Well a few months back i upgraded my older Variax 500 to a JTV59.  One of the big things i noticed at the time was the weight increase of the 59 over the 500.  In fact it was so heavy it would occasionally give me a back ache after 30 mins around my neck!  Something i never had with the 500 (or any other guitars i've owned).  Well as it turned out, that particular JTV59 ended up having a faulty tuning knob so my supplier arranged for a replacement guitar to be sent out.

  I've recently received this new replacement JTV59 and i noticed immediately that it is much lighter than my initial one.  It's actually a whole 1kg lighter, which is pretty significant when it only weighs 3.8kg all up (first one was 4.8kgs!!).  Not that i'm complaining as its much easier on the old back now, but it is interesting and was wondering why this might be the case?  I guess different woods must be the reason??  They are both JTV59's, both Cherry Sunburst (so can't blame the paint either..).  The new one plays just as well as the first one and there dosn't appear to be any difference in tone or resonance between them.  The first one was a 10/11 build while the new one is a 01/12 build.  If anything the flame top finnish is better on the new one too.  Just thought this was interesting..