I bought a Squier Esprit off ebay and the guitar is headstock-heavy. Of course it's a discontinued model so there weren't any to try out first. Had I known, I would have probably passed on it. That kind of thing drives me nuts.

I would just like to hear some of your ideas about what a good way to balance it out might be. I kind of figure I'm going to get a few responses like "just sell it". Well ok, That's what I did with my last guitar that was like that. And unless I can balance this one, it will have to go. But before making that decision, I just wanted to ask if anyone here has fixed that kind of thing before. With the last guitar I had with this problem, I tried putting the strap button higher up on the body, and I ended up with two bottom strap buttons, problem not solved.

I may be a woodworker, but not so much of an engineer. Funny thing to me is how the problem is commonly called "headstock heavy" when obviously, it's not really heavier than the body.

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Hiya Shredd

One thing that I've always found that works wonders on headstock heavy guitars, is strap placement. Also the kind of material the strap is made from has a huge bearing on the headstock plummeting to the floor.

Nylon and leather tend to slip on the shoulder. Suede and nubuck offer the best shoulder grip.
Strap button placement also can make huge differences. It's not something I'd want to experiment on a new guitar with though. If you raise the body's strap button up a couple of inch. Or move it to the back of the body, halfway between the trem cavity and the original strap button position, you should notice a difference.

As a temporary test, you could gaffatape the strap onto different parts of the body, till you find a position that is comfortable.

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No no and no

try a wide leather strap it helps with my epi sg400 , i also replaced the groover tuners with snot greens , they were a lot lighter than those chrome grovers , you could also try putting some lead into the body to try and counterbalance the effect . hth
Alan

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Hi Shredd: I find this a very interesting issue. Two suggestions.

The first is: I used to know a well respected tech where I live, and he mentioned that he always uses vintage style tuners because that small difference in weight has what to him is a critical effect on the weight of the headstock. In his case that was to do with a bad lower spine - man, it must have been bad for a few grams to make an important difference!

But then as you say, it is an issue of balance, and a tiny amount can be just what tips it one way or the other.

So what kind of tuners do you have on there at present?

The other suggestion is to emphasise what the others have said about straps. The odd thing is I find the perfect ones from this point of view are the bog-standard Fender logo ones that come as standard with new Fenders. These:

http://www.fender.com/products/search.p ... 0990683000

To me those "monogram" straps have the perfect combination of grippiness to stickiness on the shoulder. You can slide them to where you want them and then they stay put, near enough. I actually don't like suede on the underside of a strap: it is too grippy and I can't shift the guitar at all without rucking my shirt up ( ).

All of that is fortunate - cos I happen to have armloads of those monogram straps!

Cheers - C

Change the angle you have the the guitar on your shoulder. Make the head higher up, closer to your head.

get a wide leather strap and raise the angle maybe?

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riley

There's a new strap being made specifically for neck-heavy guitars like SGs etc. I saw it advertized just recently,I'll try to find the ad and post the link.The strap has counter weights at one end to balance the guitar.
Edit:Here you go I found it ,it's called The Reverend Heads up Strap and it retails for $49 you can find them at www.reverendguitars.com I need one for my Epi G400 Custom,every time I let go of the guitar the neck heads South.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Hey, thanks to everyone for your input. It was very helpful.

I did find a way to balance the guitar enough for me to tolerate it. I don't have a camera right now to show what I did. It was stolen last weekend at a gig. But I think I can describe it enough to get the picture.

I used a spare neck ferrule from an Ibanez I used to have and put a Dunlop strap-lock over the top of it and installed it on the horn. It extended the strap enough toward the neck that the guitar balances good enough for me to handle it. It kind of looked funky at first, but it did work and I didn't have to add any extra weights anywhere or drill any extra holes.

It's not 100% balanced, but close enough. I'll seek out a good strap to help a little more. Even with a cotton strap, it doesn't bother me now and that's the main thing.

Once again, thanks for the replies. This forum is always a lot of help.

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+1, Sg's are very uncomfotable to play standing up.

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riley

i have to disagree with you on that one riley the sg is one of the most comfy guitars i have ever played standing up , it's light , it has tremendous tone and bite and it just fits the bill for me when my back is giving me trouble , Stick with it mate , try different hights and angles of holding it , when you find the right combo you will know

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i agree, great tone, but whenever i let go off it, the neck goes down to the ground. i am playing it at the moment and have been for like 1 month so i kinda got used to it

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riley

The SG is a great player-I prefer it to the Les Paul-as long as you keep holding on to the neck but that doesn't make playing it standing a problem for me but it's hard to remember at all times not to let go of the neck and that could be disasterous with the tendancy for Gibson necks to crack with minimum impact.At least the Epis have a bit more off a volute.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Ditto!

I had an SG that was very heavy in the neck and a wide strap with suede on the inside was the solution.

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2012 Fender American Standard Stratocaster
2013 Fender Pure Vintage 65 Stratocaster
2003 Gibson ES-355
2015 Gibson Les Paul Traditional
2002 Gretsch Duo Jet
1980 Rickenbacker 360/12 Fireglo
2014 Martin 000X1AE
2014 Fender Blues Junior III