LP Body - Solid or Chambered Mahogany?

[GuitarGodNot]

I'm wondering if there's anyone out there that has done LP style builds with solid mahogany body on one guitar and a chambered body on another and if so, what the result was as far as tone, sustain, warmth, etc.
I'm normally a strat player and have not built up the muscle mass to hold up a solid LP . But on the other hand don't want to comprise my new axe build.

I'm planning on using a a Warmoth mahogany neck as well.

I apologize in advance if this has been covered, I did do a search but could not find a specific related thread.
Thanks!

 

[musicispeace]

I have both solid and chambered strat parts guitars so I cannot speak specifically about the LP style (which I contemplate working on but so far hasn't happened) To be honest, I myself can't really discern anything really tangible as a difference. It isn't like playing a 335 in comparison to a solid body, if that helps. Chambered is definitely a weight relief feature to a degree. The Warmoth customer service guys might say it might be a slight bit more resonant but thus far I can't say. Given the mass of a Regal body, maybe. But if I was doing like Regal build and I had the money I would probably go with chambered to save some weight. I think they estimate a 25% weight difference for those bodies. My most "resonant" electric guitar if I play unplugged is a cheap Yamaha strat copy that is pretty light weight. Not sure if that is from a light piece of wood or if its hollowed to some degree. My Warmoths make me quite happy through the amp.

 

[Logrinn]

I have a solid swamp ash Strat, a chambered alder Tele and a roasted swamp ash Mustang.
Of the three, the roasted swamp ash Mustang was the most resonant and loud acoustically. Then came the chambered Tele and last the solid Strat.
But if you disregard playing them acoustically and unplugged and instead listen to them through an amp, I would say that there is no difference what so ever. Of the three I like the sound the Strat produces the most, with its set of pickups and when its run through my set of pedals/amp/speaker.
The other two guitars sound different since they have different pickups, but I wouldn't say that the were more or less resonant and/or had more or less sustain.

 

[Cagey]

That's been my experience as well. Even with nearly identical guitars where the most outstanding difference being one chambered and one solid, the difference in sound was subtle acoustically and non-existent electrically.

 

[Kostas]

I'm wondering if there's anyone out there that has done LP style builds with solid mahogany body on one guitar and a chambered body on another and if so, what the result was as far as tone, sustain, warmth, etc...

I have these beauties:



Left one is probably chambered, mahogany over mahogany
Middle one is solid, supposed to be limba but looks different from white limba
Right one is chambered, maple (not DL) over mahogany

By far the lightest guitar is the solid one, the body has almost the same thickness as the others. Keep in mind that before a body is chambered it has to be at least medium weight to end up light. For example, the bodies of my solid strat and my hollow thinline telecaster have exactly the same weight. Imagine how heavy the piece of wood for the tele body was in the first place.

Although I find it overrated, none of the guitars lacks sustain, put a fuzz pedal on max or a modern high gain amp and they will keep the note as long as you want. Warmth has to do mostly with the pots & pickups you'll choose but woods matter too, for example my Custom (and other Customs) has a snap that Standards usually don't have. Of course, every guitar is different and every player plays different. Between pots, pickups, pedals, amps, speakers etc you can get the tone you want.

...I'm normally a strat player and have not built up the muscle mass to hold up a solid LP ...

Do you play live for many hours? You have back problems? Otherwise I can't accept that you can't hold a Les Paul. LP's are a little heavier than strats in general but there are light and heavy strats as much as there are light and heavy LP's. If you are making a custom order ask for a lighweight body, if you are buying from the showcase choose a light one.

 

[Cagey]

Do you play live for many hours? You have back problems? Otherwise I can't accept that you can't hold a Les Paul. LP's are a little heavier than strats in general but there are light and heavy strats as much as there are light and heavy LP's. If you are making a custom order ask for a lighweight body, if you are buying from the showcase choose a light one.

I've wondered about that sometimes myself. I bought a precision scale some time back that's always out, so I've taken to weighing things here and there out of curiosity. I've found that with rare exceptions, all Strats, Teles and similar hover around 8lbs, while Les Pauls and similar hover around 10lbs, give or take a 1/2lb either way. You get the occasional oddball - I have a Tele that only weighs slightly over 6lbs, and had a VIP that came in a tad over 10, but the regular numbers are by far what you see. Can 2lbs really make that much difference? Doesn't seem like it should, but I sure can tell if I've been playing my LP.

 

[fdesalvo]

Don't buy for tone or weight lol.  I've had a few of each and some of the chambered bodies were heavier than their solid counterparts.  I only do chambered/semi-hollow if I wanted F-holes.