Saying a LP is too heavy is like saying a Ferrari is too fast ...

[JMP/HBE]

.


Amirite ???

[Top-L]

If I was a really big guy, I would buy one of those 3/4 size guitars so I looked like a giant on stage.

If I was a really small guy, I would get the biggest guitar I could find and hide behind it on stage.

Weight is interesting to me, but because of how it makes the guitar resonate. I have a theory that the heavy ones have a stronger and more piercing treble. Which is probably just what you want if you are using vintage style pickups.

[beaubrummels]

IMHO heavy solid Les Pauls do sound really good. I have a 10lb Standard, and an 8.5lb 60RI Historic. I've never gotten rid of the 10lb because it sounds very competitive to the RI. The difference is the electronics. I'm confident if I put upgraded electronics in my Standard, it would start to blow away the Historic in tone, but I just want to keep that one bone stock (it was my first LP, it's never been modified and I'm the one owner)

All that said, I have a theory that a solid heavy instrument that doesn't resonate would be potentially better for resulting sound. The reason is vibration that is lost into the body and neck is not available to the pickup to sense. With some guitars that's good - by chance, the bad/ugly frequencies get lost into the body and neck while the good sound makes it through the pickups. This would also explain why a heavy guitar could have more piercing treble - because those delicate frequencies can't stimulate a heavy block of wood to resonate, so they are all available to the pickup to sense.

This may be just my unique experience, but my guitars that are thick sounding, chunky sounding, heavy bass, sound very thin and trebly unplugged. Likewise, my guitars that sound warm and full unplugged sound relatively anemic plugged in. It's like it either goes into the pickups, or into the air, but not both.

Look into Les Paul's early experiments with The Rail (where he put a guitar string on a railroad rail with a telephone mic as a pickup), and his early "Clunker" and "Log" experiments.

[Top-L]

This would also explain why a heavy guitar could have more piercing treble - because those delicate frequencies can't stimulate a heavy block of wood to resonate, so they are all available to the pickup to sense.

This may be just my unique experience, but my guitars that are thick sounding, chunky sounding, heavy bass, sound very thin and trebly unplugged. Likewise, my guitars that sound warm and full unplugged sound relatively anemic plugged in. It's like it either goes into the pickups, or into the air, but not both.

I agree with this.

Electirc guitars that are acoustically resonant tend to be warmer plugged in, which is good for single coils and high output pickups. But a heavy guitar that isn't as obviously resonant (at least in the mid frequencies) will have a stronger amplified sound IME.

This is one of the cool things about collecting new guitars; finding out how the acoustic resonance and construction affect the amplified sound.

My "new" Jackson soloist is a neck through basswood. I've owned a bunch of basswood guitars and always liked them, but they were always bolt on. Its interesting to hear what a maple neck through imparts to the basswood sound.

If resonance was the only thing that mattered, we would all be playing chambered or hollow body guitars. I used to think more resonant meant better, but I know that is not the case now.

[Mincer]

I won't play a guitar if it is too heavy. Too many other choices out there.

[Phantasmagoria]

If LP's were cars...



It's not (just) that they're heavy. I have heavy guitars I'm fine with (ie,my Raven West @ 11lbs). They're clunky, cumbersome, awkward & have zero ergonomics.


They do often have great tone though...

[orpheo]

If LP's were cars...



It's not (just) that they're heavy. I have heavy guitars I'm fine with (ie,my Raven West @ 11lbs). They're clunky, cumbersome, awkward & have zero ergonomics.


They do often have great tone though...

I never understood the ergonomics-argument. I think a Les Paul is by far the most comfortable. The way a LP wraps around you, instead of just a cutting board with a pan handle sticking out if it (tele, strat), is so comfortable. The heel, yeah, that one is a clunker but many luthiers, myself included, have corrected that problem.

[orpheo]

The very best Les Pauls I have ever tried were either ridiculously lightweight, with extremely lightweight mahogany (not basswood, basswood sounds like a wet towel), or extremely heavy. The middle ground just doesn't work for me. 7 lbs or 10 lbs.

