Advantages of lightweight bodies?

[rspst14]

Other than the obvious benefit of being easier on your back, is there any tonal benefit to using a lightweight body as opposed to a heavier one? Looking around Warmoth's showcase, they have some of their bodies marked as being extra light, usually weighing in at less than 4 pounds. In the past, a lot of players mistakenly believed that heavier guitars had better sustain, now it seems that the trend has shifted towards lighter guitars. What do you guys think, do lighter guitars have any real benefit? Thanks.

Ryan

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Advantages of lightweight bodies?

I can't answer in full detail but one of my favorite tonewoods is basswood. It's lighter, and sustains nice. You can actually feel the strings resonate throughout the body and it has a big fat warm tone. I don't know why more people don't like this wood. A lot of the most expensive pro signature guitars by major manufacturers are made of basswood.

 

[rspst14]

Re: Advantages of lightweight bodies?

I can't answer in full detail but one of my favorite tonewoods is basswood. It's lighter, and sustains nice. You can actually feel the strings resonate throughout the body and it has a big fat warm tone. I don't know why more people don't like this wood. A lot of the most expensive pro signature guitars by major manufacturers are made of basswood.

I agree that basswood sounds awesome, but it's super soft compared to alder, mahogany, korina, etc. Screw holes strip easily, the body dents easily...I would never own another basswood guitar for that reason. Even with normal use, I had to fix most of the screw holes on my Wolfgang because they eventually stripped.

Ryan

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Advantages of lightweight bodies?

I agree that basswood sounds awesome, but it's super soft compared to alder, mahogany, korina, etc. Screw holes strip easily, the body dents easily...I would never own another basswood guitar for that reason. Even with normal use, I had to fix most of the screw holes on my Wolfgang because they eventually stripped.

Ryan

Yeah I don't like that either. Once I get my plans sorted out I'm going to do a custom strat build of sorts. I'm still undecided on the wood for that reason. My next choice would be mahogany but that means heavier and brighter. And I never liked swamp ash.

 

[danglybanger]

Re: Advantages of lightweight bodies?

I saw an article somewhere mentioning that lighter wood sounds better because it has miniature sound chambers or somesuch

here
http://www.lespaulforum.com/gaston.html

(sorry its a bit hard to read

 

[rspst14]

Re: Advantages of lightweight bodies?

I saw an article somewhere mentioning that lighter wood sounds better because it has miniature sound chambers or somesuch

here
http://www.lespaulforum.com/gaston.html

(sorry its a bit hard to read

Interesting, thanks for the link.

 

[Hellion]

Re: Advantages of lightweight bodies?

I'm sure that I'm in the minority, but I like heavier guitars. The ones that are made right resonate, too. You can feel it. However, there does seem to be a school of thought that states that lightweight guitars resonate better than dense materials. I don't know if this is true. Everything affects everything, ya know? I've played lightweight Les Pauls that sounded like crap, and at the same time, own an SG that sustains better than some of the Les Pauls that I've played.

 

[Boston Joe]

Re: Advantages of lightweight bodies?

Generally, I have found that guitars with a little heft to them seem to resonate better than lighter guitars-- probably due to an oscillation and slower decay because of the greater mass. Lighter guitars will project better at times.

Now a guitar that has the mass of lead will at best just sustain-- though some rare examples have some insane resonance.

 

[Mr 9finger]

Re: Advantages of lightweight bodies?

IMO .... it depends on the sonic characteristics of the wood. A block of wood can be acoustically dead regardless of the weight. That's why on alot of high end guitars, the body blanks are tapped for resonance. Unlike your run of the mill production models that are just a few pcs. glued together and milled.

 

[danglybanger]

Re: Advantages of lightweight bodies?

my Schecter is the heaviest Basswood brick ever. It's heavier than any Les Paul I've ever played. The body really isn't that resonant... but it sounds good. All the tone seems to come from the maple neck, which resonates like crazy. But there is no characteristic basswood tone. The wood is tone dead.

My Gibson Paul (SG width, Les Paul body size) is the lightest piece of mahogany I have ever played. (even for its size) It is super resonant and loud unplugged. It sounds great... just like mahogany should IMO

My Alder/Basswood (really don't know) Jaguar is also fairly light (considering) and very resonant.

slade

 

[ex-250]

Re: Advantages of lightweight bodies?

I'm sure that I'm in the minority, but I like heavier guitars. The ones that are made right resonate, too. You can feel it. However, there does seem to be a school of thought that states that lightweight guitars resonate better than dense materials. I don't know if this is true. Everything affects everything, ya know? I've played lightweight Les Pauls that sounded like crap, and at the same time, own an SG that sustains better than some of the Les Pauls that I've played.

i definately prefer heavier guitars too, but it has more to do with the sound (i like giant, heavy, thick tone that you get with 12 lb guitars) more than sustain. plus im a fairly big dude so really light guitars feel way too fragile to me (the main reason i dont own a gibson SG....and why i have an esp viper instead)

 

[mrfjones]

Re: Advantages of lightweight bodies?

i like lighter weight guitars, they seem to be more resonant and if constructed properly they have the sustain of heavy guitars. i have a tele that is no more than 5 1/2 pounds total and it has more sustain than most les pauls i have ever played. it is also very alive, sound just jumps off the guitar. It is for that reason that my single cut being built will be made of light weight mahagony.

 

[Loserchief]

Re: Advantages of lightweight bodies?

my custom B.C rich is about the heaviest thing you can get(one piece roeswood body with complete ebony neck through/my get well above 20 pound) but it just sounds great. it has more sustain than any gibson or fender i've ever played and it's sound(plugged and unplugged) is just pumping with energy. In general i'm more the guy for heavy guitars but i'm quite big and muscular so i'm used to it. I don#t really like it when a guitar is so light that you don't even fell it. I once played the satriani sig of a friend and it's like lifting a feather and i'm somehow missing a bit of substance on guitar like this.