Gibson LG series design

[regalese]

Aside from my very sweet "49" J-45, I have a couple of ladder-braced LG-1 flattops in excellent condition and of 48-50 vintage. One has the tortoise guard, while the more pristine has the less common firestripe like my J-45. The tortoise weighs in at 3lb, 12 oz, the firestripe at 3lb, 10 oz. The most striking design variance is that the tort has the standard soundhole placement at 3-1/4" from the bridge while the FS has the hole 3" from the bridge. I first thought the FS may have been a transitional piece with the hole placed for the later 20-fret fingerboard but with an available 19-fret fingerboard installed. I searched some old images and found that even some of the banner war-era models had soundhole placement 1/4" closer to bridge with the very obvious space between fretboard end and soundhole. Soundhole placement is not supposed to affect tone. They're all the standard 4" diameter. Does anybody know what Gibson's thinking was in placing soundholes on some instruments 1/4" further from the fretboard years prior to the introduction of the 20-fret models? The lighter guitar is, as I'd expect, extraordinarily rich and resonant with great sustain, especially for a straight-braced top. In some ways, it's almost too resonant because, although it's plenty loud, I'm not sure it has the character and sweet balance of highs and lows that the tort has. I was once told that there were some LG's built in the late forties that were almost too light. Any luthiers out there know what the tonal downsides to constructon that's TOO light are? I'm surprised that a straight braced instrument could be so effected by weight variations. Maybe I just need to try some different strings on it. Hope someone will chime in.........