It has become an industry standard, otherwise known as the Gibson Les Paul. Gibson was well aware of its popular heavy weight and actually tried to mitigate the problem without affecting its inherent tone. From 1982 to 2007, all Gibson Les Pauls made in the United States were redesigned to reduce their weight by removing 2 or 3 pounds of mahogany from the interior before the maple top was attached to the body. Since 2007, the company has gone even further by introducing a lighter weight chambered body that can be up to 5 pounds lighter. Although not everyone was happy with the change, arguing that it had an adverse effect on tone, many welcomed the difference and embraced the new, articulate sound of the lighter Les Pauls.
Moving on to other tonewoods, alder, ash, and basswood tend to be lighter. Furthermore, each also reinforces, reflects, and conducts a different signature pattern of frequencies which in turn significantly influences the sound of any guitar built from them. So, with that being said, it is switzerland email list the tonal characteristic of the wood and not the weight that conveys the tone. For example, Fender’s popular Stratocasters and Telecasters unabashedly rely on the clean transparency of ash and the balanced spectrum of alder for their tone as much as they do on their signature single-coil pickups or even the body design itself for that matter. You’ll still be able to find a Strat or Tele that weighs a couple of pounds more than average, but even then, it’s still going to sound very much like a Strat or Tele.
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But in the end, it's the quality of the wood that has a much bigger impact on tone than its actual weight. Just like no two trees are 100% identical, no two pieces of similar wood will have exactly the same sonic properties. While older, lighter, better-seasoned wood will likely make a better instrument, the good news is that the basic quality of the wood used by major guitar makers isn't a huge issue. Otherwise, two guitars made from the same batch of wood can have noticeable differences in their weight, tone, and character - something that would cause massive headaches for guitarists and makers alike.