light guitars
 

hello im looking to buy another guitar. i have a fender strat and the reason i want to replace it is because it's a bit too heavy for me. im a little guy so im looking for lighter guitar. i believe the weight of my strat is roughly 10 lbs. if anyone has any suggestions on lighter guitars it would be appreciated. :)

A strat, heavy?

Do yourself a favor and never buy a Les Paul.

The majority of Ibanez are fairly light, but there is a ratio between the density of a guitar's body wood and the quality of it's tone/sustain. Maybe a semi-hollowbody would work out well with you, like a Fender Tele Thinline or an Epiphone Sheraton just to name a couple random models out of many that are out there.

+1

Also, OP, how exactly is the weight affecting you? Through the strap digging in? If so, you could always buy a wide, padded strap which will help A LOT.

One of the bands I was in a long while back, our guitarist actually used a Les Paul onstage and he'd have bruises by the end of the gig... he switched straps to a superwide padded strap and it helped alleviate most of his problems... but when comparing a Les Paul to a Fender, I'd say you'd be more successful in that realm if that's the issue behind your inquiry.

well after 30 min of practicing standing up, my neck and shoulder start to hurt.

Well I won't deny that the downward pressure is still going to happen whether you have a thin strap or a wide one, but I'd suggest changing straps before changing guitars, first, as a mater of cost and experimentation.

Consider a Danelectro. I have a 56-U2 and everyone is shocked at how light it is. I'm not sure of the actually weight since I've never weighed it but they're apparently around 6 lbs. The actions great and it's just plain sexy. Mines one of the first reissues from the early 2000s or late 90s with the wooden bridge. The newer models and the black necked reissues are quite a bit heavier.

As stated, a wider/padded strap will do you wonders.

what kind of posture do you use?

are you slouching forward? one foot in front of the other? do you move a lot when you practice or just stand still? how low do you keep the guitar (chest / waist / knees)? do you have osteoporosis or scoliosis?

if a strat on a strap is causing you pain in your neck and shoulder within a half hour i'm pretty sure the problem isn't the guitar. you either have weak bones and a complete lack of upper body strength or you're posing/grooving in a way that the full weight of the instrument + the force of whatever movement is being channeled and focused onto your collarbone.

as said many times before a wider strap could alleviate some of the issues, same with a minor vertical adjustment (upwards). really though, the average strat is about 8 pounds, something is not right if that minimal of a weight is causing major issues.

^ I've found especially that a low slung guitar causes me more neck problems after a while than if I sling it higher up where I'm not straining to achieve a natural strum. So that's definitely another consideration that ties into what you've said.

Overall, the OP should consider low cost solutions like the strap, and experiment with posture like you said, and experiment with sling height before choosing to buy a whole new guitar.

If you want light get an Sg style. They are like your holding nothing.

meh... SGs are super neck heavy.

As said above, strats are not heavy guitars. Some (A lot of) les pauls weigh twice as much as the average strat.

I would take the advice and either work on building up a bit, get a wider strap with a bit of padding, change your stance, and hike the guitar up. Or of course you could do all of these things. If you look around, there are plenty of very very slightly built guys using les pauls with no issues, and strats too.

The absolute LAST place I would look to make a change is in the guitar, since for one, they don't really get much lighter, and for two, the weight of a guitar has a VERY big effect on its tone and sustain. Theres a very good reason les pauls are so heavy, and its because that helps it sustain, and gives it that big, full character in the tone.

The only way to get good sustain out of a light guitar, is to build it as a maple neckthru, which makes its body heavier anyway, and then to give it basswood wings. This is all well and good but you'll find the resulting guitar is almost unusable because its so incredibly BRIGHT. It'll be like playing a guitar made of a swarm of bees itll be so harsh in the treble.

Edit - Also, light woods like basswood are VERY easy to damage. If you pick up an old ibanez from the 80s made of basswood, and look at the tremolo posts, you'll probably notice the holes those studs sit in, aren't perfectly round anymore, the stud will have moved forward slightly because the wood is so soft it can't take the ~200lbs of tension the strings put on the guitar. THe exceptions to this is if the guitar has been strung with very light guage strings for a long time, but that only makes the guitar more and more bright, increases the risk of string breakage, and generally thins out the tone, so you'll probably find thats not for you.

Lol
 

sorry to laugh!

you need to get a heavy guitar, practise more often standing up.
and stop being a p*ssy.
not trying to be mean, but it has to be said.
look at the size of Angus Young and the way he goes at it on stage.
an SG is not heavy but heavier than a strat. also i've seen Angus
manage a 335 on stage, and that guitar was almost bigger than him.

Sorry to laugh!