[JMP/HBE]

IMHO heavy solid Les Pauls do sound really good. I have a 10lb Standard, and an 8.5lb 60RI Historic. I've never gotten rid of the 10lb because it sounds very competitive to the RI. The difference is the electronics. I'm confident if I put upgraded electronics in my Standard, it would start to blow away the Historic in tone, but I just want to keep that one bone stock (it was my first LP, it's never been modified and I'm the one owner)

All that said, I have a theory that a solid heavy instrument that doesn't resonate would be potentially better for resulting sound. The reason is vibration that is lost into the body and neck is not available to the pickup to sense. With some guitars that's good - by chance, the bad/ugly frequencies get lost into the body and neck while the good sound makes it through the pickups. This would also explain why a heavy guitar could have more piercing treble - because those delicate frequencies can't stimulate a heavy block of wood to resonate, so they are all available to the pickup to sense.

This may be just my unique experience, but my guitars that are thick sounding, chunky sounding, heavy bass, sound very thin and trebly unplugged. Likewise, my guitars that sound warm and full unplugged sound relatively anemic plugged in. It's like it either goes into the pickups, or into the air, but not both.

Look into Les Paul's early experiments with The Rail (where he put a guitar string on a railroad rail with a telephone mic as a pickup), and his early "Clunker" and "Log" experiments.

All great points.
I gotta say and im not trying to be weird but when i sit in a chair with this 68 Custom Shop Historic @ 10 lbs 6 oz i can feel it resonate [unplugged] in my nards and no other guitar has done that.
I play with .011 to .050 medium gauge.
Its just incredible.

[Phantasmagoria]

@ Orpheo: I'm not really a Strat or Tele guy either..or PRS for that matter..


I'll play anything, but that does'nt mean I can't tell an awkward to play guitar from one that's built for speed...


Of course , more than anything, in the end it just depends on personal preference & what you're used to..

[SlyFoxx]

Gibson lets you take your guitar home. So there is that.

[Mincer]

I never understood the ergonomics-argument. I think a Les Paul is by far the most comfortable. The way a LP wraps around you, instead of just a cutting board with a pan handle sticking out if it (tele, strat), is so comfortable. The heel, yeah, that one is a clunker but many luthiers, myself included, have corrected that problem.

Well, I think it is different for everyone. For me, the switch and the controls are in a weird place that I can't get used to. One of my favorite guitars I own is a Howard Roberts, which obviously has that 'issue', but I deal with it because it sounds so good.

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

Agree, everyone is different and likes different things
I've always found LPs to just not fit me right. Especially to play a lead part.

But I've grown to like them much more these days. I enjoy their huge sound and compactness. Still don't like the controls.

I've got 2 at over 9lbs and one under 8. I don't notice any one of them sounding more or less thunderous than the others.

Explorers have always fit me the best, not sure I can point to why that is. They feel and play effortlessly.

[Ascension]

If LP's were cars...



It's not (just) that they're heavy. I have heavy guitars I'm fine with (ie,my Raven West @ 11lbs). They're clunky, cumbersome, awkward & have zero ergonomics.


They do often have great tone though...

Yep not to mention the workmanship on many is substandard. Ben many years since I have owned a Les Paul for a reason I just don't enjoy playing them Have seriously looked at a few but in the end they just don't cut it for me as a guitar I want to play. Add they are pretty pricey and there are many other guitars built much much better at lower costs I'll pass.
The last Les Paul I seriously looked at was a white Custom Lite.

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

If I was a really big guy, I would buy one of those 3/4 size guitars so I looked like a giant on stage.

If I was a really small guy, I would get the biggest guitar I could find and hide behind it on stage.

Weight is interesting to me, but because of how it makes the guitar resonate. I have a theory that the heavy ones have a stronger and more piercing treble. Which is probably just what you want if you are using vintage style pickups.

I immediately thought of Mal