When is a raw guitar body just too light?

TimBo266

TimBo266

New member
I just received a new ST style body from a foreign seller on Amazon. They said it was polished maple. When I got the box I almost thought it was empty because it is so light. I can knock on the wood and it sounds brittle. What kind of maple is this and can it be trusted with screws. Yes I do pilot holes for every screw. The bare body weighs 1 lb 13 oz. The neck I got feels solid. It weighs 1 lb 4 oz. If this body is maple, it has got to be way too dried out.
 

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Re: When is a raw guitar body just too light?

I'd guess some variety of Linden, what we in the US call Poplar.
Larry
 
Re: When is a raw guitar body just too light?

Is this not a good wood? Personally I almost feel cheated out of what I was expecting from the seller.
 
Re: When is a raw guitar body just too light?

That looks to be Paulownia.....fits for the weight as well as the look.
Buying based on common name is hard. You can have misunderstandings, plain wrong associations of name, and misleading common names as well as just associating a local wholly unrelated wood to another simply due to useage in a similar way
Like a lot of the softer type woods, I would worry about the use of a trem with that - it is odds on the sides of the stud holes will simply crush/pull forward under long term string tension. I have only ever felt comfortable using this wood as a hardtail or as a back wood for a maple topped guitar.
 
Re: When is a raw guitar body just too light?

AlexR said:
That looks to be Paulownia.....fits for the weight as well as the look.
Buying based on common name is hard. You can have misunderstandings, plain wrong associations of name, and misleading common names as well as just associating a local wholly unrelated wood to another simply due to useage in a similar way
Like a lot of the softer type woods, I would worry about the use of a trem with that - it is odds on the sides of the stud holes will simply crush/pull forward under long term string tension. I have only ever felt comfortable using this wood as a hardtail or as a back wood for a maple topped guitar.
Click to expand...

Thanks. You may just have saved the day here.
 
Re: When is a raw guitar body just too light?

Agreed.... what many Asian makers refer to as paulownia.... whatever the hell that is.
 
Re: When is a raw guitar body just too light?

That is Poplar and is my favorite tone wood. My Pinky is Poplar not a pretty wood but super light and resonant!
 
Re: When is a raw guitar body just too light?

AlexR said:
That looks to be Paulownia.....fits for the weight as well as the look.
Buying based on common name is hard. You can have misunderstandings, plain wrong associations of name, and misleading common names as well as just associating a local wholly unrelated wood to another simply due to useage in a similar way
Like a lot of the softer type woods, I would worry about the use of a trem with that - it is odds on the sides of the stud holes will simply crush/pull forward under long term string tension. I have only ever felt comfortable using this wood as a hardtail or as a back wood for a maple topped guitar.
Click to expand...

I am using the 6 screw tremolo big block with this build. If I were using the two screw mount I too would be concerned about the durability of the tremolo mounts.
 
Re: When is a raw guitar body just too light?

Ascension said:
That is Poplar and is my favorite tone wood. My Pinky is Poplar not a pretty wood but super light and resonant!
Click to expand...

If I recall, all of Brad Paisley's Crook Telecasters are Poplar for the reasons you mention.
 
Re: When is a raw guitar body just too light?

Wait... body and neck together weigh 3 lbs 1 oz????

Wth????

And that's definitely NOT maple
 
Re: When is a raw guitar body just too light?

Adieu said:
Wait... body and neck together weigh 3 lbs 1 oz????

Wth????

And that's definitely NOT maple
Click to expand...

Yep. No hardware at all except the fret wires. All the hardware was ordered from the Fender corporation or Fender distributors. I'm just guessing but I think this project will weigh around 6.5 pounds when done. It definitely will be a lightweight unless I find a heavier body at a decent price.
 
Re: When is a raw guitar body just too light?

AlexR said:
That looks to be Paulownia.....fits for the weight as well as the look.
Buying based on common name is hard. You can have misunderstandings, plain wrong associations of name, and misleading common names as well as just associating a local wholly unrelated wood to another simply due to useage in a similar way
Click to expand...

Professor in university I went used to use Douglas fir as an example of this. It reminds of fir, in finnish it's Douglas spruce. In timber it's sold as Oregon pine. Really it's none of those, but has it's own genus pseudotsuga, which means false-hemlock.
 
Re: When is a raw guitar body just too light?

TimBo266 said:
Yep. No hardware at all except the fret wires. All the hardware was ordered from the Fender corporation or Fender distributors. I'm just guessing but I think this project will weigh around 6.5 pounds when done. It definitely will be a lightweight unless I find a heavier body at a decent price.
Click to expand...

Hardware weighing 3.5 lbs? Heaviest locking tuners, big brass block, and dual invaders or something?

5 lbs and change final weight seems more likely with typical choices
 
Re: When is a raw guitar body just too light?

I never weighed my first Frankenstrat when it was slapped together 25 years ago but the entire guitar assembled is 6.5lbs. It's my best sounding guitar. Granted, the wood of that body is not maple. Looks like polar or paulownia. Check a spot in the trem cavity to see how soft it is. If it is really really soft, paulownia. Poplar is harder than that and more like alder in that area.
 
Re: When is a raw guitar body just too light?

I have a poplar Music Man and it is dense and heavy...and all mids. I don't think that is poplar and certainly not maple. I'd send it back as it certainly isn't what you paid for.
 
Re: When is a raw guitar body just too light?

I vote paulo(ok I can't spell this). I love a light guitar... but 1.3lbs??? you may have neck dive issues unless you choose some ultra light tuners and heavy bridge! I was just weighing out a number of things last night and can tell you a gotoh vs100 will add 1lb 4oz, 3 singles will add 6oz. my neck is sorta heavy birdseye but it's about 1lb 6oz. tuners were around 6oz.
all that said - it might be surprisingly nice to have it be that light. probably sound good too. here's wishing that's the case!
 
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