Really does the weight of the body effect one?

[Ronkirn]

While it is true, the weight of a body will effect the tone, this is within the context that anything you change will alter the tone… with “alter” being the key word. Remember, just because you change something doesn’t automatically mean the change was to the better.

This Lighter = better, plays in concert with the, now defunct adage that said Heavier = better, and both echo the precision of highly touted proclamations, such as the 70’ declarations that stated there would be a global famine by 2000, another ice age by 1995 > perhaps they were talking about the Pixar movie)… there would also be a world wide oil shortage, by 1990, and for some religions, the end of the world itself in 2012.

Just goes to show… nobody knows shi* about anything...…. Just go play your gawddamm guitar and have fun doing it.

Ron Kirn

[Redline Redneck]

The largest single variable affecting the tone of any guitar is your desire to express yourself while playing it.

The rest is all message board chatter.

[benderb9]

I have more heavy guitars than I want to think about, not purposefully mind you...it just worked out that way. My Teles made of ash and yellow pine weigh as much as my Les Paul and don't seem to be played as much as I get older and more decrepit. They seem to ring longer when strumed than some of my other instruments, but is that important when playing electric? Probably the smaller part of the equation and an insignificant part at that. They're just really nice, well constructed guitars that happen to weigh more than I'd want to shoulder for longer than an hour or two at a time. What REALLY helps is as much brass in your componets as possible including a bell brass plate for the back of your headstockopps that was another mis-direct in 'The Search for Tone' hosted by Leonard Nimoy

[Telepi]

Definitely, the weight of the body effects how one feels and looks.
Heavy ones look bigger. And lighter ones look smaller.
So, I have to go with, Yes.
(I haven't even had my first cup of coffee yet.
It's going to be a great day. I can feel it).

[AndyLowry]

Thinlines sound pretty good. Just ask Tab Benoit. Wearing the finish off apparently helps, too.

[Abu Twangy]

I was a gigging musician during the days of "heavy is better" --the '70s. Some heavy stuff did sound better, some worse. I once owned a pretty natural ash '73 Strat. It was a great player but didn't sound as good as its backup--a cheap lightweight Cameo strat clone

If heavy was so good that would make late '70's Fenders and Gibsons the most desirable because they ran toward the heavy side.

[Chet Johnson]

Originally Posted by jmiles

IMO, sustain is only a small part of "tone."

I agree. I believe that the density of the wood could affect both sustain and the weight. Sustain is a very great thing, but the type of pickups, and pickup height will affect tone of a solid body guitar more than anything.

[sacrificetravis]

Originally Posted by Ronkirn

While it is true, the weight of a body will effect the tone, this is within the context that anything you change will alter the tone… with “alter” being the key word. Remember, just because you change something doesn’t automatically mean the change was to the better.

This Lighter = better, plays in concert with the, now defunct adage that said Heavier = better, and both echo the precision of highly touted proclamations, such as the 70’ declarations that stated there would be a global famine by 2000, another ice age by 1995 > perhaps they were talking about the Pixar movie)… there would also be a world wide oil shortage, by 1990, and for some religions, the end of the world itself in 2012.

Just goes to show… nobody knows shi* about anything...…. Just go play your gawddamm guitar and have fun doing it.

Ron Kirn

Well said sir! Well said. You are a man of great talent and great wisdom.


Honestly it doesn't matter heavier or lighter. Just play the crap out of it and enjoy... there's so much time wasted searching for magic fairy dust to make things sound better when it all depends on the player. If u play sloppy its gonna sound sloppy.

[bananafist]

When one is very old, decrepit even, and conditions like arthritis, back problems, muscle weakness, etc.,etc play their part - yes, the weight of a guitar can affect one.
If you mean affect tone, I'd say maybe, but I've heard killer sounds coming from both lightweight and heavier guitars. I don't believe it affects sustain nearly as much as some people think - but YMMV.

Pretty old (but still gigging)

[Arbiter]

I have a good sounding eleven pound guitar and a GREAT sounding 5.5 pound guitar. I don't think weight has a damn thing to do with it.

Body resonance, on the other hand, matters a great deal. And I've found resonant bodies both on the very light and very heavy end on the scale.

As some others here have noted, once you end up on the wrong side of 40, the weight starts to matter for physical reasons. I no longer enjoy playing heavy guitars.

[Wrong-Note Rod]

Originally Posted by motorfin

And thats all they are, just my thoughts. I'm not a techy. I don't pay alot of attention to stats or trends. Meaning I'm not qualified for any sort of technical explanation on the physics. I'm an old school guy with"old" being the key word. I play thru an old marshall half stack with no pedals at all. I have more than a dozen guitars and the heavier ones, as a genearal rule, have a much better sustain rate than the lighter guitars. Easier to get the crunch.I can adjust the amp to accomadate the lighter guitars, but they take more gain to get the sustain. As far as tone, they all get great tone. Just easier to coax the sustain with the heavier instruments. The heavier, the easier. Again, just my thoughts based on my experiences with MY instruments.

