Lightweight guitar

Hi! I’m looking for a light guitar but it’s hard to find information about the weight of different models. Does anyone have a tip about a light guitar, preferably less than 3kg/7 pounds? :slight_smile:

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this:

I have one - it’s my main guitar and I love it!

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Thank you! Unfortantly it’s out of stock everywhere

For many models, sweetwater.com will let you see pictures and weights for specific guitars they have in stock and let you pick the one you want. Even if you don’t plan to order from them, it might give you a ballpark of what range of weights to expect from a given model.

And in general, Squier Bullets from recent years tend to be pretty light as they are less thick than a “standard” Strat body, and are typically made of low density woods.

At a higher price bracket, Ibanez S-series are quite thin, which depending on the body wood of a particular model, should translate to lower-than-typical weight.

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Whatever you do, don’t look to a Squier Tele. Mine weighs about the same as six full sized elephants.

Approximately.

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Yeah they stopped making them years ago - you can still get them on ebay tho. I got mine about 10yrs ago on ebay for 100quid - best 100quid I ever spent. If you do manage to get one tho - you need to know this:

A lot of the parts are completely custom - the winders and the bridge saddles. The bridge saddles on mine rusted after tons of playing in the garden abuse. So I had to rig a normal bridge onto it eventually :slight_smile: So basically you have to either really look after it - or expect shabby diy fixes.

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My main guitar weighs 6.8 pounds. It’s the one I play in most of our videos:

It’s a 1966 Fender Musicmaster. That’s what the neck says anyway. But I suspect it’s really a Duo-Sonic body with a Musicmaster neck on it, because the Duo-Sonic was a very similar guitar that came with two pickups, where the Musicmaster only had a neck pickup. Either way, they are both basically the same exact design guitar that Fender made in the 1960s. I find them on Reverb sometimes for under $1000 USD if I look around.

The Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic were marketed as “student” guitars, and they came in two smaller-sized scale lengths, 24" and 22.5". Mine is 22.5" scale length, which I really like. I’m a smaller person and that’s why I wanted it. If you like the low weight but don’t like the very short scale, the 24" feels basically like a Les Paul. If you’re browsing, the 22.5" scale necks are 21 frets and have the dot as the last fret. The 24" scale guitars have 22 frets so the last fret has no dot.

The Mustang is another cool Fender guitar from the sixties with a very similar body style, and also came in 22.5" and 24" scale lengths. However the Mustangs have a tremolo with a lot more metal in the bridge and are actually pretty heavy. I haven’t weighed mine but it’s noticeably heavier.

If you don’t want an old tiny guitar from the 1960s, feel free to ignore all this!

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Headless without a trem would be a sure win in this department.

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I recently got a headless guitar in a trade (it’s a cheap Chinese knock off, but it’s still fun to play). Between the smaller body and lack of a head stock, it’s easily the lightest guitar I’ve ever played.

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Even tho I didn’t start this thread - and I love my current guitar - I personally never thought about a headless guitar - and just found one at 2kg @ 199uk pounds - wow!

Super tempted to butcher up my RGX-A2 into that shape and buy a headless bridge now :stuck_out_tongue:

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How does 11.5 pounds sound?

I play guitar and also Baritone Saxophone - try one of those for a 2 hour session and then say that your guitar is a bit heavy. Come on, guitars just aren’t that heavy really. I’m only a slim chap with noodle arms but I can put up with a heavy Baritone Sax. Another point, obvious maybe, but I was getting a bit of shoulder ache with one of my guitars so I splashed out on a wider and padded strap (old one was 2 inches, this nice new one is 3 inches) and the aching has gone.

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Hi, i’m new to the forum, but if you’re really looking for lightweight I’d check out some carbon fiber guitars.
There are a couple of brands that sell them, miller instruments, Hathaway Guitars, Rubato guitars, xox audio tools (i think they are out of business), … some of those models weigh under 2.5kg, like ‘the handle’ weighs 1.9 kg, the rubato Lassie weighs about 2.5 kg and the miller superstring G5 and G6 weigh 2.3kg, … I’ve never played one and don’t know about the sound but usually the parts are pretty high end.

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Check out the headless Steinberger Spirit on Amazon. It’s close to your top weight limit. I had these done by local guitar tech:

  • Setup, of course
  • Replaced bland EMG pickups with Dimarzios to give it some crunch

Trem can float or locked easily with a flick of a lever. Great travel guitar as it fits easily on the overhead bin. Compact. Made in Korea but solid. Paint job (I have the black, my daughter has the white one) is piano-like finish and not cheap looking at all.

Good luck on your search!

https://smile.amazon.com/Steinberger-GTPROBK1-Solid-Body-Electric-Guitar/dp/B0002T54L4/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=steinberger+guitar&qid=1587412485&sr=8-1

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Don’t know specifically what you’re looking for, but a couple of years ago I was looking to buy a Telecaster. I struck on the Fender Brad Paisley model, which was known for being particularly lightweight.

Mine weighs 5 lbs. 13 oz. which is about 2.64 kg.

Granted, not everyone’s cup of tea, but I’ve been gigging mine and love it. Has a great neck.

NM

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I used to have a Hohner Steinberger copy for years. Not a bad guitar, but I found the neck felt a bit thick for my taste, and it wasn’t always easy to get hold of the double ball end strings…

My travel electric guitar is a Traveler Escape EG1 with built in distortion and headphone amp; and my travel acoustic guitar is a (Czech made) Furch Little Jane LJ-10 with detachable neck and active piezo pickup. Both weigh less than 2 Kg, and both fit into the overhead locker of an aeroplane. Both of these guitars sound fantastic, have full scale length, and are really comfortable to play to the point where they’ve become my main guitars for practising or just noodling in front of the TV…
Hope this helps.
Best wishes.


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Strandbergs are very light. Don’t know what your budget is though and they are pricey. If a you want something T style a Salen would be the ticket for lightweight.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/manufacturer/Strandberg

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I just bought this Harlem headless, and I like it. It weights only 2 kg, which feels like nothing. Action was too high and it was difficult to adjust but I finally figured it out. Humbuckers are OK for this price, but I started to wonder if they could be replaced easily.

If you are really looking forlight you could buy a body and build your own. Basswood is light . You would shop “Ligtweight Bodies”

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Yes, a basswood body with a maple top (to resist dents), plus chambers to further reduce weight would also work!

https://warmoth.com/