1 5/8" Body Thickness

[rgand]

How about an option to have 1 5/8" instead of 1 3/4" thick bodies?

 

[Ace Flibble]

Works well for the Fender Aerodyne models (though they also had angled tops, too) and some of the cheaper Squiers (terrible hardware of course, but the thinner bodies sure are comfortable). I've had 41mm (sorry, dirty metric user here) bodies made before by other companies. It'd be nice if I could get one from Warmoth, as there are particular options which Warmoth does that others do not.

A 41mm 7/8 Strat body with a 24" neck would be divine for my dodgy spine.

 

[rgand]

Just shaving off 1/8" would reduce the weight noticeably.

The Affinity Squiers are alder bodies and they're 1 5/8". That's nice as long as you plan a few upgrades. A friend of mine just got a Squier Affinity JM. If he just keeps the body and junks all the rest, that's a $200 body with a finish on it.

 

[Cagey]

If he just keeps the body and junks all the rest, that's a $200 body with a finish on it.

That's an pretty good idea that I'm surprised more people don't pursue. There are tons of guitars out there that would be just fine if they had a decent neck on them. One of my brothers was just looking the other day at one of Michael Kelly's guitars with the thought in mind of doing just that. The whole guitar is only $400 and it's pretty nice overall, but the neck leaves a bit to be desired, like stainless frets, a different radius and some locking tuners. So, buy the guitar, yank the neck and put if on eBay or Craig's List as trade bait or for a couple bucks, then buy a good neck from Warmoth.

 

[rgand]

I agree with you Kevin. I can't see why more people don't do that.

BTW my friend showed up today with his $200 Affinity JM. It's a nice guitar for the most part. The tuners are smooth although not locking or staggered and the neck is straight with fairly level frets. It has a strong hum in it so I suspect there's something not grounded or dry soldered in there but otherwise, it sounds good. I may start a thread over in the wiring section on that.

 

[Cagey]

With standard pickups, Jazzmasters are naturally noisy. Even more so than Strats/Teles. Those pickups are more like P90s than anything else, so they behave as though picking up powerline radiation and all its harmonics is a desirable thing, designed in on purpose as a feature.

Hey, Garth! Check out how noisy my Jazzmaster is!

Of course it hums! It's electric, you dolt!​

 

[rgand]

With standard pickups, Jazzmasters are naturally noisy. Even more so than Strats/Teles. Those pickups are more like P90s than anything else, so they behave as though picking up powerline radiation and all its harmonics is a desirable thing, designed in on purpose as a feature.

Yeah, but this one is an HH model. I did start a thread on that in the Wiring section.

 

[Cagey]

I see. Well, it shouldn't hum, then. Humbuckers are so named because they know all the words.

 

[rgand]

I see. Well, it shouldn't hum, then. Humbuckers are so named because they know all the words.

:laughing7:

 

[AirCap]

Why not? SG's are thin.

 

[Axkoa]

I would love this. I haven't played a noticeably thin guitar before but I quite like the look of them. Would be a pretty cool option.

 

[Cagey]

I like the idea of super thin. Check out these little lovelies out from Black Machine...

I think if I were to do thin, I wouldn't stop at shaving off an eigth. I'd knock it back at least a quarter, maybe even a whole half inch. Wouldn't be able to call on any of the usual suspects for a vibrato bridge, but Kahlers, Stetsbars and Bigsbys are all essentially top mounts that require little or no spring cavity. Humbucker cavities don't need to be as deep as they usually are, nor do control cavities as long as you don't use switched pots. Without even chambering or hollowing out a body, you might be able to get one down to about 2 - 2.5 pounds. Make it a neck-through to save a little more weight. Could be fun. And comfy.

 

[Logrinn]

Another reason why I am looking forward to my next build, a Mustang, which is the only (if I'm not mistaken) 1-1/2" body in Warmoth's catalog.

 

[rgand]

Those thin jobbers are nice. I'll definitely make my next build thinner. Warmoth won't plane things thinner because they're not set up for it so the task is up to me, at least for now. I suppose one could order a routed body blank and shave off the top for a thinner body. Then all you'd need to do is deepen the neck pocket by the amount you take off.

I do want a push/pull pot on my next one but if it won't fit, then I'll have to install a slide switch. No biggie but I like simple controls. I really pushed the envelope of simple controls on my JM. Fortunately, I don't switch modes on the fly so I don't have a bunch of stuff to putz with while playing.

 

[Cagey]

Maybe find a wood working supply place nearby and see if they have special interest groups or do on-site training. I know locally here, the Woodcraft store gives classses in this huge wood shop with all sorts of wonderful tools set up that they hope you'll fall in love with and buy someday. It's a good way to get access to a machine you might not be able to justify for yourself, like a thickness planer wider than 13". For some reason, 13" and under units are reasonable, but the price jumps a couple/few thousand dollars when you go over that width.

Likewise, some community colleges have classes pretty reasonably that get you the same thing - an embarassment of riches in high-end tools that you have free run of for the length of the class. Buddy of mine likes to do metalwork and keeps taking the same class over and over for that very reason. He can do casting, milling, cutting, welding, etc. for the 12-14 weeks the class runs, and I think tuition only runs him $150 or so. Pretty reasonable for access to tens of thousands of dollars worth of high-end machinery and expert help for months on end.

 

[rgand]

That's a thought. Thanks for the suggestion, Kevin. Also, I do know one guy who used to do woodworking and he may still have the planer. We'll see when the time comes.