"Ideal guitar weight"???

[DeltyVQ]

I've been pondering over a build these past few months and since Roasted Swamp Ash has been added into the mix I've been intrigued, and a few questions have came up in my mind involving guitar weight.

I was thinking about creating a chambered roasted swamp ash strat with a roasted maple neck. See, since I'm relatively to this world I was wondering if there's a point when a guitar can become 'uncomfortably light' and even when they begin 'uncomfortably heavy'?

also.. what would your ideal (strat) guitar weight be?.. if you're lucky enough to be able to sample different guitars with varying weights that is.

 

[musicispeace]

Personally, I like Fender platform guitars to be between 7 and 8 pounds. 7 ish feels good to me. I don't own a Les Paul (or one of the better copies of such) because I don't want to deal with a 10 to 12 pound guitar. That is my subjective preference. As far as how light can you go? I don't know if any specs have been published but when you look at Billy Gibbons and his custom made "Gibson" LP style guitars that are chambered not only in the body but also in the neck and headstock, I would imagine they are pretty darn light. I personally would not worry about where you may end up on the lite end. the goal is a guitar that sounds like you want and feels like you want. If I was doing such a project, as long as I was not courting neck dive I wouldn't lose a lick of sleep if I ended up with a five pound guitar.

 

[Cagey]

Yeah, 7 pounds seems to be about as good as it gets. It's tough to get them much lighter than that. I've got a Tele here that only weighs 6.5, and some of the Basswood EVH fiddles I've picked up at Guitar Center feel like they're in that range, but that would be unusually light. There's a certain amount of metal in an electric that you just can't get rid of, and I'd bet that comes in around 3 pounds. Take that off a typical electric, and you'd be around 4 pounds, which is about what an acoustic weighs.

It's funny how much just a couple/few pounds will terrorize your shoulder/back, though. Even with wider load-spreading straps, if you're used to playing a 7lb. Strat and have to use a 10lb. Les Paul for an evening, you'll feel seriously abused by the end of the night  :laughing7:

 

[line6man]

Weight isn't a factor to me, at all, unless the balance of the instrument comes into question.

 

[AutoBat]

I like heavy guitars. My strat is my favorite (had it since 95-96) and is easily over 13lbs. I've never picked up a heavier one than my own. Adding a Mahogany '59 Roundback to it with locking Schallers probably only improved its awesomeness.

My Jazz Bass is my lightest stringed instrument. VIP being in the middle (and hollow body)