S-12 guitar weight

John Swain · Post by **John Swain** » 22 Apr 2018 7:18 am

I was looking at an early Carter catalog(late 90's) and it listed the D-10 at 36#s and the S-12 ar 32#s. Early Carters had hollow square cross shafts, so my 2002 D-10 with 8+8 was abour 42#s. I recently weighed my Rains D-10 8+8 (no case) at 46#s. What do current popular S-12s weigh? FYI, I stood my Rains on end on a bathroom scale.

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 22 Apr 2018 9:30 am

Without weighing the guitar, My Williams keyless U-12. Is probably the lightest U-12 I have ever owned. I also have the body in one case and pedal rack, rods and legs in another case.

John McClung · Post by **John McClung** » 22 Apr 2018 1:32 pm

I have a 1993 Zum S-12 7p/6k, here are its weight specs:

Zum in case: 54.2 lbs
Zum alone: 34.2 lbs

For lightness you should look into Excel steels, very capable and very light, might be one in my future someday.

Bobby D. Jones · Post by **Bobby D. Jones** » 22 Apr 2018 8:05 pm

My GFI with regular key head S12 U, 7 pedals, 4 knee levers, Aluminum legs weighs 32 pound. The case with leg and rod bag weighs 17 pound, Total case and guitar weight 49 lb. Hope this helps you John.

Thiel Hatt · Post by **Thiel Hatt** » 22 Apr 2018 8:15 pm

What about the other end of the spectrum? This old collector item is about 63 pounds It's a about a 1968 (Edwards)Domland. The last of the Domlands. Don Edwards told me that there were only eight of this model built.

John Swain · Post by **John Swain** » 23 Apr 2018 5:54 am

I think most of you missed the point of my question. John, is that 34.2 lbs with legs and pedals? The Carter Co. Had a 4 lb difference in weight between D-10 and the S-12. I played an S12 for a few years in the 70s and it weighed almost as much as a D-10. I would like to know what modern S12s weigh.

Ken Metcalf · Post by **Ken Metcalf** » 23 Apr 2018 6:01 am

S-12 in split cases is as good as it gets as far as I know.

John Swain · Post by **John Swain** » 23 Apr 2018 6:03 am

Ken, what does your S12 weigh out of the case? Ready to play, no volume pedal? JS

Mike Vallandigham · Post by **Mike Vallandigham** » 23 Apr 2018 9:37 am

My new Excel E9/C6 S-12 was 48 lbs shipping weight, that's the guitar, legs/rods/bag, tools, case, two boxes and tape, etc.

The Emmons PP I just sold was 89.9 lbs boxed in a Thomas case. Big difference.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 23 Apr 2018 11:45 am

Excel Superb S-12 E9/C6 Guitar weight is 25.8 pounds.

Case weight is 12.1 pounds! (the Williams case weighed 31.1 pounds)

The guitar and the case combined total weight is a minimal 37.9 pounds

The biggest deal here is the case weight which is just as important as the guitar weight. Case weights can vary greatly.

http://www.gregcutshaw.com/Excel%2012%2 ... yless.html

Note that the Excel case is not a light duty case. It is just as sturdy as the modern Williams and MSA cases, just smaller in size due to the smaller guitar and made of lighter weight materials.

Mike Vallandigham · Post by **Mike Vallandigham** » 23 Apr 2018 11:55 am

Are they really that light Greg? I haven't actually put mine on a scale.

I believe it!

Douglas Schuch · Post by **Douglas Schuch** » 23 Apr 2018 3:29 pm

John, there was a post a while back where people were discussing guitar weights, so I hunted around and compiled a list. Here is the thread, and my list is near the bottom of the first page:

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... ht&start=0

Personally, I am mostly interested in weight of the guitar without the case. For example, my Millennium 2, D-10, 8x8 weighs 36.8, and my Millennium 3, 9x8 weighs 39.8 - so both are on the lighter side. However, MSA uses solid road cases, so in the case the weight is up there with the heavier guitars. Nice to have the road case for shipping, but I build a lightweight case for hauling around whichever guitar I want to take out with me.

John De Maille · Post by **John De Maille** » 23 Apr 2018 4:16 pm

John,
My U-12 ZumSteel with 7+5 weighs
38.2 lbs without case
50.2 lbs with case

John Swain · Post by **John Swain** » 24 Apr 2018 5:08 am

Thank you Douglas et al, as Bobbe said many variances in weights even for the same model! As I said in the OP the Carter catalogue had me thinking there's a 12% difference in weight, but John D's Zum is 8 lbs lighter than my Rains(closer to 20%).

Mike Vallandigham · Post by **Mike Vallandigham** » 24 Apr 2018 8:36 am

My Excel came with this semi-hard case, which I requested.

It's quite a bit lighter than the standard Excel Case.

It's a slim design suit-case that Mitsuo fits out into a steel guitar case. I'm glad I got it. That's my guitar resting in there, on the famous grey floor.

Sam Weisenberg · Post by **Sam Weisenberg** » 28 Apr 2018 8:28 pm

The S-12, 4P/5KL OnTrak I have is 32 lbs in the case, 24 out of the case.

Johnie King · Post by **Johnie King** » 30 Apr 2018 1:41 am

Sam How in the world did you manage get a ontrack Steel I would love to have one of Paulâ€™s steels

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S-12 guitar weight

S-12 guitar weight

S-12 Guitar weight