light guitars
 

hello im looking to buy another guitar. i have a fender strat and the reason i want to replace it is because it's a bit too heavy for me. im a little guy so im looking for lighter guitar. i believe the weight of my strat is roughly 10 lbs. if anyone has any suggestions on lighter guitars it would be appreciated. :)

A strat, heavy?

Do yourself a favor and never buy a Les Paul.

The majority of Ibanez are fairly light, but there is a ratio between the density of a guitar's body wood and the quality of it's tone/sustain. Maybe a semi-hollowbody would work out well with you, like a Fender Tele Thinline or an Epiphone Sheraton just to name a couple random models out of many that are out there.

+1

Also, OP, how exactly is the weight affecting you? Through the strap digging in? If so, you could always buy a wide, padded strap which will help A LOT.

One of the bands I was in a long while back, our guitarist actually used a Les Paul onstage and he'd have bruises by the end of the gig... he switched straps to a superwide padded strap and it helped alleviate most of his problems... but when comparing a Les Paul to a Fender, I'd say you'd be more successful in that realm if that's the issue behind your inquiry.

well after 30 min of practicing standing up, my neck and shoulder start to hurt.

Well I won't deny that the downward pressure is still going to happen whether you have a thin strap or a wide one, but I'd suggest changing straps before changing guitars, first, as a mater of cost and experimentation.

Consider a Danelectro. I have a 56-U2 and everyone is shocked at how light it is. I'm not sure of the actually weight since I've never weighed it but they're apparently around 6 lbs. The actions great and it's just plain sexy. Mines one of the first reissues from the early 2000s or late 90s with the wooden bridge. The newer models and the black necked reissues are quite a bit heavier.

As stated, a wider/padded strap will do you wonders.

what kind of posture do you use?

are you slouching forward? one foot in front of the other? do you move a lot when you practice or just stand still? how low do you keep the guitar (chest / waist / knees)? do you have osteoporosis or scoliosis?

if a strat on a strap is causing you pain in your neck and shoulder within a half hour i'm pretty sure the problem isn't the guitar. you either have weak bones and a complete lack of upper body strength or you're posing/grooving in a way that the full weight of the instrument + the force of whatever movement is being channeled and focused onto your collarbone.

as said many times before a wider strap could alleviate some of the issues, same with a minor vertical adjustment (upwards). really though, the average strat is about 8 pounds, something is not right if that minimal of a weight is causing major issues.

^ I've found especially that a low slung guitar causes me more neck problems after a while than if I sling it higher up where I'm not straining to achieve a natural strum. So that's definitely another consideration that ties into what you've said.

Overall, the OP should consider low cost solutions like the strap, and experiment with posture like you said, and experiment with sling height before choosing to buy a whole new guitar.

If you want light get an Sg style. They are like your holding nothing.

meh... SGs are super neck heavy.