Weight of Padouk vs. Maple

[DocNrock]

Hi all.  Haven't been around for a few years, but I've lurked the Off Topic section now and again.  Anyway, I hope all my old Unofficial Warmoth buddies are well.  ccasion14:

Some of you might remember the Bengal Burst V2 that I built a while back:  http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=7954.0.  I love the guitar except for one thing:  it is unbalanced.  I was thinking of having another neck made for it that might be lighter to improve the body/neck weight balance of the guitar.

The current neck is Padouk, standard thin, with a 1 11/16" nut width, and a canary fingerboard with binding.  I was thinking about having one made that is maple, wizard profile, with a 1 5/8" nut width, and a maple fingerboard without binding.  Does anyone know if this would be significantly lighter than what I currently have? 

Thanks!

 

[stankybudz]

It seems that if it is that top heavy, a lighter neck wouldnt be that much lighter, need to make the body heavier somehow!

 

[Cagey]

A Maple neck would be lighter, but not so much that you'd notice. Maybe 10-15%, tops. Maple is about 40-45lbs ft3, while Padauk is about 50lbs ft3. That would translate into maybe an ounce or two on a neck.

If that's a "Pro" series neck, you could go to a "Vintage Modern" construction. That would save several more ounces due to the simplified truss rod.

The real problem there is the front strap mounting point. It's too close to the center of gravity, if not behind it. Unfortunately, the body design doesn't give you any choice. You could try going to a suede strap so it has some grip on your shoulder. If the imbalance isn't extreme, that could work. I used to do that with an SG I had - but it's not a real satisfying fix. Thing still pulls at you.

 

[DavyDave53]

A set of gold 'Truck-Nuts' should fix the problem.

Seriously, are the tuners of the light weight variety?

 

[stankybudz]

Could he add some sort of counterweights on the bottom part of the v?

 

[Cagey]

Somebody here routed out a big hole and installed a 3" or 4" pinion gear towards the ass end of the body once. I don't remember if it solved the problem, but it undoubtedly made the whole thing a lot heavier. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, kinda.

 

[stankybudz]

You could cut a small hole in the bottom of the v, tie a rope through there and hang a 5 lb dumbell from it! Might be a little dangerous when you try to do a guitar swing though! Haha arty07:

 

[DocNrock]

Thanks for the replies, guys.  You both confirmed my concern that even if the maple was lighter, it would not be significantly so to change the weight balance of the instrument. 

Truck nuts and dumb-bells...that's the ticket!  LOL.  Seriously, though, I had also given thought to routing out an area in the lower tail of the body and securing perhaps a one to two pound weight in there.  The body is incredibly light, which is part of the problem.

If I had it to do over again, I would have done the maple neck as I mentioned, and instead of swamp ash, would have used white korina and asked them to use the heaviest piece of WK they had on hand.  Swamp ash is pretty light as is, then to make a body out of it that doesn't have that much to and you get a neck-heavy instrument. 

The imbalance isn't awful.  It is nothing like the old-school aluminum neck Kramers.  I'll just keep it as is.  But thanks for the feedback! 

 

[AutoBat]

I think 80% of the problem is that reversed headstock.  Otherwise it looks great.

 

[DocNrock]

I think 80% of the problem is that reversed headstock.  Otherwise it looks great.

???  Do you think the reversed headstock significantly affects the weight balance, or are you referring to the appearance?

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I just revisited your original thread and gave the guitar a good looking over.  I think that thing looks good as is, especially with the matching peghead.

I think it being rear routed, that's where I would try and add the weight to balance it; the control cavity.  You get assorted diameter sizes of barstock and cut it the depth of the cavity and epoxy it in place anywhere you have room. The cover would cover it up.  Also give Doug (DangerousR6) a pm about making a brass cavity cover, trem cover, and matching neckplate all in brass.

 

[AutoBat]

I think 80% of the problem is that reversed headstock.  Otherwise it looks great.

???  Do you think the reversed headstock significantly affects the weight balance, or are you referring to the appearance?

It probably doesn't do anything to the weight balance. I was poking at the appearance, just to be facetious.

 

[stankybudz]

Reverse headstocks are sweet!

 

[Cagey]

Not a fan. To me, they don't look right and they're inconvenient. But, that's just me. Left-handed people do a lot of things that don't look right or are inconvenient to me, since I'm right-handed, as God intended humans to be <grin>

 

[swarfrat]

Guitar balance is about 98% geometry and about 2% density. On a stratocaster, the strap button is right at the 12th fret, which among other things, means that the neck itself has very little contribution to the balance issue. Maybe you could install some really fast gyros inside? Either get a body shape that supports a strap button in a sensible place, or try what you can and learn to live with it. A wide strap with a grippy under surface might be more help than a lot of head scratching, fretting over wood density and installing lead counterweights in the tips of the V.

 

[DocNrock]

I just revisited your original thread and gave the guitar a good looking over.  I think that thing looks good as is, especially with the matching peghead.

I think it being rear routed, that's where I would try and add the weight to balance it; the control cavity.  You get assorted diameter sizes of barstock and cut it the depth of the cavity and epoxy it in place anywhere you have room. The cover would cover it up.  Also give Doug (DangerousR6) a pm about making a brass cavity cover, trem cover, and matching neckplate all in brass.

Thanks STDC.  I like it too, just was trying to improve the balance a bit.  Like I said, it's not bad, just a bit neck-heavy.

Hope all is, and has been well with you.

 

[DocNrock]

I think 80% of the problem is that reversed headstock.  Otherwise it looks great.

???  Do you think the reversed headstock significantly affects the weight balance, or are you referring to the appearance?

It probably doesn't do anything to the weight balance. I was poking at the appearance, just to be facetious.

LOL.  That's kinda what I thought, but just wanted to be sure.

 

[DocNrock]

Guitar balance is about 98% geometry and about 2% density. On a stratocaster, the strap button is right at the 12th fret, which among other things, means that the neck itself has very little contribution to the balance issue. Maybe you could install some really fast gyros inside? Either get a body shape that supports a strap button in a sensible place, or try what you can and learn to live with it. A wide strap with a grippy under surface might be more help than a lot of head scratching, fretting over wood density and installing lead counterweights in the tips of the V.

*sigh*  Thanks for the sarcasm.  :rock-on:

I've lived with it for a few years, and will live with it for many more.  I have a number of other "standard" body guitars.  Not fretting about anything really, just threw out a question, that is all.  I have a 3" strap and that is about as wide as is comfortable.  Anyway, it still is a great guitar.  I have a Jackson Rhoads V that is balanced well, with the forward strap button pretty much at the same place.  But the body is larger than the V2.  I put the rear button as close as I could match it to the Jackson but the difference in body size I think is what makes the balance different.
 

 

[swarfrat]

I wasnt trying to be too sarcastic. But i was serious that your efforts might be more fruitful applied to the strap. You really couldnt design a guitar with worse balance - its an uphill battle. And I do have an idea for a V - its probably too far down the priority list to make the cut, but they are cool none the less

 

[DocNrock]

I wasnt trying to be too sarcastic. But i was serious that your efforts might be more fruitful applied to the strap. You really couldnt design a guitar with worse balance - its an uphill battle. And I do have an idea for a V - its probably too far down the priority list to make the cut, but they are cool none the less

It's all good, man.  No worries.  Good luck on your V, should you decide to do it.