Guitars at 8lbs or under?

dmatthews

dmatthews

Ambassador of Birds
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As mentioned in another thread, I find myself gravitating towards guitars that are lighter weight.
Why? Fair question!
My reasons are few but important to me...
1) I'm not a youngster anymore
2) I play live standing up and take 2 guitars. One main, and one spare for 3 hours or so
3) I practice standing up with my band for up to 4 hours with two guitars as well

Are lighter weight guitars a hinderance? Not IMHO.
Are lighter guitars less resonant? Hells to the no! Do they have less mojo? What?
At home I usually sit and can play my heavier axes with zero issues, but live and practice is standing up, and heaven knows that extra 10lbs +- is not comfy (for me)...
So... what's your opinion?
Whatchoo got?

This was my first lighter weight guitar received in 2010...



 
My 1992 Parker Fly Deluxe is 3.5 pounds that was my main stage player for 15 years
The two Les Paul Custom Shop guitars are 8.25 pounds the four Fender Stratocasters I have are 8 pounds
The Four PRS guitars are 7 to 8 pounds My 1965 Gibson SG Standard is 7 pounds
the 1953 Fender Esquire is 5.5 pounds one piece ash body
Sad story the new China Epiphone Firebird is 9+ pounds will never play it the poly finish is nasty
My two main players now are rosewood neck PRS guitars a Custom 24 and a McCarty Brazilian both under 8 pounds

IMG_3345.JPG
 
dmatthews said:
As mentioned in another thread, I find myself gravitating towards guitars that are lighter weight.
Why? Fair question!
My reasons are few but important to me...
1) I'm not a youngster anymore
2) I play live standing up and take 2 guitars. One main, and one spare for 3 hours or so
3) I practice standing up with my band for up to 4 hours with two guitars as well

Are lighter weight guitars a hinderance? Not IMHO.
Are lighter guitars less resonant? Hells to the no! Do they have less mojo? What?
At home I usually sit and can play my heavier axes with zero issues, but live and practice is standing up, and heaven knows that extra 10lbs +- is not comfy (for me)...
So... what's your opinion?
Whatchoo got?

This was my first lighter weight guitar received in 2010...



Click to expand...
Now that's about the coolest looking PRS I've ever seen. I like that one a lot. :yesway:

I don't play out so I play sitting exclusively now so weight isn't an issue for me. I personally don't believe the weight of a guitar has any impact on tone. I also don't believe weight relief has much impact if any. I've had both and still do. My weight relieved Les Pauls sound just a big and sustain just as well as my solid body.

Maybe you need a Thinline Tele for live shows. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...er-jim-adkins-ja-90-telecaster-thinline-white
 
They go from 7 something to 9 something. I am a basement player , sitting down, still, the lighter ones are definitely more pleasant to play, but I play sitting down and nowhere near as long as you play. I don’t see any advantage in having a heavier guitar unless you plan on hitting someone with it
 
DirtySteve said:
Now that's about the coolest looking PRS I've ever seen. I like that one a lot. :yesway:

I don't play out so I play sitting exclusively now so weight isn't an issue for me. I personally don't believe the weight of a guitar has any impact on tone. I also don't believe weight relief has much impact if any. I've had both and still do. My weight relieved Les Pauls sound just a big and sustain just as well as my solid body.

Maybe you need a Thinline Tele for live shows. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...er-jim-adkins-ja-90-telecaster-thinline-white
Click to expand...
Love those thinlines!
Got my Tele fix with this light weight swampash... Just a hair under 7lbs

 
I've never weighed any of my guitars. I have no clue how much they weigh. The ES-335 is pretty comfy. Except the Cipollina, al the SGs are pretty light. The Cipollina is quite heavy. Firebird, Flying Vs, Billy-Bo, Rick 6 string, and a couple of Strats are all quite reasonable for long gigs or nights of practice. Les Pauls and Rick 12 string are all kind of heavy.
 
I don't have a scale either, but I'm guessing all my guitars are in 8-10lb range based on comparing them to my LP standard that I know weighed right at 9 lbs.

If you have a bathroom scale you can weigh yourself with and without holding the guitar and subtract the difference to get a ballpark weight. I don't have a bathroom scale either.
 
Again, with a Well--Hung strap, none are really too bad but I switch out 2 or 3 guitars for each showswo each gets maybe an hour off n on.

That said without exact weights here are some lighter than 8 lbs.



My Goya L6-S and the Gibby too. Light, fast, thin nedks, sound fantastic!

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Not weighed them but they are lighter than the 8 lb LPs.
Prestige,
Mockingbird,
Epi V,
Yamaha RX612S,
Ibby ARX500

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DirtySteve said:
I don't have a scale either, but I'm guessing all my guitars are in 8-10lb range based on comparing them to my LP standard that I know weighed right at 9 lbs.

If you have a bathroom scale you can weigh yourself with and without holding the guitar and subtract the difference to get a ballpark weight. I don't have a bathroom scale either.
Click to expand...
I have plenty of scales around the house. I just don't really care. 2 ounces difference between a couple of guitars isn't going to make me want to play them any more or less. If I'm feeling beat up from work, I'll just do a couple of extra 16 oz. curls while playing to offset the weight difference. All good in the end because I still played a guitar.
 
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