Pretty much my experience too. My heavier guitars sustain better than my lighter ones, and seem to have a bit more bass in the overall sound. Sure you can set the amp to compensate with a lighter guitar, and I usually do.

[fender4life]

Originally Posted by palpark07650

I find it hard to believe. Your Thoughts?

I find it easy to believe. Why? Because for decades i've built fender style guitars and swapped parts a million times. I have many times taken a fender and replaced the body only with EVERYTHING else remaining the same and the tone always changes to one degree or another. Often night and day different. It will change the guitar's basic voice where pickups really don't. It's the same as with a human voice....you can speak thru any microphone and it will always sound like you, and those who know your voice will recognize you thru ANY mic instantly. The wood (including it's weight and type) and the design are what cause a guitar to sound different from the next. Both have a huge influence on what that guitar's basic voice will be. The reason you are confused about this is you are missing this very important point....the wood and design cause that certain tone each guitar has IN THE WAY THE STRING VIBRATES. That vibrational pattern IS the guitars tonal fingerprint, each guitars being unique to one degree or another. The pickup senses that. The only reason you don't notice the difference till it's amplified is that difference is acoustically tiny and not obvious to your ears. Once amplified what you are hearing is that unique tone amplified to where you can hear the differences in the way the string vibrates due to the wood and design. The pickup WILL change some things. It can change the gain and EQ curve, but again the human voice can be recorded with any mic and it will change those things but you'll still recognize it's your buddy Joe's voice because the mic can't change the BASIC TONAL CHARACTER of his voice, which is created by his vocal chords the same way a guitar's voice is created by the wood and design and how they cause the strings to vibrate.

Granted, weight it less an influence than type or design, but it's still influential if not as much.

[KenH]

Anyone have an O-scope?

[Arbiter]

Originally Posted by KenH

Anyone have an O-scope?

Yes. What's the source? Signal out from the output jack of the guitar? Signal from the speaker? What kind of amp are we using, if we're measuring from the speaker?

Effects or no?

What are we measuring? Just sustain? Total frequency output with overtones? Sustain with overtones? Which overtones, the ones within human hearing range or the ones we can't hear but that folks think give psychoacoustic cues?

Measuring things doesn't help unless you know what you are measuring and why.

[IPLAYLOUD]

If you meant "one", well, I'm 52 and my back ain't what it was.
Lighter is appreciated. ;-)

I read once that Mark Farner had some very bad spine problems, and the Parker Fly was a God-send to him.

[hemingway]

Seems to me that a well-made guitar with solid connections for the strings will potentially sound good. A guitar made of crummy wood could still fall into that category. So could a very light guitar, like a Steinberger.

But a badly made guitar with a wobbly bridge and loose connections is going to dissipate string vibrations all over the place.

Get/keep your instrument in as good shape as possible and you should do okay.

[Arbiter]

Originally Posted by hemingway

So could a very light guitar, like a Steinberger.

Bad of me, but I can't ever let this slide. One of the heaviest instruments I've ever played much less owned is my L-2 Steinberger bass.

That's still the case even though they are chambered! Mine's just under 10 pounds. You'd never know it by putting it on; the strap pivot is a work of phenomenal genius and spreads the weight evenly all across your body, so even though it weighs more than any of my guitars you feel it a lot less. But the all-carbon versions are heavy as hell.

Not the case with the wood copies and the Synapse.

[Mur]

The weight, if heavy, could effect one's shoulder. As for tone and dynamics, weight is one factor that effects these things. Definitely.

[Elias Graves]

Originally Posted by KenH

This might be better than the Hatfields and McCoys coming up tonight.

I guess it's possible that a search could be done to review the past several hundred discussions.

Maybe physics changed last week and the old answers are no longer valid?

[Telepi]

Head over to the Les Paul
Forum next door where
Heavy = good.

Then back to the Tele Forum
where lighter is better.

Okay, those are generalizations,
but that's kind of where these
weight discussions go.

It' impossible not to have an
opinion on it.

When I bought my LP, I wanted
heavy. Yes sir ree, no light weight
chambering for me. It's 9.5 lbs.

Then for my Tele, it had to be light.
It's 7.5 lbs. No sir ree, no boat
anchor for me.

Now, I suppose if I bought my Tele
first, I wouldn't have cared about
the weight. It's a preconceived preference I had because of each
style of guitar. Once they're
amplified, I can't think there is
going to be much difference.

If I do get another Tele, it's going
to be a light one. A really light
one. Lighter than the one I
already have. Because lighter
Tele's weigh less than heavy Tele's,
and LP's.