Questions for a light guitar

[jeb]

Hi folks! Long story short, I have arthrosis problems, my fretting hand, arm and shoulder get bad during long gigs. So I need a light guitar to get going. My main axe is a silhouette special from music man. That guitar is really comfortable but she's almost 8lbs. I found that I can get a suhr modern satin at 6.5 lbs or even lower. But!! Before putting that kind of money on a guitar, I would love to give a fair try to warmoth.

My idea is to use a soloist body with all the possible contours with an all roasted maple unfinished neck. For the body, I'm thinking about asking an ultra light black korina body or a ultra light roasted swamp ash body. Any choice will have a black burst satin finish.

I'm pretty sure that both body with the roasted neck will sound an look awesome. I'm also sure that the soloist body will be comfortable. But do you have an idea what body will be lighter?

Thanks for the help!
Jeb

 

[rgand]

Have you looked at the 7/8 size Strat bodies? Here's one in extra light roasted swamp ash that weighs 3lbs 0 oz.

 

[rgand]

There's also a roasted swamp ash Musiclander that weighs 2lbs 8oz.

 

[mayfly]

As Mr. Gand has suggested, I'd keep a sharp eye on the showcase and grab a super light body in your style of choice when it appears.  It's the only way to ensure of the exact weight.

 

[mayfly]

oh!  and your hardware will make a surprising difference as well.  Keep an eye on weights there as you're making your selections.

 

[Cagey]

Ash and Korina are both fairly heavy woods.

One thing to consider is that body wood on electric guitars has nowhere near the same contribution to sound as it does on acoustics. It's minimal, at best. So, unless you have a deep-rooted desire for the appearance of the woods you mentioned, you could consider some other wood species. Basswood, for example, is inherently light. Alder usually is, too. Another neat trick is chambering. It's typically worth about a 25% weight reduction with little or no effect on sound.

 

[Fat Pete]

oh!  and your hardware will make a surprising difference as well.  Keep an eye on weights there as you're making your selections.

Definitely - and go for a hardtail if you don't really need a trem - most weight a pound or so and a Floyd could be 1.5 lb+.

Black korina/limba is heavier on average than 'swamp' ash, but there's massive variation so, as already mentioned, check the showcase.

 

[bagman67]

The Velocity is a nice, small body, too, and can be configured for 25.5" or 24.75" scale if you prefer either of those standards.  Chambering will make it even lighter, as Cagey mentioned.

If you want a somewhat larger body, the Mooncaster is semi-hollow so it is quite light for its size.  Played one last week and it's very comfortable.  Quite a bit smaller than the Fender Starcaster body it is based on.

If you really want to save weight, I agree that a hard tail (either flat mounted or a wraparound TOM) will save a lot of grams. 


Also consider Hipshot open back tuners or similar, if you can live without locking machines, and plastic tuner buttons instead of metal.  And if you're a humbucker guy, consider, also, single-coil-sized humbuckers instead of full-sized, for still more savings.

So many ways to shave a guitar's weight down...

 

[rob91bob]

http://www.warmoth.com/Showcase/ShowcaseItem.aspx?Body=2&Shape=1&Path=Stratocaster&hollow=179&i=PS12717#.WnTEsGeWzIU

Nice 3 lb chambered body

 

[bagman67]

This ultralight Velocity bod went up today.

2.2 lbs.!

That's  pretty dang light.

 

[rgand]

This ultralight Velocity bod went up today.

2.2 lbs.!

That's  pretty dang light.

You'll be hard pressed to get one lighter than that. The Velocity is a cool body shape, too.

 

[swarfrat]

That's the lightest body currently in the showcase. Runner ups - Soloist 2 lbs 11oz, Thinline - 2lbs 11 oz.