chambered basswood or chambered roasted swamp ash for light weight?

[nickname009]

Currently playing around with the warmoth site planning a future build.

I'm torn between getting a finished chambered basswood body or a chambered roasted swamp ash body for the absolute lightest body. Basswood is obviously cheaper and more tonally what I'm looking for, but if i'm paying for a custom body, I might as well go all out and pay extra if the roasted & chambered swamp ash will definitely be lighter.

Who has experience with either and/or both?

 

[rgand]

I'm not familiar with both, having experience with swamp ash only.

Check the descriptions of them on the Warmoth woods page. It would appear that basswood is lighter.

For light weight, also consider the 7/8 sized guitar bodies and necks.

 

[Cagey]

Swamp Ash is known to be light, but it's a relative thing. It's light compared to Ash that's grown outside a swamp, and even then only if the wood is cut from the lower trunk of the tree, but that doesn't mean much. Ash is actually somewhat heavy. That's why they chamber it in the first place.

Basswood is pretty light. For a hardwood, it's a bit soft, too. Dents easily, like Pine. Of course, Balsa is technically a hardwood, too. Anyway, I imagine if you were to chamber Basswood, the body might actually float in midair  :laughing7:

So, if you want ultra-light, chambered Basswood is the way to go.

 

[vetteman]

Or if you are doing a tele/strat type body, you could get a thinline with no "f" hole in the top.  I have an ash body like that and it is pretty darn light.  (The alder one - not so light).

 

[nickname009]

thanks for the responses!

Rgand, i'd be building a 7/8 Tele

Cagey, 'air guitar' is what i'm shootin for!

 

[Logrinn]

If you want it really light you might want to consider your choice of pickups/hardware. Any ”normal” pickups will still add substantial weight to the guitar.
One Lace Alumitone will keep it light though

 

[Cagey]

That's a good point. The coils in a humbucker are mostly copper, so they've got some heft to them. The Alumitones are nearly weightless. Not only is there very little to them, what little there is is aluminum. The only coil with any copper wire in it is a current pickup on one of the legs, and it's about he size of the recording/playback head in a cassette deck.

I remember the first Basswood guitar I picked up was at a store that had some of the new (at the time) EVH guitars. Almost threw the thing through the acoustical tile ceiling, it was so light. Surprised the hell out of me.

 

[rgand]

Thumbs-up to the 7/8 Tele. I look forward to seeing what you do with it.

 

[nickname009]

Logrinn, I've actually had these in 2 different guitars i've owned in the past.

You're right, super light, weigh nothing but I felt something missing from them tonally. I might go with 2 hum-cancelling dimarzio singles this time around, generally lighter than humbuckers, smaller profile and I can get that stratty-tele type stuff if I want.

I've found when building light weight guitars, (aside from the body weight) whatever type of bridge used makes a big difference as well.

 

[Rick]

Also tuning buttons can add weight.  My current build will have light weight plastic buttons vs metal. Probably save an ounce or two.

 

[nickname009]

Bit the bullet!

progress thread here:

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=30733.0