Gloss finish adding weight

[Mlazarus]

I'm thinking about adding a heavy coat of high gloss to my 82' Series 1. Forntwo reasons:

1. It will add weight to the bass.
        Q: how much weight will commonly be added?

2. Sound.
        Q: What sound quality will the bass have?

    Currently, my bass weighs 10 lbs 3 ounces.
    I like the sound of the 11lb or higher basses.

      What are your ideas?

[edwardofhuncote]

Michael, just play that thing man, you are trying to make it something that it isn't. You have one of the finest bass guitars that was ever made. Ever. I can't imagine how adding 13 ounces of poly finish does anything good. Not for tone, not for weight, and certainly not for maintaining the integrity of the instrument.


It's yours, you can do what you want. In my opinion, (you did ask) it is a waste of time and effort.

[lbpesq]

Ditto.

Bill, tgo

[Mlazarus]

No, I thought about putting a nice shine over it. Of course i'll play it.

[Mlazarus]

Besides, although I like a nice finish and dont mind the weight, the bass was owned by TM Stevens, so I may leave it as is. I owned an 80s high gloss Distillate in the 90s. Im still shocked I sold it.

[Artgeckko]

Just my 2 pennies...

After stripping 2 series 1's and 1 spoiler down to the bare wood, then reassembling, the weight of the finished instrument, without electronics and hardware, versus the bare wood
seemed pretty minimal by comparison to the finished body.  I noticed much more weight gain by the heavy brass hardware, tuning machines and electronics than by any finish applied.
I will say that I have no idea how many coats of finish is actually applied with my projects, because often I sand through one to the next, but each bass has more than 10 coats applied.  Don't think my work is as good as the work out of Alembic, but for me, they look pretty good.
I did wonder how an unfinished bass would sound? Chaos dynamics say it does.
Maybe the weight (11+ lbs)you enjoy is more of a property of the wood involved as opposed to the finish?

To Edofhuncote's note, there is some extra crazy happiness that comes from playing some of the best and most well made instruments in the world.  2
Question, Is finish really approximately 13 oz of added weight?

[jazzyvee]

For what it's worth, I had my late 80's purple Elan stripped and re-sprayed with a clear finish to show off the maple quilt, (not at alembic), and whether it does or not, my ears are convinced it sounds slightly less bright than it did before. It still sounds incredible though.