What's the deal with the chambered solidbodies?

[crazytooguy]

I'm seeing a lot of solidbody guits with chambers routed in them. I see how it would make a guitar lighter, but what effect does it have on tone? I'm not talking about a semihollow like the ES 335, but Strat and Tele bodies with completely enclosed hollow chambers. I'm working on a custom Tele that'll have the GraphTech Ghost bridge saddles for an acoustic sound, so I'm wondering if chambers will add some warm resonance or just wreck the sustain. Whaddya think?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: What's the deal with the chambered solidbodies?

I'm seeing a lot of solidbody guits with chambers routed in them. I see how it would make a guitar lighter, but what effect does it have on tone? I'm not talking about a semihollow like the ES 335, but Strat and Tele bodies with completely enclosed hollow chambers. I'm working on a custom Tele that'll have the GraphTech Ghost bridge saddles for an acoustic sound, so I'm wondering if chambers will add some warm resonance or just wreck the sustain. Whaddya think?

It makes them more resonant and adds an acoustic quality to the tone of the guitar. Very much like how a Gibson ES 335 sounds differant from a Les Paul. After I got my Hamer Monoco Super Pro, which is a chambered guitar, I stopped playing all of my solid body Hamers. I wound up selling all of them ( six total ) because I stopped playing them. The Monoco just sounds that much better to me. Lew

 

[StefanM]

Re: What's the deal with the chambered solidbodies?

When i built my axe, I was worried about killing the sustain or tone by adding chambered parts. So I added a few for weight reduction, but I went really easy on them, only small. I needen't have worried - I ended up with a heavy guitar (it has awesome sustain though ). I think as long as you leave the centre block from the bridge to the neck solid (like a semi solid jazz guitar) it should be okay. Well, it seems to make sense to me, at least.

I'm not sure whether the area behind the bridge is important to the sustain or not - does anyone know? Or what difference having an F-hole on a big chamber vs having an enclosed chamber makes?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: What's the deal with the chambered solidbodies?

When i built my axe, I was worried about killing the sustain or tone by adding chambered parts. So I added a few for weight reduction, but I went really easy on them, only small. I needen't have worried - I ended up with a heavy guitar (it has awesome sustain though ). I think as long as you leave the centre block from the bridge to the neck solid (like a semi solid jazz guitar) it should be okay. Well, it seems to make sense to me, at least.

I'm not sure whether the area behind the bridge is important to the sustain or not - does anyone know? Or what difference having an F-hole on a big chamber vs having an enclosed chamber makes?

Most chambered guitars are solid down the middle and hollow on either side. The Hamer Artist is unusual in that only the bass side is hollow...the treble side is solid. So it's kind of a Les Paul on the treble side and 335 on the bass side. Even the 335 is solid down the middle...all the way from the neck joint to the end pin. The 355 is hollowed out between the pickups and that's where they put the coils for the Varitone circuit. Lew

 

[54stratlover]

Re: What's the deal with the chambered solidbodies?

i bought a fender tele-sonic for my dad which is chambered. Killing sustain is the last thing that chambers does. That guitar really opened my eyes. the tone and resonance really opened up compared to my other guitars. I am thinking of gettting chambered warmoth bodies for my strats. I would recomend chambered bodies without hesitation.

 

[StefanM]

Re: What's the deal with the chambered solidbodies?

I'm itching to build one... I was thinking double cutaway tele (like the NAMM 2004 previews) but they are set necks - not achiveable with bolt on I don't think without not supporting the neck enough, I don't think. (strat and regular tele have the same contact area AFAIK)

f-shole or not... hmmm

 

[MattPete]

Re: What's the deal with the chambered solidbodies?

Based on my Warmoth strat (pictured at left), I'd say the chambering makes a guitar sound somewhere between a solid body and a semihollow body. Nice warmoth with an organic acoustic feel. At high gain much of that goes away.

The only downside I can see (unless you don't like that tone) is that my low E can be a bit flabby at times. I think it might be a bad interaction between the chambered body and the Floyd Rose bridge.

 

[mrfjones]

Re: What's the deal with the chambered solidbodies?

It makes them more resonant and adds an acoustic quality to the tone of the guitar. Very much like how a Gibson ES 335 sounds differant from a Les Paul. After I got my Hamer Monoco Super Pro, which is a chambered guitar, I stopped playing all of my solid body Hamers. I wound up selling all of them ( six total ) because I stopped playing them. The Monoco just sounds that much better to me. Lew

I must be a lot like lew in this case, i have a semi hollow bluesbird and I love the way the woody sound comes through. I really can play anything from classic rock to jazz and everything in between. It has a versitility that a les paul doesn't and that is because of the hollow chambers. I am not sure how the chambers are set up on lews guitar but min is almost completely hollow, bracing is carved into the top and back and the sides are still pretty thick but the chambers are really big, spanning the whole top side like an es 335, then a smaller one behind the bridge and then another on the neck side of the controls. I still play both my teles because i am in love with that twangy sound but the way the chambers open up that bluesbird are amazing. Oh yeah, i would bet that it sustains longer than a LP.

Get the chambers routed into the body, the bigger the better as far as i am concerned, you will not be let down.

 

[Mincer]

Re: What's the deal with the chambered solidbodies?

My Brian Moore on the left has chambers...I'd say it sounds more 'organic' if that makes sense. And I *love* the fact that it is lighter. Any guitar I build from now on will have chambers. I'm sold. This thing will sustain for days- I never believed the weight/sustain thing, as I have played heavy LPs that sustain, and heavy ones that are dead. It is in the choice of wood. I have played a light guitar like the Parker Fly with tons of sustain.