bucketbot Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Just got mine & she weighs in at 9.8 Pounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trouble Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 Well, I have said this before, but I feel the ideal weight for tone is 9-9.5LBS. At this weight the low end is present. Lighter and my experiences have been a guitar that can really sing but doesn't have the lows and low-mid grunt & growl you want from a LP style guitar. Over 10 lbs and my experiences have been that the guitar can get all little low end dominant to the point the guitar will be wooly & muddy unless played at higher volumes. That is my weight for tone generalizations for a LP style guitar, bu there are always exceptions. I won't believe you unless you have your buddy Terry McInturff validate this!! (ha ha) Seems pretty plausible to me, I know that there are a lot of variables, pickups, strings, even neck thickness makes a difference, but the description Kuz gives seems to make all the sense in the world just comparing the way the body effects the tone. Knowing what the natural tone of the body is should make it easier to match pickups so that you have the overall best sound, at least in theory right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 Seems pretty plausible to me, I know that there are a lot of variables, pickups, strings, even neck thickness makes a difference, but the description Kuz gives seems to make all the sense in the world just comparing the way the body effects the tone. Knowing what the natural tone of the body is should make it easier to match pickups so that you have the overall best sound, at least in theory right? Terry McInturff is a genius. He has made guitars for Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, and David Hidalgo (Los Lobos). He is probably the most experienced individual solid body luthier ever. He has been personally flow to Spain, Italty, and other areas just to restore private vintage collections. Terry will marry tops to bodies based solely on tone. Looks are great, but tone is his main concern. Like Trouble stated, Terry will choose pickups and capacitors after the chassis has been completed and strung, played only acoustically first. I know Will is just joking with me, but NOBODY has more experience with ALL THE DIFFERENT brands of guitars than Terry. From Fender, Gibson, Rics, Martins, ect... you name it, he has played them, studied them, and most importantly knows WHY they work and why sometimes they don't. He has added these experiences into his own guitars. He has stated that over 35 years he has probably worked on/ studied/ set up/ or repaired close to 30,000 different guitars. Jimmy Page actually sent his #1 Gibson to Terry for analysis and exact measurements when Page commissioned Terry for a custom built guitar. My point is, a lot of these GREAT questions could and can be answered by Terry. I have his cell # (I actually called him Friday for a question about a push/pull pot. His response was to put the push/pull pot on the tone knob like Page uses because the quality of taper & tone are not as good with a push/pull than the standard CTS volume pot). My point is not to brag about my contacts, but Terry loves to talk guitars and if anyone has a general tone question, I have no problem calling him to get an answer. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trouble Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 Terry McInturff is a genius. He has made guitars for Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, and David Hidalgo (Los Lobos). He is probably the most experienced individual solid body luthier ever. He has been personally flow to Spain, Italty, and other areas just to restore private vintage collections. Terry will marry tops to bodies based solely on tone. Looks are great, but tone is his main concern. Like Trouble stated, Terry will choose pickups and capacitors after the chassis has been completed and strung, played only acoustically first. I know Will is just joking with me, but NOBODY has more experience with ALL THE DIFFERENT brands of guitars than Terry. From Fender, Gibson, Rics, Martins, ect... you name it, he has played them, studied them, and most importantly knows WHY they work and why sometimes they don't. He has added these experiences into his own guitars. He has stated that over 35 years he has probably worked on/ studied/ set up/ or repaired close to 30,000 different guitars. Jimmy Page actually sent his #1 Gibson to Terry for analysis and exact measurements when Page commissioned Terry for a custom built guitar. My point is, a lot of these GREAT questions could and can be answered by Terry. I have his cell # (I actually called him Friday for a question about a push/pull pot. His response was to put the push/pull pot on the tone knob like Page uses because the quality of taper & tone are not as good with a push/pull than the standard CTS volume pot). My point is not to brag about my contacts, but Terry loves to talk guitars and if anyone has a general tone question, I have no problem calling him to get an answer. John Sounds like a great contact to have. I hope I didn't say anything to make you think I was questioning or down