Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

Re: Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

AlexR said:
I'm a horticulturalist, so I'm quite well versed on plants, trees, wood and how it grows and is farmed. And even fast growing species are going to be fed and pumped for quick sale if money can be made quicker.

My point here is only 'be aware of what you buy and why things are cheap'

If you have only bridge pickups on every guitar it may well be that you're into heavier music - I can certainly see several high output pickups there. In which case the quality of the wood is nigh on irrelevant as it gets buried by the overwhelming tonality of the pickup and the amp.
For those of us who play with low drive and low output pickups exclusively I find the specific match of pickups and wood to be a long quest....pickups (and necks if they're teles or strats) get swapped out at my place almost weekly in the attempt to find the precise tonal match for each guitar.

I'm in no way trying to be elitist here, but its a horses for courses scenario. It all depends on what our OP want tonally as to whether he feels cheap bodies will serve his purpose.

Rock on.
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Just on the point of high gain music being fine for paulownia, Gil Yaron used a paulownia core in his Bone model (the updated Les Paul style guitar) it fits into a mahogany shell, but the majority is paulownia and he says that he uses it because it is one of the most resonant woods he's used.

To the OP: Nothing wrong with it at all. Just because GFS sell it doesn't mean it's an inferior wood.
 
Re: Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

C-Thunda-
Good to know, thanks. I wish I could find a simple, snow white body. but they all have flakes or have a "cream" tint to it. Dominus gave a great how to thread on painting. Might have to do what he says on one of those paulownia bodies. Rather buy. Although I intend to weight relief my SG based on how well the Jr. turned out, I would still love to buy a white strat basswood or paulownia. The Warmoth CHAMBERED alder body is heavier than a basswwod squire strat deluxe I bought. Unfortunately the body, although advertised as Arctic white, is still cream next to a for real white pickgaurd.
Steve B.
 
Re: Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

SJ318 said:
C-Thunda-
Good to know, thanks. I wish I could find a simple, snow white body. but they all have flakes or have a "cream" tint to it. Dominus gave a great how to thread on painting. Might have to do what he says on one of those paulownia bodies. Rather buy. Although I intend to weight relief my SG based on how well the Jr. turned out, I would still love to buy a white strat basswood or paulownia. The Warmoth CHAMBERED alder body is heavier than a basswwod squire strat deluxe I bought. Unfortunately the body, although advertised as Arctic white, is still cream next to a for real white pickgaurd.
Steve B.
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Pretty sure this was the white Telecaster I had:

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Telecas...lownia-Arctic-White-Modern-Bridge_p_1268.html

TLPWH_a.jpg


It was white-white. ;)

I think I'd actually like the white sparkle one. I'm going to have to think about these again. I actually routed them for humbuckers in the bridge using a hammer and chisel. :D
 
Re: Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

Wow, that is great!!,
I checked and they are, and have been, out of stock, put myself on waiting list. I did not see it when I searched. Any white-white lightweight strat bodies you know of? I did search that site but came up empty.
Thanks, dominus, you have been extremely helpful. Outstanding forum help.
Steve Buffington.
 
Re: Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

I wanted to say that I myself would be chopping it for a seth lover bridge, doulble white bobbins, or a jazz bridge, also double white. Double white or white cover strat neck, rosewood finger board, triple ply white tele pickgaurd, think " Jeff Beck-WIRED-album cover".
The basswood is easy to cut, chisel, almost by hand. So I am guessing a wood like paulownia would also be easy to work on.
Steve B.
 
Re: Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

SJ318 said:
I wanted to say that I myself would be chopping it for a seth lover bridge, doulble white bobbins, or a jazz bridge, also double white. Double white or white cover strat neck, rosewood finger board, triple ply white tele pickgaurd, think " Jeff Beck-WIRED-album cover".
The basswood is easy to cut, chisel, almost by hand. So I am guessing a wood like paulownia would also be easy to work on.
Steve B.
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Warmoth offers both chambered and hollow telecaster bodies in white. You can design them for traditional tele pups or double (and even triple) humbuckers if you prefer. You can even have double F holes take more out of the guitar body. I'm pretty sure if you ask Warmoth and explain your situation they would look for a relatively light weight body for you......it might end up being alder instead of basswood (possibly lighter and likely more durable). Good luck! Your sharing produced some really good information from lots of the other forum members.

Here's a Warmoth forum thread on Paulownia wood tone/sound http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=23592.0
 
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Re: Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

Diminished Triad said:
Here's a Warmoth forum thread on Paulownia wood tone/sound http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=23592.0
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Not sure you'd get a fair assessment from builders on a Warmoth forum for non-Warmoth parts, there's definitely some bias going on. One guy complained about a lack of mids in the guitar, and I had a Paulownia body with a Steve's Special in it that would make me disagree with his opinion.
 
