Do you like your guitars heavy or light?

[muttznmongrelz]

Put my ‘83 Kramer Pacer Deluxe with Center Joined Maple Body and ‘16 Warmoth Hellacaster with one piece Northern Ash Body on a digital scale as they’re both heavy guitars and I’ve been curious about the weight for some time. I’ve jokingly referred to the Warmoth as my “Ten Pound Tele”....well...turns out it wasn’t a joke...10 lb 9.6 oz. The Pacer Deluxe wasn’t far off at a dead even 10 lbs.

Where do your guitars fall weight wise and what is your preference...heavy as a Chevy or light as a feather?

 

[PS412]

I'm not a fussy guy. Heavy/ light, thick/thin neck, scale lengths. If it's mechanically sound I like it.

 

[elelpe]

Max 8.5 lbs for me. Or slightly below 4 kg. The lighter the better. I've sold my heavy guitars.

 

[PFDarkside]

There’s something about super light guitars that feels cheap to me, kind of like a bottom of the barrel import guitar. After that point I used to think of heavier guitars as “more substantial” but now that I’ve played many more I’m pretty much good with anything. If I ever get this next build off the ground, I’ll probably spec an ultralight body to offset the hardware, specifically the Floyd Rose.

 

[solspirit]

My lp is 10.2 and my strats are between 8.5 and 9.5. Like the weight of the strats as well as the ergonomics.

 

[beaubrummels]

I like playing light guitars, but love the sound of heavy guitars. Sometimes, with a bit of wiring and some hardware changes, I can get a light guitar to sound like a heavy guitar, then it's ideal.

 

[GuitarStv]

I've owned and am happy to play both. I use a much wider strap with the heavy ones though.

 

[ErikH]

Light. Anything heavier than 9lbs and I'm not going to be comfortable. My Les Paul is 9lbs, Kramer Baretta is 8lbs and the rest are 7.5lbs or lighter. I use a 2.5" strap with the Les Paul and it does make it much more comfortable.

 

[UnderTheFlame83]

Don't really matter all that much but if I had my choice it would be 7 to 8lbs. Depends on the guitar. Anything over 8 usually requires a wider padded strap for me.

 

[astrozombie]

Maybe I’ve gotten used to my guitar in particular but these days I feel a heavier guitar suits me best for some reason.


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[Mincer]

As light as possible. Just over 6lbs is my current favorite. Anything heavier, I just won't play.

 

[Securb]

Doesn't matter I am chasing tone. If an anvil with a neck on it got the sound I wanted I would strap it on. That being said I play anything from Parkers to Les Pauls.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Mine vary by quite a bit. I've always felt that a light guitars need less volume to come alive when playing amplified.
That said, some of my heavier guitars sound great.

These days I can't play anything much over 9½ lbs comfortably (when standing) for more than a couple of songs.

I have six that are under 7 lbs: a Parker Fly, a Mockingbird, a Les Paul Special, a korina Moderne, an Esquire, and a korina McCarty.
And a few under 7½: an Ibanez PJ bass, a Tyler Studio Custom, a bubinga Showmaster, two Teles, two Strats, a DGT and a Starla.

My favorite Les Paul is 8¼ lbs, but all my Standards & Customs fall between 7¾ and 9½, except for an OrvileByGibson that's nearly ten.
I'm thinking about setting that one up with heavier strings as a dedicated slide axe, for a few songs at a time.

My heaviest is a '72 Ibanez lawsuit Jazz Bass that tips the scales at 12 lbs even. It's a tone monster but I don't play it much anymore.
Back in the 80s & 90s doing gigs as a hired gun I could play it for a whole show.

 

[Snake Aces]

The lighter, the better these days. My back wins that argument 10 times out of 10.

 

[Mincer]

More important than weight to me (which is pretty important), is balance. I hate unbalanced instruments.

 

[ehdwuld]

My favorites are the lighter ones
they are just the ones that get picked up the most

My heaviest one is my Dean Shire at 9.5 lbs
It also is the only true semihollow and has the piezo bridge

I love the sound I get with that one

 

[alex1fly]

My view on this is that whatever gets you playing is a good thing.

I didn't care until I live gigged a 12 lb Jazz Bass and was in pain after every rehearsal and show. So I got a 7.5 lb model instead and lo and behold, they sounded pretty darn similar.

Then I picked up a used 6.5 lb Gibson SG from Guitar Center this year. Yes, GC typically stinks, but this guitar was the warmest, most toneful piece of wood I'd ever played, so it came home with me. I am now spoiled and chasing this lightweight PRS Santana SE around my music room. It's not that I mind playing heavier guitars, but the lighter an instrument, the fewer barriers to me picking it up and playing these days. Acoustic guitars are like, 2-3 lbs, so even a jump to an 8 lb electric feels like a big jump. I don't care about the weight when playing live, but practicing at home I do notice it and have been preferring the light weight. Yes, my two light electric guitars and my lightweight bass guitar feel a little toy-like, but better to play a toy than to not play a toneful anvil.

 

[GreatOz]

Lighter for me, but a guitar being heavier (10lbs/~4.5kg and heavier) on it's own won't necessarily keep me from playing it either. My two favorites are light and medium weight respectively; the lighter one is a semi-hollow PRS and the other is a chambered Warmoth Strat-like.

 

[Adieu]

Light weight, much like good ergonomics, is preferred... but can be ignored for the right sound or feel or a good deal on something well-made

 

[muttznmongrelz]

Light weight, much like good ergonomics, is preferred... but can be ignored for the right sound or feel or a good deal on something well-made

Amen to that.