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Post subject: guitar weight
Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 9:13 am
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i have a gibson les paul and i was wondering: how do you guys cope with your guitar's heaviness. i work out and the guitar is extremely easy for me to pick up (i can pick up things that weigh as much as i do - so i'm not weak and not working out is definitely not an issue) but after i play it standing up for a little while my entire left arm falls asleep and it really affects my playing. should i try a new strap? this problem doesn't happen every time i play but it keeps happening more often the more times i play while standing up. i love my guitar but i need to be able to play it! any help would be really nice.


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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 9:21 am
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I would say get a new strap that is padded in the shoulder region.


The weight of LP's is one of the main things that draws me away from them.

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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 9:21 am
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In my opinion the heavier the LP the better they sound, my LP weighs 10lbs.
If you use a wide strap (mine is 4 in. wide) it will distribute the weight better and ease any discomfort.

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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 9:43 am
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An excellent strap is really important.

Sitting down while playing (when you can) is really a good idea, as is putting it down during breaks.

'Play bass at practice / then Mass Saturday and a Line 6 Variax bass for 3 hours would be horrible without an excellent strap.

But seriously, you might want to also query your physician, especially if you are under 50 and otherwise robust. You might be pinching a nerve.


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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:06 am
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the weight of the lp is what turned me off about them before i ever new i was addicted to tele's. My dad is in the leather buisness and he makes a fair amount of my straps and they are all wide like 5 or 6'' wide, and i have no problem with them, i find even with my teles if i use a narrower strap for a long period my left arm gets a little rubbery feeling, i am a big endorser of a wide good quality leather strap.


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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:57 am
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Try a new strap, something wider and perhaps padded, and you may have to mess around with the strap's length too. When I was younger, I thought it was cool to wear the guitar as low as I could get it, but then after awhile I noticed my left wrist started hurting cause it was tweaked at a weird angle while playing since the guitar was lower or something. Sometimes an inch or 2 tighter or looser on the strap can make a world of difference. Personally I like heavy guitars, but I've always played heavy guitars. Part of the reason why I don't play my Schecter as much as my other guitars is that it feels too light, I just feel like I am holding onto a broomstick or something...

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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 12:21 pm
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For sure get a wide padded strap. Stay away frome the cheap specials
at the music store. My LP Custom Plus is so heavy it needs to be
wide. Also try different positions to wear it as you play.


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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 12:53 pm
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The Gibson Les Paul is almost a full pound heavier than the Fender Strat. I remember playing a LP for several hours one night and my shoulder was killin me afterward. This never occurred with any of my Strats.

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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 12:57 pm
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My LP was my main guitar for about 15 years and a really wide strap helped a lot. But, after awhile I still had problems. Now, I just use the LP for recording and use a Gretsch 6120 and a Strat on stage.


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Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:00 pm
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:shock:

When you're playing the guitar is so heavy your arm falls asleep.

:shock:

That's the weight of the guitar cutting off the circulation in your veins and arteries.

:shock:

Bro' get a Strat and you will never have that problem. I can play for hours - standing up, sitting down, standing up again - and I cannot even imagine the guitar cutting off my circulation.

Seriously, Les Paul has it's own sound and I respect plenty of people who love them, but my Highway One with Texas Specials and five springs in the tremolo is an unbelievable musical instrument - pure clean for Bridge Over Troubled Water or worship music, a few fun surf tones, more gain for some classic blues tones, and excellent SRVish tone with the gain up near 12 on the Blues Junior, which is a very clean amp. All that, and it's always comfortable - like you don't even notice it's there. A good quality Strat will never get in the way and will help you become one with the instrument making music.


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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 8:11 am
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For my LP, I use a strap that has a soft leather underbelly (I don't like the padded ones). But, mostly I just deal with it. The heft of the LP is one of its charms to me.

But I also play a Strat, which is much lighter.


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Posted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 6:39 pm
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I use a 3 inch wide, thin leather strap that molds to my shoulder.
And no problems. Well, except until recently, when I injured my shoulder--I can play again--but even my acoustics are too heavy to stand with on a strap.
But until I got hurt, no problem. Hopefully it gets better and I can strap them on again. Until then I sit.

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Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 9:23 pm
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Hello Harmonicchaos,

I'm most always seated when I play
so weight has never a consideration.

Cheers.


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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:05 pm
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Correct me if I'm wrong but I remember reading somewhere that the standard line Les Pauls have all been chambered since the 90s?


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Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:08 pm
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Highbinder wrote:
Correct me if I'm wrong but I remember reading somewhere that the standard line Les Pauls have all been chambered since the 90s?


There may have been some, but I don't think they started doing them until a year or so ago.

Mine is a 2001 and it is not chambered.

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