Does weight effect tone?

[thisisnickpaige]

Does the weight of the body effect the tone? For instance if i want a really warm guitar a mahogany body would do me well but if it gets brighter with more density then i would want it to be a super light thinline mahogany to be warmer yes? Or do i have this wrong? Thank you - Nicholas A. Paige

[Twinfan]

It affects it, but there are no hard and fast rules.  Light can be bright or warm, depending on the plank of wood itself, and heavy can be bright or warm too.

Each piece of wood is different!

I personally like lighter wood as it sounds 'airier'.  Chambered bodies work on this principal to make heavier wood sound more airy.

[Dmoney]

when I'm thin I find my playing isn't as warm or sweaty as when I'm fatter.

[DavidRees]

strangely enough, when I hover around the 18 stone mark I find my playing more focussed and articulate.... probably because I have to sit down a lot - regards David

[sgmypod]

strangely enough, when I hover around the 18 stone mark I find my playing more focussed and articulate.... probably because I have to sit down a lot - regards David

damn beat me to that joke....dave so Francine is light

[Philly Q]

It affects it, but there are no hard and fast rules.  Light can be bright or warm, depending on the plank of wood itself, and heavy can be bright or warm too.

Each piece of wood is different!

I personally like lighter wood as it sounds 'airier'.  Chambered bodies work on this principal to make heavier wood sound more airy.

Agree with all of that.

I like light guitars because they're simply more comfortable to play.

[Ian Price]

Agree with all - I don't think weight really plays that much importance. I had an old Tele that weighed 8.5lbs (I think) that was very bright soundig.

I prefer lighter guitars.

[Pete24v]

i think most of the tone comes from the Neck. When i built my partscaster i had a 2 birdseye maple necks, 1 with maple board and the other had an ebony board. The ebony board had a darker  almost harder sound to it, the maple was much brighter and 'twangier'. I went with the maple as the Rio Grande Muy Grande pups already have a dark middy sound to them.

[Philly Q]

i think most of the tone comes from the Neck.

Yeah, I'm starting to think there's some truth in that theory, certainly with bolt-ons.

When I tried changing the neck on my Thinline the tone completely changed - the original neck went back on pronto!

[Twinfan]

dave so Francine is light

Yep, low end of 8lbs something  8)

[_tom_]

I don't think it really matters much. My SG is at least half the weight of my Les Pauls and sounds just as thick!

[thisisnickpaige]

Now what about the Mahogany: thinline or not. I know its a warm wood and i want my tele to be really warm (as warm as a tele can be). I want a warm tele to compliment my super super super bright tele. Do you think Mahogany is gunna do that? Obviously im gunna get warmer pickups and all that so that will have an effect but do you think the mahogany is a step in the right direction? And if so you think Thinline is a bad idea if im thinking warmer? I just like the idea of a semi hollow so i could play it acousticly and get more sound but if thats in lue of a warmer tone then id opt for no thinline. Then again perhaps it could all be snake oil... i just care to think of these things as i'd be paying money for a body and cant just try it first ya know?

[sgmypod]

dave so Francine is light

Yep, low end of 8lbs something  8)

8lb's is light what do you count as heavy

[thisisnickpaige]

Well 8 for a les paul aint bad, i mean ive seen some even heavier! but for a tele yea i'd call 8 heavy, though it's all perspective. Again, all up to the personal ear... or shoulder =)

[Philly Q]

I'm a bit obsessive about guitar weights, and I'd say 8 pounds is better than "not bad" for a non-chambered LP!   Loads of LPs (and similar, like Yamaha SGs) are 9, 10, even 11 pounds.

A typical newer Fender American Standard Strat or Tele is nudging the 8 pound mark, I had a Tele a few years ago which was nearly 9.5.