Can an lp jr/special be TOO light?

[hazel-rah]

The heavy ones seem to sound a little bit dead to me, and the lightweight/avg weight juniors always seem to sound good. I've come across an interesting dbl cut that is VERY light...

I sold my '63 jr last year to buy an lp special---the sg lacked "meat". Could I experience the same effect with an overly light lp junior? Do they sound empty in the lower mids?

 

[mingus]

In my experience, weight has no correlation to tone. Every guitar should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Go play it and decide for yourself!

 

[Heritage69]

To me , the heaviest Jr`s sound tonally better. The P-90 can make or break the rest of the tone. Not a fan of lighter Jrs/specials. 8lbs or more!

 

[DANELECTRO]

I've owned two '57s and I preferred the tone of the lighter one (6.7 lbs) better tone than the heavier one (8.7 lbs). The heavier one was brighter and did not have as much bottom end. There are probably differences in the pickups that could be affecting the tone also.

 

[MapleFlame]

To be honest, with a proper setup, fret job and playing around with P90's, I have never played a dud.

 

[keef]

Mingus is right.

My flimsy '61 (6.2 pounds) sounds really big. Same for my 6.6 pound '56 Jr. They both have a fatter tone than most of my humbucker pup guitars - which are also a lot heavier.

 

[cryptozoo]

I had the same experience as Danelectro -- the heavier of my singlecut Jrs was brighter, the lighter one had more meat to it. I can't say I tonally preferred one over the other 100% of the time, they were both great and it just depended on my mood that day.

 

[hazel-rah]

Obviously, I'd prefer to play the guitars in person, but everything that I'm finding that is interesting is 8+ hours away...and my wife is 8 months pregnant, which means that i need to remain reasonably close to home.

I've owned six vintage jr's and specials, and I've played many more. My experience, so far, is that the lighter guitars sound better, with the exceptions of sg & melody maker bodies, which seem to sound much weaker to me (good w/ drive, but I play clean a lot).

 

[27sauce]

I've got a 6.5 lb '59 and a refin 8lb '59. The heavier one sounds better, but I dont know if it has anything to do with weight. The lighter one has a thinner neck and a much hotter pickup, very compressed and mid heavy. To some people it may sound better, but it tends to "get away" from me at high volumes. My heavier one has a bigger neck and a lower output pickup. Perfect EQ balance, highs are high. lows are low, not muddy. They are both keepers, but I tend to pickup the heavier one more often, and I definitely gig it more often. The light one is better looking though...

 

[humbucking]

I have a few of each. light & heavy single & double cuts. Typically, I prefer the heavy ones, but I will not get rid of my light ones! I feel that any of them can be dialed in for great tone. My heavier ones have hot P90's & they certainly do not sound thin or bright. I also have a light double cut that has a 7.9ohm P90 in it that sounds like a freight train jumping the tracks! HUGE.

I certainly would not base my "sight-unseen" purchase of a junior, simply on its weight. You need to test drive them. that being said, most vintage Juniors I have played have been great guitars!

I do remember playing one particular 59 that had the largest neck I have ever felt. It was medium weight, and sounded very bright & harsh. Adjusting the P90 did very little, but maybe a pickup swap would have helped things?

 

[DonP]

I agree with the lighter is better camp in the fact that my 63 SG special featherweight is a tone monster. Huge fattness. I've never tried a heavy one to compare against it, however.

 

[Tom Wittrock]

hazel-rah,
We should pick a day [some Saturday perhaps] and I'll let you noodle on my Juniors to see if there is a noticable difference and weights [you might need to bring a digital scale].
:salude

 

[hazel-rah]

Tom, that would be really cool...and SO helpful...

I hope that I'm not giving the impression that I intend to buy a junior based on weight---I'm more comfortable with a lighter guitar, and I like big necks, for sure, but the tone is most important to me. My ideal junior would hopefully be fat-necked and reasonably light, but some of the lighter juniors and specials that I've played (or owned) have been a bit harsh sounding. That being said, I've been most intimately familiar with '59 and '60 guitars, and those pickups tend to be hotter, right? Maybe this is a bigger factor...

I'm tempted by a particular guitar right now, but it weighs in at under seven pounds, and I'm a little bit nervous. I'm tired of buying and selling guitars; I'm beginning to wonder if I've just subconsciously decided to remain unsatisfied---maybe I should just worry about being a better guitarist. The 6.5 lb '59 jr should just wait until I find a guitar that I can't help but buy...b/c it just "fits"...is this overly dramatic? If so, all apologies.

I'm kinda entertaining the idea of buying an es295 instead, anyway...maybe I'm a tad indecisive...

 

[Heritage69]

I have a few of each. light & heavy single & double cuts. Typically, I prefer the heavy ones, but I will not get rid of my light ones! I feel that any of them can be dialed in for great tone.
This is how I feel as well. Never buy a guitar based on weight ,but it seems alot of people are digging lighter Jrs.
I have 6 ,the heavy ones(2) do sound/feel better. Otherwise they would not get played all the time. The lighter ones would be great if not for the heavy comparison. Maybe there is a 4.5 lbs junior out there. It should rock from hell. Just kidding.
Its the P-90 that enhances the junior sound. Or muddy it up.

