The weight of the electric guitar can affect the tone and playability of a guitar
Here’s a comprehensive guide to average electric guitar weights and why it matters
Electric guitars weigh an average of 8 pounds (36 kg) and typically weigh between 6 and 12 pounds (27 – 55 kg)
One of the lightest models is the Gibson SG, weighing 6 pounds (27 kg), and one of the heaviest is the Les Paul, which weighs up to 12 pounds (4 kg)
Electric Guitar Model Medium Weight Gibson SG6 lbs (27 kg) Squier Telecaster 65 lbs (29 kg) Squier Stratocaster 7 lbs (32 kg) Ibanez RG Series 7 lbs (32 kg) Fender Stratocaster 8 lbs (36 kg) Fender Telecaster (36 kg) Fender Telecaster 386 kg) lbs (36 kg) Epiphone Dot 8 lbs (36 kg) Gibson Flying V8 lbs (36 kg) Fender Jazzmaster 8 5 lbs (39 kg) Gibson ES-3359 lbs (41 kg) PRS Custom 249 lbs (41 kg) Epiphone Les Paul 9 lbs (41 kg) Yamaha Pacifica 11 lbs (5 kg) Gibson Les Paul9-12 lbs (4-55 kg)
What affects the weight of the guitar?
Therefore, there is quite a bit of weight variation between electric guitar models
For example, the Gibson Les Paul weighs over 9 pounds (45 kg) while the Gibson SG only weighs 6 pounds (36 kg)
How come two guitars of the same brand vary so much in weight?
There are several main factors that affect the weight of a guitar:
Wood Body and Neck First let’s start with the type of wood the guitar is made of
Most electric guitar bodies are made from ash, alder, basswood, mahogany or maple
If you’re looking for a lightweight guitar, you’ll usually find that the body is made from basswood, alder, or ash
Mahogany is a heavier wood, you’ll find that in Les Paul’s
Although maple is the heaviest, an ES-335 is a good example of a maple body guitar
Guitar body Wood Average weight (lbs/ft3) Linden25 Alder28 Ash (bog)30 Mahogany40 Maple45
It is also important to remember the wood of the neck
Most guitar necks are made of mahogany or maple
Again, maple necks are the heavier of the two, but mahogany is by no means a light wood
Body Size and Type OK, so why are some guitars very light, but have a maple body?
Well, it comes down to body size and type
Let’s start with body type first
There are three main types of electric guitars: hollow, semi-hollow, and solid
Hollow guitars are more closely related to acoustics, but instead of a sound hole, they still have pickups
They are usually quite large, but the inside is hollow, so they don’t weigh that much Semi-hollow body guitars have some wood inside
It really depends on what semi-hollow guitar you are dealing with Solid bodies are the heaviest of the three types, because they are obviously much denser
Here you can see the “f-holes” commonly seen on hollow and semi-hollow electric guitars
Take the Les Paul and the SG for example
Both have mahogany bodies and two humbucker pickups, but the Les Paul weighs half as much as the SG This is due to the design of the body
The Les Paul has a single cutaway body, while the SG has a double cutaway design, so there is more wood adding weight to the Les Paul The LP also has a much thicker body compared to the SG
The body of the Les Paul is about 25 inches thick, while the SG is only about 15 inches thick
Hardware This isn’t the biggest factor in determining the weight of an electric guitar, but it can make a bit of a difference, but usually less than half a pound or so
Does weight affect tone?
Well, one of the main things that weight can affect is the tone of the electric guitar
Heavier guitars tend to be heavier because they are made from thicker pieces of wood
Heavier guitars tend to have a fuller, warmer tone for this reason
You’ll also remember that solid-body guitars are heavier than semi-hollow and hollow-body guitars
Solid body guitars have better sustain and less feedback than hollow body designs
Hollow and semi-hollow guitars tend to suffer from feedback when you turn up the distortion or volume of your amp, due to the space behind the pickups
They tend to sound warmer and lower than solid guitars as they are more closely related to acoustic guitars Check out this article I wrote about the differences between semi-hollow body and hollow body guitars for more information on this topic
If you have a fairly small frame and choose a 12lb Les Paul, you may struggle after a while when your shoulders start to hurt It can also be a problem when you are sitting down and the guitar is resting on your leg
Therefore, lighter guitars are usually a better choice if you are concerned about playability
After all, you can do a lot to change the tone of your guitar by using different amp settings or effects pedals, but there’s not much you can do to make a guitar lighter
So we touched on the different weights of different models of electric guitars at the beginning of the article, but now let’s go into a more detailed explanation
I’ll go through the main models and explain why they weigh so much (or so little) and what that means for playability and tone
We go from heaviest to lightest, starting with the Gibson SG
The Gibson SG weighs 6 pounds (27 kg) on average, making it one of the lightest electric guitars available
The mahogany body width of an SG is a touch less than 15 inches
It also has a fairly short scale of 2475 inches, so it’s generally quite a small electric guitar
The Squier Telecaster weighs 65 pounds (29 kg) on average, making it a light guitar The main reason for this is the wood tone
Most Squier Teles are made from alder or ash, and the cheaper models are made from basswood, which is very light
The scale length is longer than the SG, at 255 inches, so it’s a little bigger, but the single-coil pickups are a pretty delicate bridge that keep it pretty light
The Squier Stratocaster weighs 7 pounds (32 kg)
It’s lightweight because it has a contoured double-cutaway body, so there’s not much that adds to the weight of this guitar
Ibanez guitars are pretty light, and this RG Series is no different, weighing in at 7 pounds (32 kg)
This is mainly due to the thin body and also the super thin neck
The RG series has a fairly large scale length of 265 inches, which makes it a touch heavier than you would expect for a normal double-cutaway slim body
The Fender Stratocaster weighs 8 pounds (36 kg) on average
This is the standard weight for most electric guitars
Strats have a fairly light body due to the alder/ash wood, double cut design and contoured shape
What makes them a touch heavier than you’d expect is the maple neck and fingerboard
The Fender Telecaster weighs 8 pounds (36 kg) on average
This is a fairly moderate sized electric guitar with a light body (Alder/Ash) and a heavier neck (Maple) giving it a fairly balanced weight
The hardware is quite light as the single coil pickup and bridge design are not too heavy
The Gibson Flying V weighs around 8 pounds (36 kg) on average While the body isn’t too big, it’s a bit thicker than the SG at just over 15 inches
However, it has a rather thick C-shaped rounded neck, which definitely adds to the weight
The Fender Jazzmaster weighs approximately 85 pounds (39 kg), so slightly more than a Strat or Tele
It has a thicker body than the Strat, and a heavier bridge
The PRS Custom 24 weighs approximately 9 pounds (41 kg)
This is due to the mahogany body and neck, as well as the dual humbucker pickups and tremolo bridge
You also get a maple top on the body, making it even heavier
Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul guitars weigh between 4-55kg (9-12lbs), making them one of the heaviest electric guitars available
This is due to the thick mahogany body, which is about 25 inches wide
The single-cut design also adds some weight, in addition to the chunky rounded neck and large headstock
Guitar Center is always the first place I look when I’m interested in a new electric guitar because they have a wide variety of models for sale and always have great deals
This is what the average guitar weighs!