CVS
Not so new member
I have a spruce HB as well - & it is my lightest guitar. Thanks for "weighing in" on this subject and the data. On the other end, I am pretty sure that my 594 is my heaviest guitar.
Is weight a deal breaker?
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Outlier22
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Derek Trucks says the opposite. He says light guitars sound better -
Squirrel
New Member
I'm wondering if it's a particular piece of wood that "speaks" as Derek puts it. Doesn't Gibson use mahogany for the SG? Maybe some pieces of mahogany sound better than others? I don't know - I'm just asking questions.
I've had my SE Standard 24 for a few weeks now, and it sure speaks - just simple construction, it looks like 2 pieces of mahogany, straight grain.
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Yup....and Billy Gibbons agrees with him too. I don't however.
The immediacy I was talking about is "bark". I've never heard an SG "bark" like a Les Paul....FWIW I've owned both since the 70's too.
I think an SG can sound great. Sound better???? That means a lot of things depending on who you ask.
Peertwelve
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This is an interesting thread. My 2018 core 594 just weighed in an ounce shy of 7lbs. It is by far the most “alive” feeling unplugged guitar I have ever owned. I bought it because i could feel it ringing through the back. I wonder if lightness helps with resonance. Most in this thread suggest that a heavy guitar is more resonant. Could the opposite be true? Lighter guitar makes it easier for the strings to get the whole thing vibrating? If that’s true, maybe a heavier one sustains longer / resonates less (since the strings lose less energy to a heavier body)? Not a physicist, just wondering. Maybe I will buy the heaviest one I can find for some productive A/B testing
SinSir
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Thinking outload on this one.. behavior unplugged wouldn't necessarily be the same plugged or vice versa. Above got me thinking about it. Less wood or meat as they say to travel through should naturally give me more feeling on the other side but does that translate the same to output through the amp?
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Peertwelve
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Exactly right. “Resonance” needs a proper definition here. I don’t understand how much the physical vibrations of a guitar would change the electrical sound of the guitar. When I read “resonance” earlier in this thread, I thought of the soundboard of an acoustic guitar. That is the lightest part ; in order to produce resonance / volume. That is why I questioned others suggesting that a heavier guitar is ‘more resonant’. Maybe they meant that heavier guitars produce better amplified tone?
GuitarJammin
Guitar Player
76lb all brass guitar.
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Alnus Rubra
Loving nature’s wonders
An April fools prank or for real?
If it’s for real, no danger of “neck dive” on this baby!!
If it’s for real, no danger of “neck dive” on this baby!!
GuitarJammin
Guitar Player
It's real and has a 25" scale!
https://reverb.com/item/11464-1979-...tist-2622-guitar-one-of-a-kind-and-functional
https://reverb.com/item/11464-1979-...tist-2622-guitar-one-of-a-kind-and-functional
Alnus Rubra
Loving nature’s wonders
I wonder if Hulk, Thor or Superman are on Reverb!
Drlepp
New Member
I’d say personally I have a preference for lighter guitars. I’ve got a crappy Japanese Fender Mustang, which is really light. Pick-ups are crap, overall build quality is sub par but it rings like a bell and it’s loads of fun to play. My Cu24 is about right in weight, not too light to feel like a toy but light enough to feel like a quality item.
11top
Cousin Eddie's cousin
At Gibson Custom in Nashville, they have the mahogany bodies precut and stacked in a specific area. Every one has been weighed and labeled. They add a fairly hefty upcharge for an extra light piece. One could tap on them for tone, but weight is the real reason they are categorized.
aphantomvaper
Bend it to the Owl!
This all like, my opinion man.
There are many factors to this, weight is a factor for the player and not necessarily for the guitar to sound good.
The wood is important, the humidity in the wood is important, the parallel surfaces (which can cause frequency cancellation) is a factor. Until my recent foray into the PRS world I never thought about wood resin crystals, and that is a huge factor!
Basically if you can get the string to oscillate well and have its flow up and down the fretboard uninterrupted it will acoustically sound good. Once the string has this factor working right, the pickups become transmitters for the strings. Magnets and metal strings interact and dampen so that is another factor that must be worked out.
IMHO if the string can resonate acoustically and the pickups are "right" it will sound good. So many factors can affect this, as we know, that two guitars made right after the other can be vastly different.
We've seen JJ Cale with his Harmony, Willie and Trigger. Sometimes it's, WTF how can that sound good?