You need to get a hello kitty guitar, practice more often not sucking.
and stop being a w*nker.
Not trying to be mean, but it has to be said.
Look at the size of John Petrucci and the way he goes at it onstage.
An IBZ Petrucci is not heavy but lighter than a strat. Also I've seen petrucci
manage a musicman onstage, and that guitar is much smaller than him.

ok sheraton you don't have to be an ass. angus young is short but maybe 150 lbs?? somewhere around there, im barely pushing 105 lbs. angus young is a professional...i am not.
Anyways i still replaced my strat (sold it to my brother) for an Ibanez RG series, for the fact that i play more metal, and its more suited for that genre. It weighs the same as the strat but i got a wider cushioned strap...helps alot!! thanks guys for the advice. :)

How can someone think to be an ass for a question like this? This is a truly legitimate question for someone getting into guitar, and one I had myself when first starting out.

****ing attention whores.

Anyways, seems like all the good advice has been said. Stick to what people posted here, stratkid, and you can't go wrong.

sounds good. GB will be pleased to learn that there's a new Ibanez player on the site :thumb:

we're happy to answer any other questions as they arise (even if we sometimes seem a little rough around the edges with some replies).

Ibanez? Oh yes.

Though admittedly, I'm runnin further and further towards 'I NEED A CUSTOM', as opposed to being excited by the ibbys these days.

Though the new, European/Japanese only RGA427 looks very nice indeed...

GB, how do you feel about this interview?

i know you're addressing GB but there's so little of that interview that doesn't resonate 100% within me it's eerie. most definitely in regards to forging your own sound and wow is he ever spot on when he starts talking Hendrix.

Word. Homme is one of my idols because of the way he looks at the music he makes.

My only problem with homee is that he's a smart guy but that his way of looking at things is 'Smart guy, but without having taken the time to look at the higher thinkers opinions'

As in, he's taken the correct conclusions from analysis of popular opinions, but he's not aware of academic attitudes to things that he's talking about, where the philosophical and sociological aspects of what he's saying are put under intense scrutiny.

Which in the end, leads to him saying some things that I can only agree with on the basis of understanding that sometimes, the value in a statement is only there in context, not in an empirical way. For example, theres no such thing as an 'authentic' artist. But a lot of genres rely on that concept, like folk. The value isn't in the idea that folk fans have found the truth, but the idea that folk fans common attitude is easily picked apart, but still IS the truth in that context.

i just liked the music he made. this is actually only like the 2nd interview i've seen / read with him. my attitude was to draw indirect influence from his style as a way of developing my own rather than repeat my earlier methods with trying to be just like Frusciante and Hendrix by reading an absorbing absolutely everything possible.

as he said - to learn from the idea without getting hooked on the example.

What can I say, I'm a university student, I'm taught to think like this.

In his defense I this was an on the spot interview. I certainly wouldn't be able to formulate a terrific answers and take ALL perspectives into account minutes before playing a sold out show.

ps. Whats your take on Shecter guitars?

Someone bought me a light guitar and I have it stood on the desk next to my computer. It's more of an ornament really I reckon cos it gives off very little light, and it's a pinkish purple color ?

However, I can use it for hours with no back ache unlike my favourite actual guitar, my Godin Solidac which is wonderful but pretty heavy.

Godin guitars are a gift from god. I have never seen a company put so much work into there craftsmanship process.

I was never into ibby's. When I walked into guitar center I was set on buying a jackson. when I finally picked one up and started to play it, it didnt feel right to me. It felt like pieces of wood slapped together with some strings. Maybe because they were the cheaper jacksons. I tried just about every guitar in there, when I finally got to this Ibanez I have, I was like "WOW this feels so good to me" and it was in my price range so it was a no brainer. :)

Iv learned that one should never be deadest on anything. That just increases your chance of buying what you dont like.

nice specifications, poor execution. I'm sure they make some fantastic axes, and to be honest, most of my gripes with them are usually down to setup or my nitpicky personal preferences. Set up well, and with a less sticky finish on the neck, they're great. If you've never encountered 'sticky neck' syndrome before, you'll probably like them just fine.

I have a Patrick Eggle New York and apart from my nylon string classical, it's by far the lightest guitar I've played. Wow, sounds and plays good too.
Like I mentioned earlier, the guitar I use most by a long way is the Godin Solidac. This guitar is so versatile and can sound like nearly anything, including a great immitation acoustic sound.

It does weigh a ton and yes, I get back ache sometimes. Thing is to move around, try different strap lengths and a good wide strap should help quite a bit. I can put up with some back ache as long as the guitar sounds and plays well. I don't even notice usually to the morning after..

Take care, Gordon.:p:

I'd say strats are pretty dang light compared to others. I always have my guitar pretty high so I don't slouch. Also, if it's just a bit heavy, take the pain and build some muscle for that beauty. I don't think a new guitar will do much.