croquet hoop
Senior Member
- Messages
- 443
While waiting for my strat neck to arrive, I am studying the options Warmoth offers for a strat body (if you want to skip the long read, the two questions are summed up at the end of the post).
I originally intended to get a standard 2-piece alder strat body, but since this is not intended as a standard/vintage build, but rather as a modern take on the Strat concept (compound radius, SS 6150 frets, graphtech nut, Gotoh VS100 bridge & height-adjustable locking tuners, EMG pickups), I thought that I might as well go for something less conservative — what the heck, this is Warmoth, not Allparts. Then I found about W's chambered bodies, began to leaf through the showcase, and considered going for a lightweight chambered body.
Now I have read a bit about it, and I understand that this construction allow for lighter bodies with no alteration (for better or worse) regarding tone. Which is fine for me. The thing is, I am a bit confused about my choices.
Ideally, I'd like to chose a body from the showcase, as it seems to be the only way to know for sure how much the body weighs and how the laminate top looks. So, here are my questions :
- can a body be too light ? We can find swamp ash bodies with figured maple that weigh only 2 lbs 15 oz (1,33 kg), while the average solid alder body is around 4 lbs (1,81 kg). Which is quite a difference. Is it okay to go for such a light body, or would it be safer to get one that weight a bit more, say around 3 lbs 9 oz (1,61 kg)? Is there a point at which the lack of mass becomes detrimental to the tone?
- there are lots of chambered swamp ash bodies on the showcase, but the choice of alder bodies is very limited. I originally settled on an alder body as a safe middle-ground, having never owned a swamp ash or alder guitar before. My main axe is an Ibanez RG 1550 with a 5-piece basswood body, the other one is a cheap Strat copy with a 3-piece agathis body that actually resonates WAY better acoustically. So I doubt I could be disappointed with a quality swamp ash body, especially given the (admittedly, although not by all) limited influence of the body wood on the overall tone, but still: if I want a well-balanced sound, is ash as likely to satisfy my needs as alder, or will it sound too something ?
To sum up:
- is there a point at which a lighter body (under 3 lbs) starts to have a detrimental effect on tone? Is there an ideal/recommended range of values ?
- would a swamp ash + maple laminate top be a huge departure from what I initially wanted (solid alder body) ?
I originally intended to get a standard 2-piece alder strat body, but since this is not intended as a standard/vintage build, but rather as a modern take on the Strat concept (compound radius, SS 6150 frets, graphtech nut, Gotoh VS100 bridge & height-adjustable locking tuners, EMG pickups), I thought that I might as well go for something less conservative — what the heck, this is Warmoth, not Allparts. Then I found about W's chambered bodies, began to leaf through the showcase, and considered going for a lightweight chambered body.
Now I have read a bit about it, and I understand that this construction allow for lighter bodies with no alteration (for better or worse) regarding tone. Which is fine for me. The thing is, I am a bit confused about my choices.
Ideally, I'd like to chose a body from the showcase, as it seems to be the only way to know for sure how much the body weighs and how the laminate top looks. So, here are my questions :
- can a body be too light ? We can find swamp ash bodies with figured maple that weigh only 2 lbs 15 oz (1,33 kg), while the average solid alder body is around 4 lbs (1,81 kg). Which is quite a difference. Is it okay to go for such a light body, or would it be safer to get one that weight a bit more, say around 3 lbs 9 oz (1,61 kg)? Is there a point at which the lack of mass becomes detrimental to the tone?
- there are lots of chambered swamp ash bodies on the showcase, but the choice of alder bodies is very limited. I originally settled on an alder body as a safe middle-ground, having never owned a swamp ash or alder guitar before. My main axe is an Ibanez RG 1550 with a 5-piece basswood body, the other one is a cheap Strat copy with a 3-piece agathis body that actually resonates WAY better acoustically. So I doubt I could be disappointed with a quality swamp ash body, especially given the (admittedly, although not by all) limited influence of the body wood on the overall tone, but still: if I want a well-balanced sound, is ash as likely to satisfy my needs as alder, or will it sound too something ?
To sum up:
- is there a point at which a lighter body (under 3 lbs) starts to have a detrimental effect on tone? Is there an ideal/recommended range of values ?
- would a swamp ash + maple laminate top be a huge departure from what I initially wanted (solid alder body) ?