Guitars at 8lbs or under?

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...



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Well, thanks for the GAS! :bash: :rolf: I've been looking around and these guitars go for a decent price (around $600-$700) used. I really like the idea, but can you tell me what the neck is like on these? Are they thin, chunky, somewhere in the middle? I doubt I find one I can try before I buy. I think it looks cooler than an LP Jr with the cutaways and might just satisfy my P90 GAS without breaking the bank. The 25" scale is interesting, closer to a short scale than a long scale, I doubt I even notice the 1/4".
 
DirtySteve said:
Well, thanks for the GAS! :bash: :rolf: I've been looking around and these guitars go for a decent price (around $600-$700) used. I really like the idea, but can you tell me what the neck is like on these? Are they thin, chunky, somewhere in the middle? I doubt I find one I can try before I buy. I think it looks cooler than an LP Jr with the cutaways and might just satisfy my P90 GAS without breaking the bank. The 25" scale is interesting, closer to a short scale than a long scale, I doubt I even notice the 1/4".
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I’ve only played one, in passing…right after I bought my PRS SE Chris Robertson. I would have bought it right on the spot, if I hadn’t purchased mine a couple of months prior. The PRS SE One has the same neck spec, “wide fat”. That translates to slightly thinner than a Gibson 50s rounded, but a bit fuller and wider feeling than a Gibson slim taper. The scale is comparable to Gibson…the difference there is pretty negligible to me…no where near the jump to 25.5 scale.
 
Thatbastarddon said:
I’ve only played one, in passing…right after I bought my PRS SE Chris Robertson. I would have bought it right on the spot, if I hadn’t purchased mine a couple of months prior. The PRS SE One has the same neck spec, “wide fat”. That translates to slightly thinner than a Gibson 50s rounded, but a bit fuller and wider feeling than a Gibson slim taper. The scale is comparable to Gibson…the difference there is pretty negligible to me…no where near the jump to 25.5 scale.
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Ok, that sounds good so far. Do you happen to know the nut width? Is it wider than a Gibson is what I want to know.

I played a PRS once because someone had told me the necks were similar to a Gibson Studio and I wanted to see what it was like. I liked the neck on the one I played, but I have no idea what model it was.
 
DirtySteve said:
Ok, that sounds good so far. Do you happen to know the nut width? Is it wider than a Gibson is what I want to know.

I played a PRS once because someone had told me the necks were similar to a Gibson Studio and I wanted to see what it was like. I liked the neck on the one I played, but I have no idea what model it was.
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My SE is about 42.5mm. My SG Standard P90(50s rounded neck) is right about 42mm. The nuts are finished very differently.
I don’t know if I’d really try to compare between PRS SE necks and Gibson. The finishes, and carves, feel completely different to me. The SE necks that I’ve played have had a very consistent feel to them. The Gibson necks are just different…difficult for me to quantify. I think I have six kicking around here now, and no two are the same.
My SE feels like it belongs here though…if that’s any indicator.
 
Thatbastarddon said:
I’m with you there. Every SE “wide fat” neck I’ve picked up has felt pretty darned good to me. They seem pretty consistent in that.
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Thanks, Don. I think you told me all I need to know. :yesway:

Oh and BTW, the chart told me the nut width. The "wide" in "wide fat" was worrying me a little, but 1 11/16" is the same as Gibson and that's perfect. All my guitars are 1 11/16" so that's what I was hoping for.
 
DirtySteve said:
Thanks, Don. I think you told me all I need to know. :yesway:

Oh and BTW, the chart told me the nut width. The "wide" in "wide fat" was worrying me a little, but 1 11/16" is the same as Gibson and that's perfect. All my guitars are 1 11/16" so that's what I was hoping for.
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Yeah…I don’t have calipers large enough for nut width measurements…I have a few “PD sticks” metric rulers for measuring pupillary distance…so…there’s that. ;)
I make eyeglasses…not guitars…usually.
 
Thatbastarddon said:
Yeah…I don’t have calipers large enough for nut width measurements…I have a few “PD sticks” metric rulers for measuring pupillary distance…so…there’s that. ;)
I make eyeglasses…not guitars…usually.
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I just use a ruler for stuff like that. ;) I was afraid it might be 1 3/4" like my acoustic and while I like that width on my acoustic, it's a little too wide on electric for me.
 
I've never really cared much or paid much attention to the weight of my guitars.
But now that I'm having back surgery I just might start!!

My SG was the lightest guitar I ever owned. It was a pleasure to play.

And oddly enough, I think my BC Rich Jr V is the heaviest.... I haven't weighed it against my explorers, but I think it's heavier.... Crazy because most Vs are pretty light.

The Jackson RR have always been very lightweight.
 
DirtySteve said:
Thanks, Don. I think you told me all I need to know. :yesway:

Oh and BTW, the chart told me the nut width. The "wide" in "wide fat" was worrying me a little, but 1 11/16" is the same as Gibson and that's perfect. All my guitars are 1 11/16" so that's what I was hoping for.
Click to expand...
Just got back from practice, but @Thatbastarddon basically nailed it.
I do gravitate towards the "Wide Fat" type of PRS neck, but I must say this one feels a tad slimmer, and not in a bad way. One other thing I've noticed is that the frets are not tall/jumbo.
 