Great thread! Love the Brass Guitar, its like a Tuba!
There are many factors to this, weight is a factor for the player and not necessarily for the guitar to sound good.
The wood is important, the humidity in the wood is important, the parallel surfaces (which can cause frequency cancellation) is a factor. Until my recent foray into the PRS world I never thought about wood resin crystals, and that is a huge factor!
Basically if you can get the string to oscillate well and have its flow up and down the fretboard uninterrupted it will acoustically sound good. Once the string has this factor working right, the pickups become transmitters for the strings. Magnets and metal strings interact and dampen so that is another factor that must be worked out.
IMHO if the string can resonate acoustically and the pickups are "right" it will sound good. So many factors can affect this, as we know, that two guitars made right after the other can be vastly different.
We've seen JJ Cale with his Harmony, Willie and Trigger. Sometimes it's, WTF how can that sound good?
Great thread! Love the Brass Guitar, its like a Tuba!
Slowhands
New Member
I generally played SGs, initially because that's what I could afford back in high school but over time I learned to love the light weight and that became a part of my preference for guitars in general. I developed a bad left shoulder and that sealed it. I had to sell my old 9 pound boat anchor strat a while back because it just destroyed my shoulder. So my deal breaker weight threshold became 8lbs. Afterwards I came across my PRS Custom 24 being sold locally for cheap so I decided to finally have a PRS. I've been loving it for nearly a year now but whenever I take it off a stand I think 'man, this is heavy'. Then I put it on my shoulder and it's fine. So it must be a lot lighter than that 9 lb Strat that was agony, right?
Only half a pound lighter? I mean, isn't that really heavy for a thin bodied PRS? I've had Les Pauls that weighed less! Well for whatever reason that half pound makes all the difference; where my 9 pound strat was agony this PRS feels perfectly comfortable on the strap. So my threshold is now 8 pounds 8.3 ounces, under the right circumstances.
Only half a pound lighter? I mean, isn't that really heavy for a thin bodied PRS? I've had Les Pauls that weighed less! Well for whatever reason that half pound makes all the difference; where my 9 pound strat was agony this PRS feels perfectly comfortable on the strap. So my threshold is now 8 pounds 8.3 ounces, under the right circumstances.
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Slowhands
New Member
I wonder if Trucks is thinking of how it rings out accoustically? SGs can be loud when played unamplified. My first SG, an early '60s model, was LOUD played off the amp and after owning half a dozen SGs including heavy as hell '70s ones I've found that for SGs, the lighter the louder (acoustically). I think it's so thin that the body vibrates more than most other guitar designs. If that's right than Trucks' comment may be specific to SGs.
Outlier22
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yeah it kind of sounded like he was talking about SG's but I took that as he thinks it applies to all guitars. I would think if a lighter SG vibrates more unplugged than a lighter anything would. But before I heard him say this, I never gave weight a second thought in relation to tone. I did always however prefer a lighter guitar. But not for tone or sustain, just for the weight / comfort of it. I still doubt I could tell the difference between two exact guitars with the same pickups but with different weights. I'm not saying others can't tell the difference. I'm just guessing I couldn't.
docteurseb
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I seem to gravitate towards 7-8lbs guitar, it's mostly about how they balance when playing sitting in the lap, or standing with a strap.
Past 9lbs it tends to be too heavy to my liking for playing standing and I don't even look at those anymore.
When sitting I dislike a "butt-heavy" guitar where you constantly have your arm fighting to prevent it from falling on the floor. That's been my experience with most LPs with lightweight vintage-style tuners once they're 8.5lbs or more; whereas with heavy tuners even a 9-9.5lbs guitar can still feel balanced.
Playing standing with a strap it's more neck heavens I'm wary of which can happen happen with say a 7.5lbs-8lbs LP (chambered typically) if it has heavy locking tuners.
Past 9lbs it tends to be too heavy to my liking for playing standing and I don't even look at those anymore.
When sitting I dislike a "butt-heavy" guitar where you constantly have your arm fighting to prevent it from falling on the floor. That's been my experience with most LPs with lightweight vintage-style tuners once they're 8.5lbs or more; whereas with heavy tuners even a 9-9.5lbs guitar can still feel balanced.
Playing standing with a strap it's more neck heavens I'm wary of which can happen happen with say a 7.5lbs-8lbs LP (chambered typically) if it has heavy locking tuners.