playing your relationship with him, I certainly didn't mean to. With that said I'm going to go check out some McInturff guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Sounds like a great contact to have. I hope I didn't say anything to make you think I was questioning or down playing your relationship with him, I certainly didn't mean to. With that said I'm going to go check out some McInturff guitars. Nope, not at all. I was responding more to Will. As far as checking out Terry's guitars, you have to go to Willcutt Guitars site..... And be prepared for sticker shock!!!! But if you are lucky to get one someday, it will be be at the same or higher prize possession as you Heritages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franke Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 my 150 is around 13 pounds...I think I win the weight game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HANGAR18 Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 When I first started reading this thread, I was going to say 9.5 to 10.5 pounds and that seems to be consistent with the weights everyone listed as well as with my own experience. The heaviest Les Paul guitar I ever owned was an Epiphone 56 Goldtop with soapbar pickups which weighed in at right around 13 lbs. Currently, my heaviest guitar is my black H157. I have found that if I use a really nice strap which is twice as wide as a normal strap, the guitar feels a lot lighter when I've got it strapped on. (Some science involved with that I think.) I look for extra wide straps which have a leather top and a slippery seatbelt material on the underside. I only use regular width straps on my lighter guitars. I've heard that some Les Pauls have been lightened with some 1" swiss cheese holes instead of chambering but I don't know if that practice is still done or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpuma Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 how much weight difference is explained by the 157's ebony board, compared to the standard 150? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trouble Posted September 19, 2012 Author Share Posted September 19, 2012 how much weight difference is explained by the 157's ebony board, compared to the standard 150? I'm just making an educated guess, but I would say the weight difference between the two fret boards is minimal. It's really a small component overall. If you were maybe comparing an ebony body to a mahogany body, I'm sure there would be a considerable difference. The real weight difference between a 9lb guitar and a 13lb guitar is the density of the wood, and thats what makes a tonal difference. I've heard quite a few people say that the heavier an LP is the better, but in the end it's all subjective. What I want to hear and what you want to hear may be two different things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 I'm just making an educated guess, but I would say the weight difference between the two fret boards is minimal. It's really a small component overall. If you were maybe comparing an ebony body to a mahogany body, I'm sure there would be a considerable difference. The real weight difference between a 9lb guitar and a 13lb guitar is the density of the wood, and thats what makes a tonal difference. I've heard quite a few people say that the heavier an LP is the better, but in the end it's all subjective. What I want to hear and what you want to hear may be two different things. Bingo!!! Tone is so subjective and so is our own fingers!!! I know my fingers will produce a darker tone than say Randy, Rob, Brent, or Lyle. Not saying it is better, just different. So I might want a different sounding guitar and than someone else who's fingers make the same guitar sound different. SO MANY VARIABLES TO TONE, but it is all in what YOU like that counts!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewGuy Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 I use to believe that Jimmy Pages tone was always his Les Paul tone, until I heard him play a Strat ..his tone still sounded like J.Page ~~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamison162 Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 My '07 H150 Goltop weighs 8.75lbs. I'm not sure if it is solid or chambered, how would you tell for sure? Anyway, the guitar is not really thin and airy or bright at all. Actually, it's rather dark sounding. I upgraded the pots and rewired it in the first year (500k-560k pots, etc.) and have tried a ton of pickups. Don't get me wrong, it sounds awesome, but I have yet to settle on any particular pickup. Anything over 8.5k in the bridge is too dark, put the lower winds have also been somewhat weak sounding. Any advice on a really good, clear PAF voiced pickup that still has some punch and output behind it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitfiddler Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 My '07 H150 Goltop weighs 8.75lbs. I'm not sure if it is solid or chambered, how would you tell for sure? Anyway, the guitar is not really thin and airy or bright at all. Actually, it's rather dark sounding. I upgraded the pots and rewired it in the first year (500k-560k pots, etc.) and have tried a ton