In my life have only had two Fender stratocasters with the same neck profile a 1960 and a 1961
next was my first PRS custom 24 1989 got it new found out wide fat profile neck
I have two PRS guitars that have the wide fat profile now
I have never played a real 1959 Les Paul Standard my friend Kurt got a made to measure 1959 Les Paul Standard Custom Shop
real close to my #OO serial number 1960 Les Paul Standard I sold would put the PRS wide fat neck profile in that range
 
6.4 lbs

V60JU0x.jpeg
 
Forty four years on the road, and all of that using a Fender bass that weighed 9.5# (4.3 Kilos).
All of that playing an acoustic guitar that weighed maybe 5 # (2.7 Kilos)... I never checked.
I didn't pay any attention to the weight. I was young and tough.

When I turned sixty in 2008, I bought myself the first electric guitar I had owned in decades.
It was my reward for making sixty, which I never believed I would reach. Shot by a jealous husband,
shot while attempting to escape, smushed by a truck... these were my likely fates I thought.
With death on the highway being the most likely. It's dangerous out there.

So the weight of my instruments (and my amp) was a small thing by comparison to the
weight of my doom... *grins
Being a bassist who doubled on guitar, I regarded it as part of the job... to carry heavy things.
And I did. But when I went to GC taking an amp in for service (bad idea) I glanced at the racks
of guitars of course. And I did a perfect double-take when I saw this instrument at a range of
ten meters...
Luna 03-06-2025@133.jpeg
Y'all have likely seen photos of this instrument... I can't stop talking about it. This is Luna...
I bonded with this guitar as soon as I touched it. The wand chooses the wizard, eh?
She called me to her from a distance, wordlessly. I saw her as I was walking in with the amp in my hands.
I saw her again on the way out, thinking, "That's one of those faded Specials... I've seen them in the M/F
catalog..." I took her down from the rack. She weighs 6 3/4# (just over 3 kilos). Zap... I was smitten.

Sixty years old and head over heels for a Gibson SG... I knew it was ridiculous but I didn't care.
As soon as my hands held her, she was mine. The rest was paper work. Mastercard, get me outa here...
Sure and part of the appeal is the weight. Here I am 17 years later, and she's still the Queen of my
music room. I have other guitars I play, Of course I do. I play acoustic, electric and bass. I read all the
hogwash that members write about neck shapes with puzzled amusement. I'm like, "really?..."

I never think about neck shapes. All my instruments have different neck shapes, and I never think
much about it. I just play them. My dream bass is my Warmoth fretless J-bass... I've been playing that
since about 2009. I named her Luretta after a song by Townes Van Zandt. She weighs ten pounds (4.5 Kilos).
I shoulder the weight because I want that fretless sound she makes. I use a wide strap.
Luretta at Harrisville@133.jpeg
To me, that's what it's all about. It's the tone, not the weight, not the neck shape. It's all about
the song, and what tone it needs in order to be effective.
That's why we get G.A.S. and buy extra guitars. That's why guitar strap makers can charge so much
for an excellent strap. That thing we all are pursuing, that's tone. This forum is called the Tone Room.
To me, it's the combination of all these things we bring into play that creates tone, including the strap.
...and the amp as we all know, and other tone shaping equipment we might utilize.

Tone comes from a player's fingers and the strings, of course. But there's more isn't there.
If the guitar doesn't balance well, tone suffers... at least for me. My three kilo SG is so comfortable
to play, she frees my hands so they can move best. And she just oozes tone. *smiles
Her tone inspires me, her weight frees me to move well, her shape aids me in subtle ways.
But so do her handmaidens below...
SnowWhite Caledonia@100.jpg
Each of these beauties weighs about 8 pounds (3.6 kilos). Each of them has a different
neck shape. Each of them has a unique tone as well... a MIM Tele with humbuckers
and a MIC ES-339 with P-90s. I love them both for reasons I listed above,
Tone, feel, balance... how they respond in my hands, how they respond through my
amps, Whatever neck shapes they have, my hands can master them... they feel
great. Pretty easy on the eye too, but that's for the audience.
Catalina & Luna 2019.jpeg
Well and so, I love my two SGs, Catalina the Silverburst weighs about 7# (3.2 kilos)
Luna the faded special weighs just under that. I would call these lightweight guitars even though my
acoustics are a couple pounds lighter than these. I like them for how light they are and how powerful their
tone is (each in her own way... mini humbuckers vs '57 classic & classic plus).

Is this all just mixed up to you guys, or does it ring true? It's my world... acoustic and electric and bass
(Oh My!). I love my light weight SGs, but when I need that P-90 tone there's no substitute. Equally so when
I need that "Wide Range Humbucker" sound from my Tele. If there's one neck shape that's been with me
my whole career, it's the Fender J-bass neck which I know so well. So I don't care if they are heavy, even
at my age! For most of my career, the Fender J-bass tone was my signature, and since 2009 it's been the
fretless J-Bass tone... I don't mind the weight, because I need that tone.
 
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