Target weight for body

I’m trying to get back down to 175-180...I’ve crept up to 190 in the last couple of years and it doesn’t really make me happy...I felt better 10-15 pounds ago.

EDIT:
I misread the point of this thread...you’re asking about the weight of a *guitar* body...my apologies.

 

Anything from 3-5 is normal

 

4 lb. seems to be the target weight most like on a tele.

 

My target weight is at or under 4.3 lbs. That gives me a total weight of 7.5lbs or under with the hardware I use.

 

The Alder Tele body I got from Warmoth was 4.4 lbs.

 

I'm benching about 280, 285...

 

What kind of wood are you using? Guitar bodies I'm accustomed to don't need to be doweled or anything like that. Just plane and glue. That's what the big guys do, so that's good enough for me.

 

As others have said, I’d try for 4 lbs even. A little more or a little less won’t hurt, but I think 4 lbs is Goldilocks — just right.

 

I don't have a target weight, I just try to do a reasonable chambering and see how it comes out. My personal tele clone, chambered mahogany body with a maple cap, mahogany neck, normal hardware, weights 5-3/4 pounds total. Most people who play it comment about the weight (or lack of). Contrast that with my unchambered les paul clone which weights a bit over 9 pounds total.

 

If you want to choose a target weight then we need info on the application.

Is the weight supposed to sell online?
Or are you a player who became concerned about weight as you aged and started finding heavy guitars a pain to play?
For me I aim for more like 3 1/2lbs in a Tele body and if it weighs 4lbs it's too heavy to bother assembling into a guitar.

On the internet 4lbs is ordinary and/ or a little below average, that weight will not boost sales.
Plenty of players will pick up a Tele with a 4lb body and love it, but not get excited by a 4lb body listing.
Basically a lot of Fender Teles have more like a 5lb body, so 4lbs is nice and light among whole guitars.
But when comparing body weights in the aftermarket parts gear chat, 4lbs is considered ordinary.

Funny that 4lbs is considered an average normal weight as parts, when it's extra light compared to the bulk of the Tele market, but too heavy compared to the players who really need a lighter Tele body.

So application is key.

 

There is another part to all of this - weight, as in mass, and chambering, as in the air volume inside the guitar, can both have an affect on the voice of the instrument. I have a good example of that in two les pauls that I built - they are identical materials and have identically the same pickups and electronics but one is chambered and one is not. The chambered one is a pound and a half heavier than the the hollowed one. They have a (slightly) different sound - maybe not that you would notice just playing one but side by side you can hear a difference. Mass matters....

 

Isn't most plywood awfully heavy by volume compared to most other woods? The glue is heavy stuff. Multipiiecing and doweling will add additional (and "non-musical") weight. Sounds like a fun project that might yield interesting visual results, though from a weight standpoint there's a major and fundamental built-in disadvantage of this approach. The nature of the build is more similar to the 70's massive sustain-based constructions like pancake Norlins and Alembics than anything intended to be intentionally light.