Curious about weight of guitars

Billy Murdoch · Post by **Billy Murdoch** » 12 Mar 2020 1:10 am

I was speaking to a guy the other day who has a D10 Emmons which He may be selling.I have no interest in buying this instrument but I became curious about the weight of steel guitars He said it weighed a ton and did not give an accurate figure.
What are the heaviest weights of various instruments? I heard that Sho Bud D 10 was very heavy,is a Franklin D10 weighty ? any others which need a semi truck to transport
Best regards
Billy

Gene Tani · Post by **Gene Tani** » 12 Mar 2020 5:27 am

Oldy but goody. Course you can get a split case like that thread says, carry legs, pedal bar, rods etc separately.

viewtopic.php?t=235666

and viewtopic.php?p=2895517

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 12 Mar 2020 5:33 am

I have a Franklin D-10 and a GFI Ultra D-10. I have split cases for both (made of same material). Both the guitar bodies, in the case, weigh 46.2 lbs each. I didn't weigh the cases with the pedal bar, rods and legs as the cases are not the same physical size.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 12 Mar 2020 7:48 am

Jack,
That surprises me.
I thought some guys were buying GFI's because of the lighter weight.

Erv

Larry Bressington · Post by **Larry Bressington** » 12 Mar 2020 8:03 am

Most old school steels in the D10 weigh approx 70-80lbs in the case. A lot of that weight is in the case, i'd go with a plastic ABS case. Bare bones D10 out of the case approx 50-60 lbs up or down.

It's doable, split the cases with modern bulletproof plastic ones, get alloy legs, carry other accesories in a seperate tote, get a 2 wheeled cart.

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 12 Mar 2020 8:04 am

I have an Emmons push pull 8 + 5. It weighs nothing like my first two ZBs which were incredibly heavy. My D10 Sho~Bud Pro 111 is fairly heavy, but not excessively so. I have split cases for both my Emmons and my Sho~Bud plus my Zum. I love split cases and they do the job really well.

Brian Hollands · Post by **Brian Hollands** » 12 Mar 2020 9:14 am

I'm working on an ST12 push pull. Shipping weight in the case was 76lbs. I'd guess the box and packing materials were no more than 4 lbs.

Bill Cunningham · Post by **Bill Cunningham** » 12 Mar 2020 6:38 pm

My Mullen G2’s have 9+9 and I think they are about 60 lbs in the stock case. I definitely know that the body in a Red Dirt flight case is 62 lbs. because I have shipped it and airline checked it a few times.

I believe a 9+9 Emmons PP is about 90 lbs in the case, but not sure.

Garry Vanderlinde · Post by **Garry Vanderlinde** » 12 Mar 2020 10:14 pm

My old (young man) rig: '66 Emmons D-10 = 64# in case.

New (old man) rig: S-10 GFI keyless = 44# in case.

It's funny how 64#'s, 40 years ago seemed lighter than 44#'s now days!

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 12 Mar 2020 11:05 pm

Me too, Garry.
At school I was taught that weights and measures are constant, but it was a lie.
Who can you trust?

K Maul · Post by **K Maul** » 13 Mar 2020 4:27 am

Heaviest steel in the world. Baldwin Crossover. About 90lbs. But SO pretty!

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 13 Mar 2020 5:25 am

Probably heavier than that Crossover was my Fender 2000 pedal steel. It was so heavy that it came with split cases from the factory.

K Maul · Post by **K Maul** » 13 Mar 2020 5:36 am

Jack Stoner wrote:Probably heavier than that Crossover was my Fender 2000 pedal steel. It was so heavy that it came with split cases from the factory.

Jack.....yes. I had one for a little while. Ya got me beat there!

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 13 Mar 2020 6:39 am

Pedal steel guitars have got smarter.

My 1960s D10 was built like a battleship, sounded great, stayed in tune, but I couldn't lift it into the car.

Modern builders have figured out how to get the strength in the places it's needed while lightening the load elsewhere, which I guess is the object of all machinery development.

