Neck/Shoulder injury - which models should I be looking at for consistent light weight?

drwiddly

Ibanez S Series are very light (I have a 23 year old MIJ S540) but you may not like the Wizard neck.
My PRS Custom 24 is very light but sounds huge as it's really resonant.
Steinberger Spirit is tiny but very playable and a great travel guitar. They benefit from a pick-up change if you're going to use it for gigs.

Blueingreen

drwiddly said:

Ibanez S Series are very light (I have a 23 year old MIJ S540) but you may not like the Wizard neck.
My PRS Custom 24 is very light but sounds huge as it's really resonant.
Steinberger Spirit is tiny but very playable and a great travel guitar. They benefit from a pick-up change if you're going to use it for gigs.

I’ve never owned a Custom 24 but I did look hard at getting one at one time and didn’t find it easy to find one much under 8lbs. Your very light one may be less typical than you think.

SubsonicSimpleton

drwiddly said:

Ibanez S Series are very light (I have a 23 year old MIJ S540) but you may not like the Wizard neck.
My PRS Custom 24 is very light but sounds huge as it's really resonant.
Steinberger Spirit is tiny but very playable and a great travel guitar. They benefit from a pick-up change if you're going to use it for gigs.

I was quite intrigued by the Ibby S series when I first saw them in the early 90s, those wafer thin bodies must save a huge amount of weight, but they did seem to be aimed at jazz fusion shredders with a heavy penchant for 80s glam metal fashion sense - never actually had a chance to play one in the flesh as the only one I saw was on a luthiers bench having it's headstock repaired after snapping along the dotted line created by the locking nut.

ToneControl

SubsonicSimpleton said:

drwiddly said:

Ibanez S Series are very light (I have a 23 year old MIJ S540) but you may not like the Wizard neck.
My PRS Custom 24 is very light but sounds huge as it's really resonant.
Steinberger Spirit is tiny but very playable and a great travel guitar. They benefit from a pick-up change if you're going to use it for gigs.

I was quite intrigued by the Ibby S series when I first saw them in the early 90s, those wafer thin bodies must save a huge amount of weight, but they did seem to be aimed at jazz fusion shredders with a heavy penchant for 80s glam metal fashion sense - never actually had a chance to play one in the flesh as the only one I saw was on a luthiers bench having it's headstock repaired after snapping along the dotted line created by the locking nut.

I bought one (with a conventional trem), couldn't play the neck, way too thin.
Also I hated the pickups

drwiddly

ToneControl said:

SubsonicSimpleton said:

drwiddly said:

Ibanez S Series are very light (I have a 23 year old MIJ S540) but you may not like the Wizard neck.
My PRS Custom 24 is very light but sounds huge as it's really resonant.
Steinberger Spirit is tiny but very playable and a great travel guitar. They benefit from a pick-up change if you're going to use it for gigs.

I was quite intrigued by the Ibby S series when I first saw them in the early 90s, those wafer thin bodies must save a huge amount of weight, but they did seem to be aimed at jazz fusion shredders with a heavy penchant for 80s glam metal fashion sense - never actually had a chance to play one in the flesh as the only one I saw was on a luthiers bench having it's headstock repaired after snapping along the dotted line created by the locking nut.

I bought one (with a conventional trem), couldn't play the neck, way too thin.
Also I hated the pickups

The necks are a bit Marmite and I didn't like the pickups much either. Mine has Oil City pickups in it.

johnhe

I broke my shoulder a couple of years ago. So anything over 8lbs is a no-go for me nowadays. This wasn’t a big issue when I played mainly strats, but when I wanted a Les Paul type grunt, then things became tricker.

anyway, here’s what I’ve learned, post broken shoulder:

- The stretchy neoprene straps made by Neotech are much better for reducing shoulder strain than even the wide Levy’s type straps. My local shop stocks them, but you can also buy them on Amazon. I can’t play any of my heavier guitars without these straps - even sub 8lb guitars.
- the way the guitar hangs matters as lot. I can actually play a heavier strat for longer and with less shoulder pain than a more lightweight Gibson, because the strap button is in a totally different place.
- if you want a real Les Paul tone with less weight, the 339 is a pretty good way to get close.

My latest acquisition is an Eastman SB59. Solid one-piece mahogany back, but only 7.69lbs. I was really grateful to Matt Novak and Andy at Music Street in Huntingdon. They weighed each of their stock Eastmans so I could choose the lightest.