of pickups. Don't get me wrong, it sounds awesome, but I have yet to settle on any particular pickup. Anything over 8.5k in the bridge is too dark, put the lower winds have also been somewhat weak sounding. Any advice on a really good, clear PAF voiced pickup that still has some punch and output behind it? Have you tried Fralin Pure PAF's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamison162 Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Have you tried Fralin Pure PAF's? Nope, I've got Fralin and Lollar single coils but have never tried their humbuckers. I'm not crazy about Fralins in general though. What's the specs on those Pure PAF's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gitfiddler Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Nope, I've got Fralin and Lollar single coils but have never tried their humbuckers. I'm not crazy about Fralins in general though. What's the specs on those Pure PAF's? Haven't checked their specs, but I've heard them in several guitars, and they kill. I don't get too technical with my sound. I just go with what sounds good to my ears. My next paf 'bucker will be from Mr. Fralin's lab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuz Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 Fralins are known to be bright toned pickups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyGrass Posted September 20, 2012 Share Posted September 20, 2012 I've never heard of someone who is not impressed by Fralins. Hmm. I can see how any one of his pickups might not be the top choice for an individual, but he makes some great pickups. I use his underwound PAFs on a semi-hollow and they're great. He custom wound the bobbins asymmetrically but not quite as much as he does with his Unbucker. It splits very nicely. I have two sets of P92s, one with standard winding and one underwound. I love the sounds. In my opinion the best way to buy Fralins is to talk to the boss at the shop. Let him know what you are shooting for. Don't just order the stock pickups. They don't charge extra for custom wraps. And they like talking to customers. BTW, Lollar is the same way. I've never had an inclination to look at any other custom pickup shop, although there are many others with good reputations. My advice is learn to solder! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxmax Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 mine weights 9lbs 5oz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamison162 Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 I've never heard of someone who is not impressed by Fralins. Hmm. My advice is learn to solder! As they say, there's a first time for everything. I prefer Lollar's to Fralin single coils (I suspect due to the fact the Lollar degausses his strat pickups and Fralins are full strength and sound harsh/strident compared to Lollars). But the Vintage Hot's are a good baseline pickup. There's just way too much out there to try these days. Suhr makes some nice single coils too as does Mare and Klein's Epic series. But back to humbuggies, I own/owned several SD including Antiquities, Seth Lovers, WCR Darkburst/Crossroads, Wolfetone Legends Marshallheads, Sheptone and Zhangbucker, not to mention the Classic 57. All great, great pickups that anyone including myself could live with....but there's still a few I've yet to try, hahaha! And I've been soldering for, gees, 22 yrs now.....but I'm still in my 30's! Carry on tone prophets! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyGrass Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 I don't have much experience with Fralin single coils. If you can solder, that's half the battle my friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Any advice on a really good, clear PAF voiced pickup that still has some punch and output behind it? jamison I was going to suggets wolfetone marshallheads, but I see you already have a set....my faves of his are wolfetone legends, but they are more vintage output back to the weight: I've never weighed my guitars but for 150's I'd guess 8-11 lbs average I know Gibson grades their mahogany bodies by weight, for various models...the LPC's all get spec'd > 10 lb bodies nowadays, although I don't think that was the case in the '50's not sure if Heritage has different specs for 157 vs 150 body weight...I don't see why they would? i use a 3" strap so it spreads it out a bit, is very comfortable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewGuy Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Lindy Fralins in here... Jason Lollar's in my Epiphone.Casino....love em both Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolero Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 hahaha, is that a violin bow, too? lets hear you do "train kept a rollin'" !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koula901 Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 I use to believe that Jimmy Pages tone was always his Les Paul tone, until I heard him play a Strat ..his tone still sounded like J.Page ~~ and, I believe, Jimmy Page uses 9 guage strings. go figure! Billy Gibbons uses 7's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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