Re: Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

Best cheap/light guitars you can get IMO:

S521_LVS_1P_01.jpg



http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/S521LVS/sn211P01140115358

5lbs 14 oz this one is.
 
Re: Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

I had to buy an Ibanez RG because of a shoulder injury (more so for the contoured body than weight). Good to see that you're working within your boundaries instead of quitting.
 
Re: Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

dominus said:
Not sure you'd get a fair assessment from builders on a Warmoth forum for non-Warmoth parts, there's definitely some bias going on. One guy complained about a lack of mids in the guitar, and I had a Paulownia body with a Steve's Special in it that would make me disagree with his opinion.
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That could just as equally be the individual bit of wood - they vary around a fair bit........even within one tree for some woods.
 
Re: Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

Last point, I guess,
I DID get a chambered alder strat from Warmoth last year and the body is actually 3.5 oz. With the floating Fender trem, 1 strat neck pup and 1 Duncan HB bridge, and last but certainly not least, the super fine/dense Maple/rosewood LSR neck, it all comes up to 7 lbs.
With a (non-chambered) Basswood Squire body with the same parts it comes up to 6.8 oz. I can really feel a 1/2 lb. difference.
The killer is that I paid a fortune for that body and had it painted snow-white. Whiter than white. It looks so cool. So I am unwilling to pay for a chambered basswood Warmoth painted snow white, it would be close to $550.00. So I am staring at the chambered alder white body, kicking around removing more wood where it won't show. I know I could do it, as long as I leave mass around the bridge and neck pocket.
The neck itself is the most dense neck I have ever had, which is good as everyone says a good neck is 1/2 the tone/sustain equation.
So that is all I have to add to a very info filled thread. So Thank you all, dominus especially for the painting info and all the rest of you too many to name.
Steve Buffington
 
Re: Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

 
Re: Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

Yes, I saw that.
It was in another post I looked at and I tried to track it down and it seems it is out of production. I cannot believe it. They sound great, i think they come in around 7.5 lbs. I had my LP Custom cut down like that in 1975, right after my first back surgery by a friend who was in the lutherie biz back then, and until 2010 used it live, but it still comes in (mine) at 7.8 lbs. Unbelievable how heavy the wood is on mine.
I should add, my squire basswood body and my basswood body Tele are very light, but I went to G.Center to get a basswood HH Squire Bullet Strat they had on holiday sale but when I picked it up it felt like 7 - 7.5 lbs. I asked the guitar guy there to feel it and he also remarked that although it said basswood, it felt like solid alder. I was going to have him check the others but the finish was do sparkly loud metalflake, snd I mean in your face metalflake, I had to pass. I would rather go the dominus route and paint a paulownia body myself.
Good tip on the LP Custom Lite, but could not find one and since mine is like that already, it is still beyound my grasp, weight wise (unintentional pun) . Thanks,
Steve Buffington
 
Re: Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

SJ318 said:
I was going to have him check the others but the finish was do sparkly loud metalflake, snd I mean in your face metalflake, I had to pass.
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I saw those the last time I went into GC. I liked them. :D

I would rather go the dominus route and paint a paulownia body myself.
Click to expand...

You might look into getting one of the unfinished bodies and just staining it and sealing it. I was thinking about grabbing one of the Tele kits but they were out of stock. :P
 
Re: Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

dominus,
Yes, it would be cheaper and easier to just buy a GFS body and do a "dominus" on it. That's right, you are now a verb. In a good way. You should be quite proud. I'll call.
Hey, I forgot to mention, but "Monoprice advertises a cheap "White strat" fully loaded, I might call them on Monday or Tuesday and see what is up weight wise, as they say it is 7 lbs or more fully loaded. They say lightweight wood, I think basswood, so maybe it is not cut at all for a HB which would mean a lot of extra basswood under the hood that wood be easily removed.
Steve B.
 
Re: Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

Personally, I think the best classic of the past few years has been the Gibson ES-339.

It's light, it's toneful, it's a modern classic in every sense of the word. At least to fill your Gibson role, that's the guitar you want. Choose whatever light weight Fender type guitar you want, but make a point of owning a 339.

Or maybe it's because I'm a 335/SG/Fender guy right now.
 
Re: Very Serious-Bad Back question-semi guitar gutting

GearJonser,
My first real guitar was a 335, I learned and played my first Zep songs on that thing. I was a hit when I learned "I'm Going Home" by Ten Years After when Woostock hit the screen!
Off hand, any guesses on weight? I'll try to look it up but I am so attached to the look of the classics, LP, SG, STRAT, TELE, and yes, I do love my 335, had to trade it for a '66 LP Black Beauty. Shame on me, but I was broke.
Steve B.
 
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