Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

[Gamera]

I confess I've never sliced one open to find out but I was alays under the impression that Les Pauls are like every other guitar, a hunk of wood with pickup and control cavities. No sound chambers or anything.

A friend of mine swears up and down that some LPs have sound chambers in them. True? False? If they don't now, did they ever?

 

[FretFire]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

Most LPs are solid-body, but I believe the LP Supremes have weight-reduction cavities in them? Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.

 

[Gamera]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

Most LPs are solid-body, but I believe the LP Supremes have weight-reduction cavities in them? Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.

You appear to be right. I just checked the Gibson site and they say the Supreme has a "chambered mahogany body."

And I may have sort of answered my own question after doing a search over at Warmoth. They actually offer hollowed out Strat & LP bodies aimed at reducing the overall weight. But they also seem to indicate this feature is a Warmoth exclusive.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

The Cloud 9 LP has a large cavity as well. The Les Paul Florentine was semi hollow. Most LP's (999 or 1000) are solid except for the wiring channels and control cavities.

Luke

 

[Jimbojsr]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

Thinline (semi-solid) teles aren't that uncommon. Chambered LPs are pretty rare though, and I've never heard of a hollowed out strat....

 

[Simon_F]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

Gibson has certainly used what I believe are termed 'weight-relief' holes at various times in Les Pauls. They're like Swiss-cheese holes in the top of the mahogany body, before the maple cap is attached. Not sure whether they're in current production LPs. Try a search at the Les Paul Forum.

 

[Simon_F]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

Try a search at the Les Paul Forum.

Here ya go....

http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=90714

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

...they also seem to indicate this feature is a Warmoth exclusive.

Tell that to Peter Frampton

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

LP's now are supposed to have 9 or so 1" or less diameter "weight relief" holes, to account for the much denser African Mahogany being used today, as opposed to the more expensive and rarer South American (Honduran) Mahogany used in the original 59-60 LP's, and on top end guitars today.

I just hope my LP doesn't look like this underneath. Thank God for the pretty maple cap and nitro finish.

 

[Mephis]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

Dat be de weight reduxtion f00lz!!!! It liek Maks it Fsater!!!!

AlL teh Fast and the Fursious liek, mang!!!!!!!11!!11one!1!!!!1111


/Me not being funny (Incase you didnt get it, I was making fun of ricers, in relation to weight reductions on cars.)

 

[theboatcandream]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

I confess I've never sliced one open to find out but I was alays under the impression that Les Pauls are like every other guitar, a hunk of wood with pickup and control cavities. No sound chambers or anything.

A friend of mine swears up and down that some LPs have sound chambers in them. True? False? If they don't now, did they ever?

Some higher end Gibsons are chambered, the Epiphone Ultima is Chambered, I believe the Gibson Standards have been chambered for a while to reduce weight. They aren't hollow though, just chambered.

 

[Simon_F]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

I just hope my LP doesn't look like this underneath. Thank God for the pretty maple cap and nitro finish.

Jeff, I think you'll find yours is more like this underneath...

:laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

Jeff, I think you'll find yours is more like this underneath...

:laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:

^^&@##*&#$+_*@#_@@.....You just wait Simon! :22:

 

[Tony_H]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

There also was a model called the Les Paul Elegant. It cost around 5 grand (dollars) and was chambered. But it seems pretty rare now (I saw it in the Guitar Player but don't remember the year).

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

LP's should be chambered. :smack:

My band rehersed for 4 hours last night and my shoulder is bruised up! :blackeye:


I should've brought the Hamer instead. :burnout:

 

[Marty Horne]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

I have a Custom Shop Elegant (Les Paul) I bought 8 years ago. It is the only Paul I've owned that I can play 4 sets a night, 5 nights a week with no shoulder fatigue. It plays great and sustains for days. It has a quilted maple top, an ebony fingerboard, and Black Pearl abalone inlays. The inside is not multi-holed like the above pic but totally hollow with a solid wood strip under the pickups like a 335. It is one of my all time favorite guitars.

 

[Marty Horne]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

There is a picture of my guitar on the Gear Page Forum under Guitars in General; the post is Desert Island Guitar- Les Paul or 335 (page 3).

 

[Old Ghost]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

Let's not forget the Les Paul Class 5. These are also chambered.

 

[Curly]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

Let's not forget the Les Paul Class 5. These are also chambered.

yup

I believe the specs also used that euphemism - "weight relieved" ... I didn't know what that meant the first time I read it. :smack:

anyway, the historics are solid, like the old ones, but there is apparently a limited supply of lightweight mahogany.

I've also seen a couple two piece bodies lately.

 

[Old Ghost]

Re: Dumb question - are LPs hollow?

This is what the "Chambered" LP body looks like.