seeking a Strat, only lighter

Strat-style guitars have a big range in weight, as you've pointed out. Do you know what your current MIM Strat weighs, as a starting point?

If you've already invested a lot of time/money in getting the neck and hardware just right on this current strat, what about just buying a lighter strat body and swapping neck and all current hardware to that new, lighter platform?

I haven't tried this myself, but some people drill shallow holes under the pickguard. The change in density might affect tone, though, plus you risk putting a hole through the body.

Another thing to consider, if applicable, is how you are wearing your guitar. Wearing it higher can help relieve back pain. It's free, too!

I haven't tried this myself, but some people drill shallow holes under the pickguard. The change in density might affect tone, though, plus you risk putting a hole through the body.

to start a 'bathtub' or universal pickup route will be lighter, alder is a pretty light wood, tends to be a bit lighter than poplar in my experience but it varies.... swamp ash tends to be quite light. and yes, you can route out weight relief under the pickguard, there are spots....

.... swamp ash tends to be quite light. and yes, you can route out weight relief under the pickguard, there are spots....

Swamp ash was what came to mind. There's gotta be someone out there who got a nice custom strat body for a frankenstrat they never got around to building. For example, I have a gorgeous alder strat body from MJT sitting in a drawer that I swear I will one day find a neck for (it's light AF... not for sale, sorry).

Any decent parts seller on Reverb or Ebay will list the exact weight of the body they are selling.

I would suggest something made of Basswood, I belive it's one of the lightest Body woods, maybe route out under the pickguard as eyeseeofficial suggested. Squier has one model called the Cyclone, it's basicly a Mustang body with Strat pickups and Jaguar switches, I know its not a Strat, but to my experince with Mustangs they have a thin, lightweight body. This guitar has the Strat pickups with a thin body and a tremolo which would relive more weight so... something to think of I guess.

So I've basically upgraded everything except for the electronics at this point.

I would also like to suggest somthing I posted on another forum topic:

Another idea I've had in my head is to modify a Strat with these Stacked Potentiometers. Basicly it's two pots stacked on top of each other and its got these split knobs so you could have a Volume and a Tone on top of each other, so you take three of these pots, do a bit of fancy wireing and then you have a Volume and Tone for each Pickup, add a 5-Way selecter switch and you have basicly the ultimate control Strat.

I got the idea from the new Paranormal Jazz Basses Squier relesed this year as it has the same kind of pots (look at it from a side angle).

I would suggest something made of Basswood, I belive it's one of the lightest Body woods, maybe route out under the pickguard as eyeseeofficial suggested. Squier has one model called the Cyclone, it's basicly a Mustang body with Strat pickups and Jaguar switches, I know its not a Strat, but to my experince with Mustangs they have a thin, lightweight body. This guitar has the Strat pickups with a thin body and a tremolo which would relive more weight so... something to think of I guess.

My personal experience with basswood is that, while it is indeed light, it is also soft AF. I had to take my pick guard off my basswood MIJ Strat a few times for various reasons, and by like the third time little chips/chunks of wood were coming off around the screw holes... and threads were shot on a few holes already... even though I was as careful as a brain surgeon in unscrewing/re-screwing by hand... and even the thick poly finish wasn't enough to protect it. It will ding just by looking at it funny.

Yeah, I think I have a finish chip by one of the screw holes on my Squier Mustang HH, but I've had it for a year come Christmas and I've taken the pickguard off maybe 5 times? and even put a new pearl one on and it seems fine.

Another thing: Have you ever tried a scalloped fretboard? Scalloping is where you carve the wood out from between the frets so that only the fret touches the strings and you're not catching any wood with your fingers. It makes vibrato and bending easier to do and when you're done scalloping you'll notice you've shave quite a lot of weight off the neck (depending on how deep your scallops are) which will also reduce neck-dive if you have any.

Maybe try something like the La Baye 2x4 guitars that DEVO used. It's about as light as a guitar with a wood body can get.

Fender also makes a Kenny Wayne Shepherd Siganture Stratocaster that I think has a weight-releved Ash body.