Any love for the ten pound Les Paul?

Mr. Papa · Mar 12, 2014

I've gotta say, these days everyone and their brother wants a Les Paul 8-9 pounds, even if it's cored out with weight relief holes. My Custom is 10 pounds on the nose and I love the beefy tone and sustain. Am I the only one?

Proud Heavy Lester owners, represent!

c_wester · Mar 12, 2014

To me tone is a lot more important than weight.
I don't hink your Custom is that heavy.

Xpensive Wino · Mar 12, 2014

Weight is secondary to tone. I have 1 light & 1 heavy...

Progrocker111 · Mar 12, 2014

10 pound is fairly standard weight for Custom. :2cool

I like 9-10 pound Lesters too, as they have often great balance between resonance and tight and articulate tone, which i like.

Triburst · Mar 12, 2014

Progrocker111 said:
10 pound is fairly standard weight for Custom. :2cool

My 68 LP Custom RI (2005) weighs in right at 10 lbs. as well. It has a natural "ring" to it, especially on the treble side. It makes for an excellent classic rock guitar, but you really know when you've had that thing strapped on all night. :teeth

J.D. · Mar 12, 2014

Yeah don't let weight dictate tone. In *general* lighter guitars sound a certain way and heavy guitars sound a certain way, and I personally tend to prefer the lighter weight 8-9 pound ones, but I have played enough 9-10 pound Les Pauls to know there are plenty in that weight range that smoke.

etzeppy · Mar 12, 2014

10 lbs, that's nothing. My Heritage 80 is 10 lb & 10 oz. I'm so stupid about weight that I even have a 9 lb Strat (really 8 lbs & 14 oz). It's 1979 hardtail. At least my main axe is little less than 9 lbs. If I had something under 8 lbs I might lift off the ground.

Ryan Givhan · Mar 12, 2014

tone is first for me to an extent. and 9 and a half pounds is about as heavy as i can go. i dont switch guitars much during gigs, usually never. so if i played a 10lbs les paul all night my shoulder would fall off. that being said my #1 is 9lbs 3oz and i love the way it sounds. but still after a full night of playing i can feel it.

MWR · Mar 13, 2014

No thanks...YMMV.

nwobhm · Mar 13, 2014

have 2 norlins in the weight

snag · Mar 13, 2014

My #1 LP is 8 lbs 14 oz and that's heavy enough. My friend has a 70's Custom that's 10 lbs and I love playing it, but after few songs I'm beat in the shoulder. I switch off all night between Tele, Rik and LP and while I welcome the weight relief, I'm always happy to strap the LP back on for its feel and sound.

DanD · Mar 13, 2014

I prefer LPs in the 8-9pound range too but have owned several that were right at 10 pounds.

Really tho, 10 is my cutoff now. I can basically pick a guitar up and tell how much it weighs within half a pound.

I'm sure there are some anchors out there that sound fantastic but my shoulder can only take so much abuse.

I use wider straps on my LPs than on my Strats to compensate. But even with a wider strap 11+ pounds gets heavy fast.

eace2

Big Al · Mar 13, 2014

I just can't sling a heavy guitar all night long anymore. Too old and feeble with my medical issues.

That said, in general I always prefered the more solid feeling heavier guitars. IMO they sound better to me side by side. All 4 of my Historic Les Pauls are at or near 9 lbs, and they were chosen for tone, from many.

I still seem to pick on the heavy side, though I never consider weight an issue, as I most likely will never play any 4 hour plus gigs again and do most of my playing sitting down.
Still I cand stand and play a 10lber for a set or informal jam.

I can see where it could be an issue if your only guitar was heavy and you played multi hour gigs. In my Nevada days 4 to 6 hour plus gigs 4 to 5 nights a week were common . We usually played from 10-2 but if the club was jumpin' we had the option of playing additional sets for additional $$$.
Makes for sore shoulders for sure. I always had a Jr and Tele along and would mix them up to give my shoulder a break.

Elmore · Mar 13, 2014

I have a 1970 LP Deluxe that is routed for full size humbuckers. It is heavy. But the bridge pickup position really does that old school honk sound. It did it with a T-Top and an Antiquity, so it is not the pickup. I really like it. Did some tone testing with a 1987 prehistoric/standard, and a 1997 R8, and the Deluxe sounded more like that old Clapton honk.

sickboy79 · Mar 13, 2014

Absolutely! My number 1 LP is easily over 10lbs (81 LP Pro). Probably closer to 12. I'll have to put it on the scale. I've also got an 80 Custom that's on the heavy side too. They both sound fantastic!

