How heavy is your Les Paul? (poll and comments please)

[FELINEGUITARS]

Recently I started weighing my Lion model (like a Les Paul) guitars as I was building them to get an idea of how heavy they would end up.

My own Amber Lion weighs in at about 9lbs and I thought it was a bit heavy at times till I started weighing Gibson LPs that came in for repair and found that it was fairly typical of the average weight or his style of guitar.

Weighing the guitars without hardware & paint proves interesting with most clocking in between 5-7.5lbs in naked form.
The pickups and hardware comes to between 2-2.5lbs (depending on type of machine-heads and bridge /tailpiece used) and the paint finish I suspect actually weighs in at about nearly half a pound or maybe more (as crazy as that sounds)

Some players want a Les paul that comes in at about 8lb or lighter like some of the old 59s were and we deliberately made some recently that were partially chambered to get this weight , and other players prefer a weightier LP as they feel it gives a better tone for what they play.

But I thought I would throw it out as a poll to see what range of weights the LPs that you guys have and how you feel it affects the tone of the guitar and the comfort levels of playing it for any period of time.

So don't be shy - stick yours on a kitchen scales or bathroom scales and share the results with us all.

[Philly Q]

I don't have any LPs now, but my Orville goldtop was 8lbs 10oz and my Edwards was 8lbs 5oz.  Neither were chambered (as far as I know).

From a comfort perspective that's my absolute limit, I wouldn't buy a heavier guitar.

I haven't played enough LPs to say much about the effect on tone, but in general I find heavy guitars can sound thin acoustically but actually have loads of focus and sustain when amplified.  Whereas extremely light guitars can be very lively and resonant, but somehow that can get "lost" when amplified.   I guess somewhere inbetween is probably the ideal.  But of course lots of other factors come into play.

[lulusg]

9.25lbs here.

[Sifu Ben]

My Agile's just a hair under 9lbs.

[sgmypod]

don't have les paul..but my LP shaped guitars...duesenberg 49er is 8. somthing and Bluesbird is nearer 6 but is chambered

[Catalyst77]

My back breaking few as follows:

1. Epiphone les paul                           8.6 lb
2. Silverburst Feline Les paul              8.8 lb
3. Greco les paul custom                     9lb
4. Amber thin line feline les paul         9.6lb

[andymac]

Honeyburst 7lbs  Gecko 9lbs.  Looks like the new Lion will come in at 8lbs.   9lbs is a bit heavy for me, which is why I asked for the Lion to be lighter.

Andy

[Antag]

IIRC:
Vintage Burst: 8¼lb (that's the one you've got at the moment - check it yourself :))
Desert Burst: 9½lb
Goldtop: 11lb
(all 3 LPs are non-chambered LP stds circa 2004-6)
I didn't vote because you can't vote more than once :)

In my experience, the heavy ones have a really boomy bass and absolutely endless sustain.  Play them acoustically & you can feel the resonance in your legs :lol:  Plugged in, they lend themselves to huge metal riffage but I find the mids get a bit overpowerd by the low end & it's harder to get than wonderful musical feedback for long soulful lead notes.  Looking at the grain of my goldtop next to the vintage burst, you can see how it's a much denser, closer grained piece of mahogany.  I'm not at all surprised the two guitars are so divergent in weight.

The lighter ones seem to have a much more balanced tone with more pronounced mids.  They feel "snappier" & more lively.  It seems easier to control harmonic feedback on them.

FWIW, I started with a set of Holy Divers in my goldtop.  They didn't work at all well (I've posted about this before).  But when I swapped the HD set over to the Vintage Burst, they were a revalation.  The VB sounds absolutely wonderful with HDs in it.  The Goldtop had Nailbombs for a while (a bit better) but now has Cold Sweats which have rescued it from being sold.  I love it now :)

The Desert Burst is somewhere between the two.  Doesn't "boom" quite like the Goldtop.  It started with Nailbombs which were really good, but I moved to Miracle Man which is better (although I suspect I'd enjoy CS just as much in it).

[Will]

I have weighed my '81 LP in the past and it reads about 9.5lbs...  It definitely weighs more.
A few of you have had your hands on it, I wouldn't mind your estimates?

I think my White Lion is about 9 - 9.5 though :)
And my ZW epi was about 8.5 but I found that to be a little neck heavy

[Philly Q]

I have weighed my '81 LP in the past and it reads about 9.5lbs...  It definitely weighs more.
A few of you have had your hands on it, I wouldn't mind your estimates?

I've had my hands on it (the guitar that is) and I'm sure it must be over 10lbs.  I don't know how much over.

I had a Tele which was just under 9.5lbs and it didn't have that "oof!" quality when you picked it up.  That LP is heavier, I'm sure.

[mikeluke]

Well, not very accurate but... my bathroom scales reckons that my 89 Standard LP is 5.0 Kgs = a tad over 11 lbs

No wonder it hurts my shoulder!

[Alex]

My ESP Eclipse is 3,67 kg with strap and with battery. That is just above 8 lbs. Withouth the strap it would be less than 8lbs. It feels very comfortable and light to me. It is non-chambered, since it's an ESP and a bit thinner than a Gibson.

My Voodoo Les Paul is more, must be close to 10Lbs - and that despite being made from swampash (?). I thought swamp ash was a light wood. But then again it has a quite massive body and a fat neck.

[gwEm]

I have weighed my '81 LP in the past and it reads about 9.5lbs...  It definitely weighs more.
A few of you have had your hands on it, I wouldn't mind your estimates?

its definitely a manly weight, i recall many positive comments on that at the bkp meet

[gwEm]

just weighed my Adrian Smith inspired Agile at 9.15
you know you're playing it ;) but its managable.

(my light swamp ash strat is 6.39lbs as a comparision - i sometimes think that might be too light)

i know jonathan puts a nice thick maple cap (vintage spec) on his lions, which might explain the few extra oz?

antag: rebel yells are great for boomy les pauls too!

[Philly Q]

(my light swamp ash strat is 6.39lbs as a comparision - i sometimes think that might be too light)

That's very light!  The body can't be much more than 3lbs (it is hardtail though isn't it?).