Guitar Weights

awagner

Senior Member
Platinum Supporting
Joined
Oct 18, 2012
Messages
1,722
Reaction score
2,106
Location
Westchester, NY
Guild Total
40
I just got a digital luggage scale and I figured I would weigh my guitars in case anyone was interested.

The weights are in pounds. The D60 and D80-12 have active pickup systems with a battery pack, so that probably adds some weight. The DV72 has a passive UST so the weight effect is probably negligible.

First the dreadnoughts:

[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]DV72 - 5.8[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]DV72-MK - 5.6[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]D55 - 6.0[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]D60 -5.6[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]D70 - 5.4
D70-12 - Out for repairs[/FONT]
[/FONT]

[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]D80-12 - 6.5[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]D100- 5.2[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=.SF UI Text]
[/FONT]
 

GardMan

Enlightened Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2006
Messages
5,359
Reaction score
959
Location
Utah
Guild Total
5
Couple years back, I weighed all my dreads. Your weights fall into the range I saw for my '80s & '90s Westerly dreads... which all fell into the 5.5-6 lb range. My lightest dread was (and still is) my '72 D-35, which weighs in at 4.3 lbs.
 

awagner

Senior Member
Platinum Supporting
Joined
Oct 18, 2012
Messages
1,722
Reaction score
2,106
Location
Westchester, NY
Guild Total
40
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]And now the jumbos:

F50R - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]5.4[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]JF100 - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]5.8[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]JF100-12 - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]6.4[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]F212XL - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]6.0[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]F312 - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]5.3[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]F412 - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]7.2[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]F512 - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]6.6[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]F512 (Florentine) - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]6.6[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]F612 - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]6.8[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]GF55 - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]5.4[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]F65CE - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]5.7[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]
[/FONT]
 

walrus

Reverential Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Dec 23, 2006
Messages
23,957
Reaction score
8,020
Location
Massachusetts
How abut your '71 Les Paul? It must weigh a ton!

walrus
 

Rich Cohen

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2015
Messages
3,147
Reaction score
2,279
Location
Charlottesville, VA
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]And now the jumbos:

F50R - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]5.4[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]JF100 - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]5.8[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]JF100-12 - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]6.4[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]F212XL - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]6.0[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]F312 - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]5.3[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]F412 - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]7.2[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]F512 - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]6.6[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]F512 (Florentine) - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]6.6[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]F612 - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]6.8[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]GF55 - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]5.4[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=.SF UI Text][FONT=.SFUIText]F65CE - [/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]5.7[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=.SFUIText]
[/FONT]
My NH F 412 weighed only 5.5 lbs. Almost 2 lbs lighter than your early Westerly F 412.
 

awagner

Senior Member
Platinum Supporting
Joined
Oct 18, 2012
Messages
1,722
Reaction score
2,106
Location
Westchester, NY
Guild Total
40
My NH F 412 weighed only 5.5 lbs. Almost 2 lbs lighter than your early Westerly F 412.

It is a tank. It was weighed a while ago by my repair guy, so I will check it again when I get it back. The first restoration by another made it playable, but the work was shoddy so my main guy is doing it right this time.

I am surprised it weighs more than the F612. Also surprised at the weight of the F65CE, considering its small size and thin body (although it does have the installed Fishman system). My maple guitars have no bracing as well. I assume this means that maple/maple laminate is heavier than rosewood.
 
Last edited:

adorshki

Reverential Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
34,176
Reaction score
6,791
Location
Sillycon Valley CA
Also surprised at the weight of the F65CE, considering it's small size and thin body (although it does have the installed Fishman system). My maple guitars have no bracing as well. I assume this means that maple/maple laminate is heavier than rosewood.
I suspect the neck plays a role there, too.
But yeah I was kind of surprised by heavy mine is, especially compared to the D40.
It's been said that laminates are heavier than solids by definition because of the glue, but I'm not convinced that's the case. I just can't believe the glue adds that much weight.
D40's definitely the heaviest of the bunch and it's flatback (solid) compared to arch on the D25, with basically identical wood formulas. (Granted who knows what other factors may be at play including an active UST system, although it's heaviest even without battery)
Appreciate the specs, though.
The surprise to me was the D35, although that would tend to confirm reports of lighter build style in the early '70's.
 
Last edited:

70man

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2013
Messages
931
Reaction score
1
Location
North Island ,NZ
Awagner . Great to see the effort put in to weight the herd.OK, I'll bite,What ever made you think of weighting them?.You must have far too much time on your hands.Hahahaha.It is great though for public knowledge.
What's the D70-12 having done to it?
70man
 

awagner

Senior Member
Platinum Supporting
Joined
Oct 18, 2012
Messages
1,722
Reaction score
2,106
Location
Westchester, NY
Guild Total
40
Awagner . Great to see the effort put in to weight the herd.OK, I'll bite,What ever made you think of weighting them?.You must have far too much time on your hands.Hahahaha.It is great though for public knowledge.
What's the D70-12 having done to it?
70man

I've been asked about the weight of some of the guitars before and I was curious myself. The luggage scale makes it real easy to weigh them.

the D70-12 is having an LR Baggs Element system installed with new tone and volume pots to replace the outdated original Fishman system. This will allow me to utilize the stock knobs.
 

kostask

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2006
Messages
1,018
Reaction score
484
Les Pauls, at least the early ones (pre-1995) are very heavy guitars. They have been known to weigh as much as 12 lbs. As far as I know, it is the only guitar to have a known medical condition assigned to it ("Les Paul Shoulder"). More recently, they have started to chamber Les Pauls, even the standard ones.
 

GAD

Reverential Morlock
Über-Morlock
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
22,594
Reaction score
17,815
Location
NJ (The nice part)
Guild Total
112
Les Pauls, at least the early ones (pre-1995) are very heavy guitars. They have been known to weigh as much as 12 lbs. As far as I know, it is the only guitar to have a known medical condition assigned to it ("Les Paul Shoulder"). More recently, they have started to chamber Les Pauls, even the standard ones.

"Early" Les Pauls are from the '50s. :) It's those Norlin-era Les Pauls that are the heavy ones, and there have been some more than 12 pounds for sure - especially the Customs. I played with a guy in the '80s with a 13+ pound Custom. It felt like this when it let me try it:

latest



Modern Les Pauls are generally not chambered unless they're Cloud-9, Supreme or Elegant models. They are, however, often weight relieved and look like this on the inside:

ris._9_0.jpg
 

walrus

Reverential Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Dec 23, 2006
Messages
23,957
Reaction score
8,020
Location
Massachusetts
Got to wonder if the chambered Bluesbirds of the late 90's and early 00's influenced Gibson at all...

walrus
 

adorshki

Reverential Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
34,176
Reaction score
6,791
Location
Sillycon Valley CA
Got to wonder if the chambered Bluesbirds of the late 90's and early 00's influenced Gibson at all...

walrus

Yeah, and those 2 on the far right look as if they are chambered.
I remember seeing some of those patterns before but not those 2.
So what constitutes "chambered", GAD?
 
Top