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I recently purchased a blonde 1958 Guild T100 with a Franz P90 style pickup that sounds really great. Warm yet slappy. Fully hollow, it weighs in at 5.2 lbs, and it got me to wondering what the lightest guitar out there might be? I'm thinking Gibson 125s and 330s and such must be pretty close. If you prefer a light guitar, why? If you don't, why not?
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11-22-2013 07:53 AM
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Ken Parker's archtops are about 3.5 lbs (and well balanced). Easily the lightest guitars I've ever played.
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Hi, Jim,
I've seen some vid clips of guitarists playing Parker archtops. Did you like playing them? If you had several thousand dollars lying around, would you buy one? They are certainly aesthetically remarkable!
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More than several thousands!
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BDLH is right in saying "more than several thousands". I believe the price is $30,000. The guitars are a remarkable achievement of engineering and design. Ken is a brilliant man who is completely devoted to advancing his ideals and ideas. I first played three of them at an event he hosted during NAMM 2012 and I was very impressed. I then had one loaned to me for use on my album so I had the opportunity to play it for about two weeks and I used it for four songs on the album. That being said, it's difficult for me to even consider the frame of mind that I would need to contemplate buying a $30,000 guitar. I've never had that kind of money and my wife describes me as "spending impaired". I also prefer top mounted pickups and controls with no pickguard (for very practical reasons: my hand constantly bumps the pick guard when I play single note lines) but I suspect Ken would accommodate that if I really wanted to spend a new Honda Accord to buy one
Originally Posted by Scot63
Here's a video that I did while I had the Parker. I believe it's still up on the Parker site.
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I think there are diminishing returns with light weight. Classical/Flamenco guitars can be extremely light (2-3 lbs), but we are talking about electric guitars, right? At a certain point, the guitar is so acoustically self-resonant that it loses functionality as an amplified instrument. The two modes are actually somewhat incompatible with each other.
There is a reason why a 10 lb Les Paul sustains the way it does, with rich bass, and a featherweight amplified acoustic guitar can sound really thin. Frankly, I've heard the Parkers played through an amplifier and don't find the sound impressive at all. Acoustically, YES, but that's why the usage context matters.
Serious classical guitarists often play acoustically (perhaps augmented with a high quality condenser mic) in a purposefully designed performance space. Nylon players like Earl Klugh opt for less acoustically rich - and heavier -guitars that amplify well using pickups.
Personally I think that 5-6 lbs is the lightest an electric guitar should be. And I won't play anything over 8 lbs at all.
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+1 Originally Posted by rpguitar
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Thanks for sharing insights and this clip, Jim! I'll start saving now, and maybe when I'm retired, twenty years or so from now, I'll be all set.
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Agree. Originally Posted by rpguitar
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Beautiful T100! A fully hollow, lightweight thin line with one single coil is very cool IMO and the Franz has many true devotees. Old Guild arch tops in good shape are among the best buys in the used market. Congratulations on a great find and it looks to be in great shape! If you're interested you might even be able to find a period correct pickguard on the net or: Originally Posted by Scot63
I've had good dealings with both of these Guild specialists.
Ken Nash
http://www.theguitarmechanic.com/Guildparts.html
Hans Moust in the Netherlands
http://www.guitarchives.nl/guitarsgalore/
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Benedettos are light, feel and sound great.
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i am an addict to 'light weight" guitars ... i have owned a good few and gig em , i have found and owned 2 vintage hofners one pictured above ...that were very light and the thinline in the pic above is also very light all hollow body which gives a lovely tone and is just so comfortable to play
so yes i could never gig or even want to own a heavy guitar , i have a light weight tele by tele standards and i find it "heavy" but thats as heavy a guitar i play
ok i only play jazz , so with full body guitars like hofner above , yes feedback can be an issue if i play loud... but careful positioning of my chair and amps sorts it out and the thinlines are no trouble at all .......
oddly enough even seated i find heavy guitars to be really uncomfortable
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Eastman AR371 is very light: mine is 2.3kg, or almost exactly 5 pounds.
N.
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My main guitar, chambered tele style, weighs 5.5lbs. Bad back and shoulder pushed me into it. My new esquire type custom build should arrive for Christmas, and be the same weight. Plays superbly, sounds great IMO.
What will be worth the most in 20years time, a Parker guitar or the remains of the Honda Accord?
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I would trade ALL my guitars for a Ken Parker. It's the most beautiful, perfect guitar I have seen and heard.
In terms of value, I may come up a bit short, unless that KP was used.
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What I like about the KP is that the clever headstock design can double as a cheese grater.
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Congrats on the Guild T100! It's a very cool guitar. Blonde too, mmmm.
Yours is about the same weight as my 1958 ES-225 with a single P-90. Makes sense, they share many similar specs, I believe.
What's the nut width on your T100?
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AlohaJoe, thanks for the parts recommendation. I think the pickguard is the only thing not original. Keira, like your Hofner a bunch; it looks like it plays like a dream. Eddie, the nut length is 1 5/8", really narrow. I've never played an ES-225, but they certainly look a lot a like. So far, I've been really happy with the T100
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That's a very cool looking Guild!
And nice shirt too.
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I've gone to lighter guitars. I gave up my Gibson L6 for a PRS Semi-Hollow (less than 6 lbs) and my Ibanez AFS75 I chose over a Epi Dot primarily because of the weight at the time (and never looked back. Much better overall). I also gave up on my tele because it's heavier than the other two, and I wasn't wanting to play it as often. If I go tele again it will be a semi. Parker solid bodies, though not in the same league as the Ken Parker, are very light also, and sustain as well as guitars that are much heavier.
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Speaking of light, The Allan Holdsworth headless Carvin (25 1/2" scale) is listed at 5.1 lbs (without trem)
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OK, buddy... For you, here's one used Parker archtop... "only" $25K! Originally Posted by NSJ
I would trade ALL my guitars for a Ken Parker. It's the most beautiful, perfect guitar I have seen and heard.
In terms of value, I may come up a bit short, unless that KP was used.
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having been a plank guy for so long, i don't have the weight issues most of you seem to. these days, 9 lbs is the where i sort of draw the line. anything above will give me pause, but i'll keep if its worth it. i won't go much higher than that, possibly no further than 9.5 lbs. i played a bass once that was around 13 pounds and it made me sad. also let a les paul go that was north of 10 lbs.
as far as archtops go, i think mine are kinda heavy, but it doesn't bother me because i'm such a tuff ass guy.
they're big and hollow, so the weight is distributed well. since i mostly play sitting down these days, i'll feel any guitar on my shoulder after a while just because i'm not used to it. my casino is in the 6lb range and it's almost disconcertingly light. my flat tops don't feel like anything at all.
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Not sure this is for jazz, but this should be lightweight :
http://www.branchguitars.com/about.html
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