weighs 9 pounds. I wonder if that includes strings?

Edited August 6, 2007 by bnt

[warwickhunt]

Zon. Rare as hen's teeth but lovely weight and balance.

[Bernmeister]

I always thought my squier jv pbass was quite light as well as my previous bass
the warwick streamer stage 1.

[warwickhunt]

Should we define light weight?

I'd say for a full scale standard bass (headstock and full bodied, P/J style) 8lb is light, so for someone conscious of weight they'd be looking at the lower side of that... yes/no

Obviously Parker Fly, hollowbody hofners, Steinberger/Hohner stick basses etc. may well clock in at a lot less than 7lb.

Bear in mind that here are massive variances within any range. 'Bernmeister' just nominated his Warwick; I have two Warwicks (SS II's) and there is 1.5lb difference between them! I also owned a SSI that clocked in at 7.5lb whereas my current SSI is a nadge over 8.5lb. The moral, try before you buy!

[bass_ferret]

Mine! There was a thread about this over on bassworld before it died. I think my Bass Collection was the lightest bass and my red GB a close second.

[therealting]

Another suggestion of a hollowbody bass, such as a Godin A4 / A5 or similar. Quite similar to a Rob Allen... very lightweight and sound great, although quite different to conventional electric instruments.

Adler basses are pretty lightweight, around 6lb for a four string if I remember.

Or, if you have the money... [url="http://www.bassurgery.co.uk"]http://www.bassurgery.co.uk[/url]. 4lb for a four string!

[Soulfinger]

Aria Sinsonido.



These are for real, BTW. I played a fretless and it sounded lovely.

[chris_b]

[quote name='woolleydick' post='41784' date='Aug 6 2007, 07:19 AM']What is really light without being godawful?[/quote]
Some good suggestions, but compared to a Stingray I would think you will notice a drop in tone and sound quality. Sorry, but a violin bass is not going to come anywhere close to a Stingray for tone and playability!

I would suggest that you look for something light that feels good to hold and play. Then go out and buy replacement pickups and electrics. Get the best of both worlds.

[therealting]

Another readily available option - Fender AeroDyne.

[Mickeyboro]

I've just bought a Kasim Sulton signature bass by Archer that's 6.5lbs. Active pickups give it as much punch as my precision which is half as heavy again.

[Alpha-Dave]

The Soul model from Basslabs is a carbon fibre J-style bass that comes in at 5.5 lbs. I've not tried one, and they look expensive, but if you're seriously thinking about getting one, they can send you one of their stock models to look at as their distribution is limited as I understand it.

[url="http://www.basslab.de/"]http://www.basslab.de/[/url]

[elros]

[quote name='Alpha-Dave' post='41998' date='Aug 6 2007, 04:26 PM']The Soul model from Basslabs is a carbon fibre J-style bass that comes in at 5.5 lbs. I've not tried one, and they look expensive, but if you're seriously thinking about getting one, they can send you one of their stock models to look at as their distribution is limited as I understand it.

[url="http://www.basslab.de/"]http://www.basslab.de/[/url][/quote]

I've tried a five-string STD model, and it quite simply rocks. It's amazingly ergonomic - I could hardly feel that I had it strapped on, and it stays automagically in the most comfortable playing position. Very easy to play, and great sound. You could easily have one made with a MM pickup too, if you prefer. Or whatever else you might fancy - I was told that they're all custom made, and small changes like that hardly cost anything at all.

You might not like how it looks though. I don't, really. But I still hope to own one someday.

[paul, the]

Try a Hohner headless (still active). The Walnut stained ones are actually quite attractive.


Or a hollowbodied or chambered bass.

[Magnolia]

Cort Curbow. I had a 5'er and thought it was very light compared to my jazzes. Its body is made of luthite which is a kind of plastic (plastic i hear you scream) With a maple neck/epoxy fretboar, Soapbar pickup, and fairly flexable eq you can get some stingray-ish tones from it. Mine was a slap monster.


Nick.

[crez5150]

gotta be a status........ my back has improved loads since using an all graphite model...

[whynot]

Worth checking out a Vigier Passion. Pretty good prices used and you won't take a dive in tonal quality.
The lightest bass I've ever played at around 6lbs with very low action and almost zero neck movement due to the part composite neck.

[The Funk]

[quote name='Soulfinger' post='41930' date='Aug 6 2007, 01:04 PM']Aria Sinsonido.



These are for real, BTW. I played a fretless and it sounded lovely.[/quote]

I was going to suggest this too but I couldn't remember who made them.