As said above, strats are not heavy guitars. Some (A lot of) les pauls weigh twice as much as the average strat.

I would take the advice and either work on building up a bit, get a wider strap with a bit of padding, change your stance, and hike the guitar up. Or of course you could do all of these things. If you look around, there are plenty of very very slightly built guys using les pauls with no issues, and strats too.

The absolute LAST place I would look to make a change is in the guitar, since for one, they don't really get much lighter, and for two, the weight of a guitar has a VERY big effect on its tone and sustain. Theres a very good reason les pauls are so heavy, and its because that helps it sustain, and gives it that big, full character in the tone.

The only way to get good sustain out of a light guitar, is to build it as a maple neckthru, which makes its body heavier anyway, and then to give it basswood wings. This is all well and good but you'll find the resulting guitar is almost unusable because its so incredibly BRIGHT. It'll be like playing a guitar made of a swarm of bees itll be so harsh in the treble.

Edit - Also, light woods like basswood are VERY easy to damage. If you pick up an old ibanez from the 80s made of basswood, and look at the tremolo posts, you'll probably notice the holes those studs sit in, aren't perfectly round anymore, the stud will have moved forward slightly because the wood is so soft it can't take the ~200lbs of tension the strings put on the guitar. THe exceptions to this is if the guitar has been strung with very light guage strings for a long time, but that only makes the guitar more and more bright, increases the risk of string breakage, and generally thins out the tone, so you'll probably find thats not for you.

Lol
 

sorry to laugh!

you need to get a heavy guitar, practise more often standing up.
and stop being a p*ssy.
not trying to be mean, but it has to be said.
look at the size of Angus Young and the way he goes at it on stage.
an SG is not heavy but heavier than a strat. also i've seen Angus
manage a 335 on stage, and that guitar was almost bigger than him.

Sorry to laugh!

You need to get a hello kitty guitar, practice more often not sucking.
and stop being a w*nker.
Not trying to be mean, but it has to be said.
Look at the size of John Petrucci and the way he goes at it onstage.
An IBZ Petrucci is not heavy but lighter than a strat. Also I've seen petrucci
manage a musicman onstage, and that guitar is much smaller than him.

ok sheraton you don't have to be an ass. angus young is short but maybe 150 lbs?? somewhere around there, im barely pushing 105 lbs. angus young is a professional...i am not.
Anyways i still replaced my strat (sold it to my brother) for an Ibanez RG series, for the fact that i play more metal, and its more suited for that genre. It weighs the same as the strat but i got a wider cushioned strap...helps alot!! thanks guys for the advice. :)

How can someone think to be an ass for a question like this? This is a truly legitimate question for someone getting into guitar, and one I had myself when first starting out.

****ing attention whores.

Anyways, seems like all the good advice has been said. Stick to what people posted here, stratkid, and you can't go wrong.

sounds good. GB will be pleased to learn that there's a new Ibanez player on the site :thumb:

we're happy to answer any other questions as they arise (even if we sometimes seem a little rough around the edges with some replies).

Ibanez? Oh yes.

Though admittedly, I'm runnin further and further towards 'I NEED A CUSTOM', as opposed to being excited by the ibbys these days.

Though the new, European/Japanese only RGA427 looks very nice indeed...

GB, how do you feel about this interview?

i know you're addressing GB but there's so little of that interview that doesn't resonate 100% within me it's eerie. most definitely in regards to forging your own sound and wow is he ever spot on when he starts talking Hendrix.

Word. Homme is one of my idols because of the way he looks at the music he makes.