From what I've seen in the 'instock' listings, it looks like the average weight for a solid mahogany LP Carved top with DL Quilt maple is around 5 pounds. Other maple tops (i.e, flame maple) seem to be heavier ... closer to 6 pounds. With the DL Quilt you have to add $100 for binding. What other maple top options would there be that don't add a lot of weight and would look great with a dye?
Weight - maple top options for new LP build
- Thread starter dglady
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jackthehack
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Flamed Maple would work.... If you're going to custom order you can ask them to use the lightest mahogany blank they have, there would most likely be an upcharge....
Super Turbo Deluxe Custom
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Yeah, the mahogany, simply because there's more of it, is the bulk of the weight. You could also get the body chambered.
Super Turbo Deluxe Custom
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A few extra pots and knobs, and I'm sure the T-O-M Stoptail ain't exactly a feather. It all adds up.
No. To prove that,go to Guitar Center and try any of the current-make LPs versus some "real" (ie: solid) LPs if they have any, side-by-side through the same amp.
That sillyness with chambering the bodies has absolutely gutted the meat-and-potatoes of the LP tone,IMO. I've tried dozens of different,recent LP's and just been disgusted all-over in recent years.
Think about it: the mass of that body is a big part of what gave us that tone we associate with a classic "LP" tone. Hollow it out, like they do nowdays, and it may as well be a 335 without f-holes. Now, if the tone it produces when made this way is what people seek,then great for them. Not gonna knock that.
But..for the real tone that we normally think of-solid only.
But the weight/mass IS the tone,and the weight is the price paid for achieving it.
That sillyness with chambering the bodies has absolutely gutted the meat-and-potatoes of the LP tone,IMO. I've tried dozens of different,recent LP's and just been disgusted all-over in recent years.
Think about it: the mass of that body is a big part of what gave us that tone we associate with a classic "LP" tone. Hollow it out, like they do nowdays, and it may as well be a 335 without f-holes. Now, if the tone it produces when made this way is what people seek,then great for them. Not gonna knock that.
But..for the real tone that we normally think of-solid only.
But the weight/mass IS the tone,and the weight is the price paid for achieving it.
Huh. I was under the illusion that pickups, scale length, bridge type and wood choices defined a Les Paul... /irony
Note that Warmoth's chambering is very different from Gibson's. The difference won't be the same, so to speak, but it's better to let those with actual Warmoth LPs answer that.
Btw, I don't think weight as such is all that important. The mahogany used in the '50s was of a very different quality from what we have left now, lower weight being one big difference. There's way too much "but that's what they used to do!" going on, and too little focus on what needs to be done now. Buuut that's another topic...
Note that Warmoth's chambering is very different from Gibson's. The difference won't be the same, so to speak, but it's better to let those with actual Warmoth LPs answer that.
Btw, I don't think weight as such is all that important. The mahogany used in the '50s was of a very different quality from what we have left now, lower weight being one big difference. There's way too much "but that's what they used to do!" going on, and too little focus on what needs to be done now. Buuut that's another topic...
Super Turbo Deluxe Custom
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Chambered don't equal 335.
Well I was speaking to actual LPs, not warmoths. And being a bolt on will have a considerable difference as well. But my main point was Old LPs vs New Lps.- when you scrape out most of the woood, the difference is mass IS going to make a considerable difference,and does. Like I said-try 2 of each side by side-it's night and day-all other factors -pups,electronics,etc being the same.
AprioriMark
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jeffgtr said:
This is just a myth. If the neck joint is solid, bolt-on or set neck really doesn't make a difference.
-Mark
O
old_metal_head
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Everything and Nothing makes a difference.
I'll try to not go down the tone-influence logic blackhole this time -
I have a solid LP, it's heavier than I'd like, at about 10 lbs, but sounds just great. If you don't feel good about chambering, you can get aluminum TOM parts, light tuners, and avoid exotic woods. Ordering extra light mahogany is probably also a good option.
I have a solid LP, it's heavier than I'd like, at about 10 lbs, but sounds just great. If you don't feel good about chambering, you can get aluminum TOM parts, light tuners, and avoid exotic woods. Ordering extra light mahogany is probably also a good option.
tfarny said:
Logically all of these options will affect the tone as well. I would prefer heavy TOM parts, and heavy tuners considering they are both directly touching the strings rather than being a secondary aspect, like species of wood or chambered/non-chambered. But again, that's just logically speaking. old metal head was right, everything and nothing will make a difference of some kind.
as far as the original question goes, tops won't make much of a difference. All solid mahogany/maple les paul bodies will fall in the 5-6lb range. get whichever variation of maple you like the best.
bpmorton777
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9-10 pounds is a good weight for a guitar. most of the new stuff I find in the shops these days are all WAY lighter that includes strats and tele's. the Warmoth I built out of a block of mahogany is 9 pounds, my MIJ alder strat is 10.
you guys need to try out an Epiphone Genesis for that "heavy guitar thang" if you think 10 pounds is heavy.
Brian
you guys need to try out an Epiphone Genesis for that "heavy guitar thang" if you think 10 pounds is heavy.
Brian
jeffgtr said:
Being the owner of a LP standard and LP non-standard (ha!)... I'll tell ya what they did. The chambering is offensively over done by Gibson.
The tone is VERY warm. To me, it has lost a lot of what I'll call "mechanical" sustain, however, they do start to resonate on their own when you stand in front of a nice stack and play at 120 db or so. Thats why Gibson says they have increased sustain. Total BS. Gibson has responded to the guitar buying market segment and they requested (or so says Gibson) lighter guitars. Gibson thinks it will sell more that way. They have since re-introduced the swiss cheese model as the LP traditional.... even though 7 to 9 large holes milled into the body is not traditional at all.
Dont get me wrong - I LIKE my LP with the chambers, its just totally different from the LP that we know and love as "a Les Paul model". Think of it as a Tele thinline, with no F/hole. I had half a mind to actually put an F/hole in the damn thing... but didn't!
EXACTLY my point. Not saying the newer ones dont sound "good" for certain things,just that it is NOT the sound we associate with that classic "Les Paul Tone" ala Page,etc. Personally, i can't take to them very well at all. Not the feel of them,nor the sound of them. If/when I ever decide to seek out a semi-hollow, I'll deliberately seek out a semi-hollow for those tones. Not an LP passed off as a "solid body" or a "half paul" as I call em.
To me, that weight of the old ones IS the Les Paul.
If I want lighter,for weight reasons, I'll pick up one of my strats,tyvm.
To me, that weight of the old ones IS the Les Paul.
If I want lighter,for weight reasons, I'll pick up one of my strats,tyvm.
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