My Excel is an 8x8 uni so there's a lot of hardware underneath but it's less than 40lb in the case. Although my Williams has a heavier case, the actual guitar is just as light. Both sound great (different, but great) and stay in tune.

Larry Allen · Post by **Larry Allen** » 19 Mar 2020 1:45 pm

Even a case of beer is heavier every year!..My 2015 Excel S10 is 21 lbs, case is 12lbs....but I’m not going to Lite beer!

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 19 Mar 2020 2:24 pm

I never weighed my Millennium. but I seem to remember that the late Al Marcus once wrote that his weighed 19 pounds, without the case.

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 19 Mar 2020 3:28 pm

Larry Allen wrote:Even a case of beer is heavier every year!..My 2015 Excel S10 is 21 lbs, case is 12lbs....but I’m not going to Lite beer!

Larry, I like your attitude....lol

My steels have split cases and that is the best thing a player can do to distribute weight. I thought my Sierra Session with the Wheel Ease case was nifty, but then a gain, that was 20 years ago and weight didn’t matter

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 19 Mar 2020 4:28 pm

I don't really know the figures, but of the several I've owned, best as I can recall, they break down heaviest to lightest this way:

Baldwin x-over
2 Sierra 8+7 gearless elegante 14
3 or 4 Mullen PRP D10s
Derby D10 or Emmons p/p D10 toss up.
Zum D10
Lamar D10 keyless #1, short but wide.
MCI Rangexpander D10
Carter D10
Williams keyless D10

Mark McCornack · Post by **Mark McCornack** » 20 Mar 2020 8:46 am

I hazard to guess this one outweighs the player by a fair bit. Four handles (by extrapolation) and it looks like they chose Plaster of Paris or stuco to form the apron. That would have been my choice!

Kevin’s Baldwin Crossover weighed around 125 pounds when I dropped it off at the UPS shipping dock. Of course I also built a sturdy plywood coffin for it to endure the travels across country, and that added a bit too.

Richard Stoops · Post by **Richard Stoops** » 20 Mar 2020 4:34 pm

I have an Emmons LLG2 and a Rittenberry Light which was built for Mickey Adams. Can't tell you the exact weights, but the Rittenberry is lighter than the Emmons. Both are SD10's. Both are a lot lighter than the Wilcox I started out with. When the UPS guy delivered the Wilcox he sat it on the front deck. When I tried to pick it up the first time I thought he had nailed it to the floor. The guitar wasn't so bad by itself, but the case weighed a Texas sized ton. Beware of the weight of the case.

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 21 Mar 2020 4:15 pm

I've got two D-10 P/Ps, a '67 and '66, both bolt-ons. The '67 is peculiarly light in my experience with several other P/Ps I've owned, 41.2 lbs. with steel legs. I bought some aluminum legs and I'd bet it's closer to 40 lbs. now. The invoice number '66 is 44.6 lbs. with steel legs, also tending toward the light side I think.

Both ring and sustain great, probably the best two Emmons I've owned. Is it the 60's wood maybe?

Garry Vanderlinde · Post by **Garry Vanderlinde** » 21 Mar 2020 7:36 pm

Hey Bill, what's the invoice # on your '66?
Mine is 2255.

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 21 Mar 2020 7:56 pm

Franklin D10 without the case 36 lbs
Emmons Legrande III D10 without case 41 lbs

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 22 Mar 2020 6:18 am

Hey Garry, 2542.. depending on which expert you believe, some say that may even be an early '67. Whatev..

David Mitchell · Post by **David Mitchell** » 22 Mar 2020 6:22 am

I've owned about everything and I'd have to say the Fender 2000 was my heaviest even in split cases and the MSA D-12 Lacquer Classic with 10 knee levers was a close second. The Fender had no knee levers but I think they are still worth owning one today for that classic sound. They sound like no other with a top end that shimmers. It's built out of 1" ash mounted in a cast iron frame that weighs a ton. Fender fixed the cabinet drop problem in the early 1960's.

I can't believe people are tearing them apart and parting them out on eBay. Steel guitar ignorance I suppose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hngc9nBpaLA

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Curious about weight of guitars

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