Both of my Studios are weight relived............................commonly known as "swiss cheese".......................the nine holes. They're both pretty chunky guitars, but not oppressively heavy. My Standard is chambered and is light @ 8.2 pounds.
Just my take on the debate:
For years the complaints grew about Les Pauls being too heavy, and most of this noise was from players who didn't play / never intended to play Les Pauls. Gibson listened and started the chambering in the fall of '06. The problem and reason Gibson is taking heat is that they didn't announce or acknowledge the chambering until quite a while after the fact. It came across as deceptive and turned lots of guys off.
Do the chambered guitars sound different than the swiss cheesed guitars? Yes they do but...........................every guitar sounds different, even exact like models. My Standard has a more open and airy sound than my Studios, but it still has just as much punch and sustain as any other Les Paul I've ever played, and I'm very happy with it.
Most of the loud complaints come from the Gibson purists / elitists, and the wannabes parroting internet noise. You will do yourself a disservice if you summarily discount every chambered Les Paul as inferior or assume that every non chambered Les Paul is automatically superior.
Les Pauls are certainly a guitar that needs to be judged personally on a guitar by guitar basis. Play a bunch of them and choose the Les Paul that speaks to you, chambered or not. Choose wisely and you'll never look back.
Guitars: 2008 Gibson SG Classic, 2006 Gibson Les Paul Standard LE, 2002 Gibson SG Supreme, 2001 Gibson Les Paul Studio Plus, 1996 Les Paul Studio Gem, American Deluxe Double Fat Strat, Bluesville "Super" Strat Copy, MIK Fender "Limited Edition" Tele, JD Bluesville "Night Pilot", Yamaha AES 820, Steinberger Spirit GT Pro, Taylor 355CE, Ovation 1897 Adamas, Ovation CC057 Celebrity
Amps: Axe FX centered rack rig, Mesa 4x12 cab. Germino Club 40, Johnson JM150 Millennium, Johnson JM250 Millennium, Gibson Titan Medalist Frankenstein.
Effects: Tonebone Trimode, EH Holy Grail, Boss CH-1, Dunlop Crybaby Classic, Framptone Amp Switcher, THD Hot Plate, Yamaha AG Stomp Acoustic Processor, Boss BCB-60 Pedal Board.