Making a guitar Heavier

[Johnny the Kid]

I want to increase the weight on my guitars. I have some old lead bullets that my dad doesn't have a gun for so he gave them to me to use. My SG is easy enough (just put them into the control cavity a la Matt Heafy), but my 335 is a little more difficult due to the fact that it doesn't have a control cavity. What should I do?

 

[Grenade]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

Are you trying get them balanced so they aren't neck heavy? I can understand that, but if you just want to add weight I don't understand it at all. I have a metal resonator that is 13 lbs. and thankfully I only play it on 2 songs. It does make my Les Paul feel light though. If it's for balance, can you fab a weight out of the lead and mount it with the endpin on the semi-hollow body?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

If you compare the majority of Gibson SG variants with the original "Les Paul" model of the same shape, you will notice that the first incarnation of that guitar has a dirty great big chunk of metal attached to the front of it in the form of the Maestro Vibrola. No neck dive!!!

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

pcorn:

 

[Securb]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

Put a bigsby on it that will add a ton of weight.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

The SG I have has a major neck dive, while the Hollowbody has only a slight one. I ended up flattening a couple of the bullets, drilled a couple holes, and screwed them into the cavity underneath the pickups of the hollowbody. Once again, the SG has the control cavity, so after a thorough double checking that the electronics are good, I secured a couple more lead bullets and now no neck dive.

Put a bigsby on it that will add a ton of weight.

I've tried Bigsby's before, and they just don't do it for me. I might add a Stetsbar to them and see how that goes. I've heard you can get more radical whammy bends with them. It wouldn't be bad considering my lead style.

 

[Kam]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

You have bullets inside your guitars?

That's pretty metal.

No pun intended.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

You have bullets inside your guitars?

That's pretty metal.

No pun intended.

Heavy metal bullets. Pun intended.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

What should I do?

Too many smart-assed comments available for this. I can't pick just one.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

Why not just add the weight on the 335 to the strap screw? Get a longer screw and add a stack of big washers there.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

Attach a weight to the guitar strap. Audiences will assume that it is a radio transceiver pack.

The one possible downside is that there is no telling how the extra loading on the strap would affect its contribution to your tone.

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

Do nothing for 30-35 years. At that point the guitar will seem to have almost doubled in weight, and will continue the weight increase for the remainder of your life.

 

[Bfeeney]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

#1 easiest way to add weight without having bullets/washers/screws stuffed in the cavity is go to an automotive service shop (any) and see if you can get some of their sticky wheel weights. They might give you some for free but if not it shouldn't cost more than ~$5. They're divided into 1/4 oz. pieces so you can easily get the weight you want and you just peel & stick, super easy and CLEAN.

 

[kilphody]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

Crusty is wise here.Why do you think Johnny Winter plays that Firebird sitting down? No one adds weight.
Drill some holes and put the EMPTY shells in the holes. Brass to ash. No GP. WTF?

PC

 

[0v3nm4n]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

The reason there is neck dive in 335s and SGs is not because of the neck to body weight distribution, but because of the strap button location. If you look closely, you'll notice that the strap is able to pivot on the button (behind the neck) making it feel 'neck heavy' there are a few solutions to this;

1) Wear the guitar higher
I know I know, It's a very personal thing, but these guitars were not meant to be worn the modern low rider way. they were supposed to be worn close to the chest, locking them in place.

2) get a different strap
a) a leather strap will stick to you better than a nylon one will
b) a strap with eyelets will grip down onto your shoulder better
c) get a weighted strap to counteract the balance

3) relocate the strap button to the upper horn. Lots of players do this (Iommi, BJ Armstrong). Just be sure to drill the hole before you put the screw in.


Good Luck!

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

The reason there is neck dive in 335s and SGs is not because of the neck to body weight distribution, but because of the strap button location. If you look closely, you'll notice that the strap is able to pivot on the button (behind the neck) making it feel 'neck heavy' there are a few solutions to this;

1) Wear the guitar higher
I know I know, It's a very personal thing, but these guitars were not meant to be worn the modern low rider way. they were supposed to be worn close to the chest, locking them in place.

2) get a different strap
a) a leather strap will stick to you better than a nylon one will
b) a strap with eyelets will grip down onto your shoulder better
c) get a weighted strap to counteract the balance

3) relocate the strap button to the upper horn. Lots of players do this (Iommi, BJ Armstrong). Just be sure to drill the hole before you put the screw in.


Good Luck!

You beat me to it. Yes the placement of the strap button contributes a lot to whether or not there is a neck dive. My buddy's ltd explorer has a HUGE body that is heavier than the neck, but there's still a neck dive because of the placement of the strap button. So finding out a good place to put the strap button could fix the balance issue while keeping it easy on your shoulders.

 

[AlexR]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

Don't take your hand off the neck.....that tends to stop the dive pretty well

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

Don't take your hand off the neck.....that tends to stop the dive pretty well

A good guitar should not exert any downward pressure on the fretting hand AT ALL. If you're having to use your fretting hand to hold it up, this will compromise your technique at best, and give you tendinitis at worst.

 

[ganzosrevenge]

Re: Making a guitar Heavier

Wow, it's been a while since I've been here....

Anywho, try replacing all the parts (pots, caps, bridge, tailpiece, etc.,) with stuff from companies like Callaham (Bridge and tailpiece) and RSGW. It's only about 1/2 lb difference between stock and "upgrade", but IMHO, depending on how much "snap" or "bounce" you want, may be just what you need. I put a callaham trem system in my strat and it did make it a little heavier, but it really helped to focus the tonality in the process; win-win!