Stevedenver · Mar 13, 2014

I have a couple under 10lbs. Both customs.
I'm a fit strong guy too.
No problems with a forty+ lb pack that sits on my hips when hiking.

I hate a 10lb guitar after standing two hours or more. Nice strap doesn't really help that much. And I play it rather high, not low, and that helps, but not enough.

Im not crazy about 8lbs either.

I play my 6lb tele now if its gonna be an issue.
and it feels just fine being light.....and on the bridge, it sounds great too.

and that's the truth....

FretsAlot · Mar 13, 2014

I have a '76 Custom whose weight I don't know well, but it is heavy. As I've re-embraced playing guitar to new a level this past 16-18 months, having a guitar slung over my left shoulder was reminding too much of a shoulder injury I had during a pretty bad bicycle accident I had in 2001/02. I make mention of this because in December, with a referral from my Dr. I went to 4-5 physical therapy sessions. I did this because at 50, I shuddered to think what that shoulder might be like 10-20 years from now if I still wanted to enjoy playing guitar, etc. The PhyTherapist gave me a half dozen exercises focusing on working my shoulder and it's range of movement. The discomfort I had with my shoulder wasn't limited to just wearing a guitar, but extended to other facets of my life - like sleeping & waking with shoulder pain.

I tell you all this because even after doing the exercises for 3-4 weeks, I can wear my beastly Custom longer than I could before. Before PT: 60-90 minutes. Now: 2-2.5 hours before my shoulder is barking. Best part is I'm not waking up with the shoulder pain I had been.

Fretsalot/Scott

Big Al · Mar 13, 2014

FretsAlot said:
I have a '76 Custom whose weight I don't know well, but it is heavy. As I've re-embraced playing guitar to new a level this past 16-18 months, having a guitar slung over my left shoulder was reminding too much of a shoulder injury I had during a pretty bad bicycle accident I had in 2001/02. I make mention of this because in December, with a referral from my Dr. I went to 4-5 physical therapy sessions. I did this because at 50, I shuddered to think what that shoulder might be like 10-20 years from now if I still wanted to enjoy playing guitar, etc. The PhyTherapist gave me a half dozen exercises focusing on working my shoulder and it's range of movement. The discomfort I had with my shoulder wasn't limited to just wearing a guitar, but extended to other facets of my life - like sleeping & waking with shoulder pain.

I tell you all this because even after doing the exercises for 3-4 weeks, I can wear my beastly Custom longer than I could before. Before PT: 60-90 minutes. Now: 2-2.5 hours before my shoulder is barking. Best part is I'm not waking up with the shoulder pain I had been.

Fretsalot/Scott

I hear that brother. I'm nearing 60 and was pretty fit untill recently. I have very little of my rotator cuff left, especialy after the surgery to remove the cancer tumor in my Left arm. I now have a titanium truss rod and several screws. Therapy has helped, even though I have reduced range of motion and little strength left I can play. I always felt weight, like string gauge is a personal choice each individual makes, for whatever reason.

DANELECTRO · Mar 13, 2014

I'll pass on any 10 lb guitar. Our first set runs 2 hours and if I'm playing a 9lb+ guitar it will start nagging at my shoulder halfway through the set and I find myself shifting the strap around trying to ease the discomfort. I typically take one of my chambered Les Pauls and I find that I can play them for a 3-1/2 hr gig and not once even think about the weight hanging on my shoulder. Some people knock the Chambered Reissues but personally I love them and I get complements on my tone regularly.

Here's a 10 lb 2003 Black Beauty that sounded great but I rarely played it due to its weight so I ended up selling it.

This is its replacement, a 7.75 lb 2004 Chambered BB. Sounds fantastic and its comfortable to boot.

riffmeister · Mar 14, 2014

I have three LPC's

1975, 10.2 lbs
1979, 10.6 lbs
1984, 9.6 lbs

Probably just a co-inky-dink, but the heaviest one is my #1. It also has the thinnest profile neck and the neck is three-piece maple. I love the tight, focused, even sound of that guitar. It is also very resonant acoustically.

BTW, I "grew up with" the 1975 guitar (bought it new back in the day at Manny's), so I really don't notice the weight, it feels "right" to me in every way.

Any love for the ten pound Les Paul?

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