Given the choice, are lighter guitars better???

[Shades of Blue]

Let's say you can choose between 2 guitars of the same model. Is the lighter guitar generally the better of the two? Would the heavier guitar be the better sounding? Does it matter?

My common sense would say that the lighter the acoustic, the more resonant, but I'm sure there is more to it than that. (No I have no NGD pending, just genuinely curious!!!

[Goodallboy]

I don't think there's a "better" guitar when lighter or heavier are your qualifiers.
I'm not sure asking which guitar is "better", no matter what the criteria, but that's another issue.

I've played great sounding, incredibly resonant guitars that are "heavier" built and the same with "lightly" built guitars.

[sid45]

I agree with your take ,lighter I feel resonates more, also its nicer to hold if its nice and light- even electric models can suffer from being to heavy, sid

[Kitchen Guitars]

Much is about bracing, what top wood, thickness of top wood and a bunch of other seasonings in the recipe

[vindibona1]

Originally Posted by Shades of Blue

Let's say you can choose between 2 guitars of the same model. Is the lighter guitar generally the better of the two? Would the heavier guitar be the better sounding? Does it matter?

My common sense would say that the lighter the acoustic, the more resonant, but I'm sure there is more to it than that. (No I have no NGD pending, just genuinely curious!!!

I would have to say in general, yes. A lighter guitar will have more resonance. But a lot depends on what aspects of the guitar are lighter. And a lot depends on what sound you expect from the guitar.

[SuperB23]

This is a very interesting question that I've pondered myself a bunch of times.

Over the years after owning over 370 high end acoustic guitars and playing some great prewar Martins and lots and lots of boutique brands, that a lot of the really great sounding instruments, the best that I've played have all been quite light weight. I used to joke with friends that the heavy guitars come with light cases and the light guitars come with heavy cases. You want the light guitars with heavy cases.

There are a few brands that engineer their tone using a bit more wood and weight than others that still manage to make amazing sounding instruments. I think of brands like McPherson as a main and extreme example of this.

Some brands that built ultra light instruments are Santa Cruz and a lot of the solo builders that came out of there like McAlister and others. TJ Thompson, Kim Walker and Wayne Henderson also built quite light weight instruments. These builders seem to capture the vintage sound better than others. The 1937 Martin D-18 I had was crazy light weight and one of the best I've played or owned. For a flat picking cannon this is where its at. Have you played a Santa Cruz Tony Rice Pro wow!!!!!! Light and just a cannon of an instrument!!!

Some are kind of in between like Goodall, Kevin Ryan, Froggy Bottom, Lowden, and a bunch of others. Not heavy but not ultra light. I find for fingerstyle playing its hard to beat these brands. I like larger bodied instruments from these brands with a full bass sound!!

My long winded 2 cents.

[Wade Hampton]

I own a Martin CS21-11 made of Madagascar rosewood with an Adirondack spruce top. That particular limited edition run of guitars was the first of Martin's CS Series guitars, and what they did is weigh all their wood stock and use only the lightest 10% of the sets that they had.

So it's an ultralight guitar for a rosewood dreadnought, and, yes, it's marvelously resonant. It's a far better guitar than I am a guitarist.


Wade Hampton Miller

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Shades of Blue

Let's say you can choose between 2 guitars of the same model. Is the lighter guitar generally the better of the two? Would the heavier guitar be the better sounding? Does it matter?

My common sense would say that the lighter the acoustic, the more resonant, but I'm sure there is more to it than that. (No I have no NGD pending, just genuinely curious!!!

Hi SoB

Lightly-built is not the same thing as Weighs-less. It has to do with bracing, & thickness of the top/sides/back, not pounds and ounces (or grams and kilo-grams).

Between two guitars at any given time, when you play them, you will be able to discern which sounds best, plays best, has the most responsiveness, sustain, projection etc.

It's an easy test to administer…and if you have someone else play them for you while you sit across from them, you can pick up on things like projection and the tone as it sounds to the room.

[tomiv9]

Between two of the exact same models, around the same age, i doubt very much you could tell any weight difference without a pretty accurate scale. I think other factors like top or bracing stiffness, would have a greater affect on sound then the very slight weight difference.

[llew]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

I own a Martin CS21-11 made of Madagascar rosewood with an Adirondack spruce top. That particular limited edition run of guitars was the first of Martin's CS Series guitars, and what they did is weigh all their wood stock and use only the lightest 10% of the sets that they had.

So it's an ultralight guitar for a rosewood dreadnought, and, yes, it's marvelously resonant. It's a far better guitar than I am a guitarist.


Wade Hampton Miller

I owned one of those too Wade...extremely light and resonant. If it had been forward shifted instead or rearward I'd still have it?!?

[RussL30]

I’m not sure how much it really matters. My small body Gibson is lighter than a feather and is extremely resonant and loud for a small body. I have a Gibson dread that weighs a ton and it’s very loud and reasonable as well.

Some of the most reasonant and ringing guitars I’ve ever played are old Westerly Guilds that feel like they weigh two tons.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by llew

I owned one of those too Wade...extremely light and resonant. If it had been forward shifted instead or rearward I'd still have it?!?

Well, in addition to the CS21-11 I own a Custom Shop D-18 with an Adirondack top that does have the forward-shifted braces, and there's definitely a difference in how the two guitars present. But the main reason that I own the CS21-11 is that it was the favorite guitar of a dear friend of mine who passed away, and his widow wanted me to have it.

It's an extraordinary instrument in every respect, which is why I wanted to get it, but it also serves as a memento and keepsake.


whm

[archerscreek]

Between two of the same model I would bet on the lighter one sounding better unless the difference in weight was caused by the heavier one having a V neck while the lighter one had a skimpy one. V necked guitars always sound better. Haha

[llew]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Well, in addition to the CS21-11 I own a Custom Shop D-18 with an Adirondack top that does have the forward-shifted braces, and there's definitely a difference in how the two guitars present. But the main reason that I own the CS21-11 is that it was the favorite guitar of a dear friend of mine who passed away, and his widow wanted me to have it.

It's an extraordinary instrument in every respect, which is why I wanted to get it, but it also serves as a memento and keepsake.


whm

Well...that makes it even more special! What a great way to remember a dear friend...I'm sure you think of him every time you play it.

[Dirk Hofman]

While I tend to agree with the notion, the generality has too many exceptions to be a rule. My best guitars ever have both been very light and somewhat substantial.

That said, all things actually being equal, light guitars are an absolute joy to pick up and play.