 

[David Currie]

I usually prefer lighter guitars, the Maybach Lester Junior doublecut I bought used recently weighs 6lbs. 1oz., with a chunky C neck, yet it's perfectly balanced anyways, and sounds great. The German company '"Amber" makes pickups for Maybach, and is my favorite sounding humbucking and P90 pickups I've played. Another light guitar I have is a 2011 PRS SE Korina One, which has one pickup and one knob, it weighs 6lbs. 8oz. I got a digital fish scale today, and have been weighing my guitars (always wondered). The Maybach Lester Honey Pie weighs 8lbs. 1oz.,and the Amber "spirit of 59" humbuckers are the sweetest sounding to my ears. Another light guitar is the Wilshire Pro from 2008-2013 era, mine are 2011 and 2010, both about 6-8. The Wilshire "Pro" has humbuckers and chunky rounded neck, while the regular Wilshire has mini-humbuckers and thin-taper neck (like an SG usually has). The Epiphone Les Paul '59 reissue is 8lbs. 1oz., and has an unusually thin neck for a 59 carve, but still has some roundness and chunk to it, not flat backed like their Les Paul 60s carve, great sounding custombuckers. The Epiphone LesPaul Custom weighs 8lbs. 2oz., suprised the 490/498 pickups sound better than usual for some reason, but will still get changed. Both road worn telecasters are light weight, 2010 is 7-0, 2021 is 7-2. Nash strat is 7-2. I have some heavier guitars, but the only one that gets played is the Les Paul Greeny, that is a REAL Lester, with a big chunky neck and over 9 pounds, but it sounds so good I don't care, play it sitting down anyways. I like heavier SG models to keep them from being neck heavy, but heavy for an SG is 7-8 to 8-0, so they never get TOO heavy. I like to have a Lyre vibrato on an SG even though I rarely use it, it helps balance the body and looks sexy. The 2013 Epiphone SG 1963 reissue in pelham blue is my favorite, Epiphone was on a pelham blue kick that year, made an SG Custom in that color too. It has a medium-chunky rounded C neck, Lyre tremolo, Grover tuners, and is the first SG I like playing. Usually the SG models have a slim-taper neck with flat back that I dislike, although I've read the batwing pickguard SG models usually have chunkier necks, and they also have that extended body to neck joint, for a more solid connection. I've got some light weight Jazzmasters too. Since I have a bad back, it behooves me to buy light weight gutiars. The Greeny was supposed to be 8.2lbs but was actually 9.2 so should have sent it back, but is sounded so good I kept it. I'd like to get an SG Junior with the batwing 'guard, a heavy one!

 

[F-Hole]

Paragraphs man, for the love of god.

6lb 1oz TV Jnr was “the” Jnr, off the charts.

 

[Tollywood]

I usually prefer lighter guitars, the Maybach Lester Junior doublecut I bought used recently weighs 6lbs. 1oz., with a chunky C neck, yet it's perfectly balanced anyways, and sounds great. The German company '"Amber" makes pickups for Maybach, and is my favorite sounding humbucking and P90 pickups I've played. Another light guitar I have is a 2011 PRS SE Korina One, which has one pickup and one knob, it weighs 6lbs. 8oz. I got a digital fish scale today, and have been weighing my guitars (always wondered). The Maybach Lester Honey Pie weighs 8lbs. 1oz.,and the Amber "spirit of 59" humbuckers are the sweetest sounding to my ears. Another light guitar is the Wilshire Pro from 2008-2013 era, mine are 2011 and 2010, both about 6-8. The Wilshire "Pro" has humbuckers and chunky rounded neck, while the regular Wilshire has mini-humbuckers and thin-taper neck (like an SG usually has). The Epiphone Les Paul '59 reissue is 8lbs. 1oz., and has an unusually thin neck for a 59 carve, but still has some roundness and chunk to it, not flat backed like their Les Paul 60s carve, great sounding custombuckers. The Epiphone LesPaul Custom weighs 8lbs. 2oz., suprised the 490/498 pickups sound better than usual for some reason, but will still get changed. Both road worn telecasters are light weight, 2010 is 7-0, 2021 is 7-2. Nash strat is 7-2. I have some heavier guitars, but the only one that gets played is the Les Paul Greeny, that is a REAL Lester, with a big chunky neck and over 9 pounds, but it sounds so good I don't care, play it sitting down anyways. I like heavier SG models to keep them from being neck heavy, but heavy for an SG is 7-8 to 8-0, so they never get TOO heavy. I like to have a Lyre vibrato on an SG even though I rarely use it, it helps balance the body and looks sexy. The 2013 Epiphone SG 1963 reissue in pelham blue is my favorite, Epiphone was on a pelham blue kick that year, made an SG Custom in that color too. It has a medium-chunky rounded C neck, Lyre tremolo, Grover tuners, and is the first SG I like playing. Usually the SG models have a slim-taper neck with flat back that I dislike, although I've read the batwing pickguard SG models usually have chunkier necks, and they also have that extended body to neck joint, for a more solid connection. I've got some light weight Jazzmasters too. Since I have a bad back, it behooves me to buy light weight gutiars. The Greeny was supposed to be 8.2lbs but was actually 9.2 so should have sent it back, but is sounded so good I kept it. I'd like to get an SG Junior with the batwing 'guard, a heavy one!

I play standing so I like Les Pauls that weigh 9 pounds and under. But, like your Greeny, I found a heavy one that I just had to keep. Mine is 10 pounds.

 

[delawaregold]

A 15 year old necro-post to extol the virtue of a Gibson knock off?

 

[latestarter]

Bot post?