Opinions on lightened / chambered body guitar

[Riccardo Ros]

Hi everyone!
I'm in the mood of building a custom guitar from an Italian luthier and one of the options is to have a lightened / chambered body.
The advantages should be a 25% weight reduction and a brighter tone with more sustain for the lightened, up to 35% on the chambered and more acoustic of course.

My only experience with chambered bodies is a Strandberg... I love the resonance and the vibrations while unplugged but I cannot say if the chambered body has a true impact on sound when plugged.

So I'm asking your advice if you have a direct experience!

Bottom line
I'm not looking for a "classic / authentic" sounding guitar, I'm just building a modern guitar tailored on my needs.
There's a price difference for the lightened body so I'm just collecting "knowledge"


Pictures for reference

 

[Budda]

Ive had one chambered les paul amidst my 7-8 bought in the last few years and it sounded different (less attack/high end) until I put the stock pickup back in. I have had a few weight relieved (simar to pic 2) and they did not have any soft pick attack qualities. I still have one and enjoy it very much.

Go with your gut. Sounds like the upcharge is a bit of a concern.

 

[Riccardo Ros]

I made a call with the luthier and his advice, summarising, is:

• go for the lightened if you play from clean to mean (given that the chambers provide more upper frequencies and acoustic qualities)
• go for the solid body if you play only high-gain

Go with your gut. Sounds like the upcharge is a bit of a concern.

Thanks! it's not that expensive but I just want to make it perfect

 

[Budda]

If its an electric guitar then how it sounds plugged in is most important, unless you play unplugged a lot.

 

[GitGuy513]

At one time I would have always said solid and still do especially if the body is a nice hunk of lively Mahogany. The weight didn’t matter to me. However I purchased a Strandberg Boden Prog NX6 which is chambered and there are a lot of things I really like about it. Probably most noticeable is the weight. There is an acoustic quality that is present whether plugged in or not that I really like. The thing with the Strandberg is that it’s a sum of many aspects that make it stand out for me in many ways. Like I understand chambered or even weight relieved guitars can suffer from neck dive with a regular style neck. This isn’t an issue with the Strandberg.

I would always want, keep and love the feel and sound of my solid body PRSi, but I would always like a Chambered too. Also, I have a Ibanez Hollowbody Jazz box that is a different thing from a Chambered. I love that guitar for certain things too.

If you have a hard time telling the chambered quality of your Standberg and weight is your main concerns than maybe a weight relieved and non chambered would be more appropriate.

 

[unix-guy]

Who are the jerks saying you don't need a new guitar? Of course you do!

I have a Tom Anderson "hollow" Drop Top. My understanding is that means "chambered".

It's great: it's light and sounds very good.

It does have a little difference on the attack, I think... But without a direct comparison to another non-chambered I'm not sure it's fair to attribute that to being chambered.

 

[weird guitar person]

Ergonomics over any dubious assumptions about resonances translating into "better" audible results.

 

[Riccardo Ros]

Who are the jerks saying you don't need a new guitar? Of course you do!

I have a Tom Anderson "hollow" Drop Top. My understanding is that means "chambered".

It's great: it's light and sounds very good.

It does have a little difference on the attack, I think... But without a direct comparison to another non-chambered I'm not sure it's fair to attribute that to being chambered.

Just because you say Tom Anderson, the build will be really really close to this piece of art

 

[GitGuy513]

Who are the jerks saying you don't need a new guitar? Of course you do!

I know this is going to be hard to believe, but in my half assed reading of the actual poll I took “you” to mean me; as in I really don’t have an opinion because “I” don’t need a guitar. I didn’t read it as the OP doesn’t need “a new guitar”.

Basically, I was more concerned with reading the post and didn’t pay close enough attention to the poll. So I’m going to change my vote not because of being called a “Jerk” lol…but because the OP not buying another guitar is not something I have any opinion.

 

[Riccardo Ros]

I know this is going to be hard to believe, but in my half assed reading of the actual poll I took “you” to mean me; as in I really don’t have an opinion because “I” don’t need a guitar. I didn’t read it as the OP doesn’t need “a new guitar”.

Basically, I was more concerned with reading the post and didn’t pay close enough attention to the poll. So I’m going to change my vote not because of being called a “Jerk” lol…but because the OP not buying another guitar is not something I have any opinion.

no worries at all and sorry for my English, maybe it was not that clear!

 

[GitGuy513]

no worries at all and sorry for my English, maybe it was not that clear!

Your English is fine! While it can be possibly taken both ways it was my lack of attention that was the problem.

Also no offense taken @unix-guy. I’m glad you pointed it out.

 

[Musikron]

Whatever one winds up the lightest. Heavy weight guitars SUCK!

 

[Planta Fantasma]

I'd highly recommend buying a chambered guitar. The older I get, the more I appreciate them, both for weight & tone.
There have never been more options to choose from as there are these days.

I do my chambering for weight reduction to the body along w/ achieving a more hollow body effect for the neck pickup.

Fret scale divided by 16 will give you one of the many ways of finding harmonic sweet spots & pickup locations based on Bill Bartolini's research.
(This is one way to go about finding multiscale intonation points & pickup coil locations also)

I based these around what I wanted in a guitar:
Tight & thick bridge pickup response for rock & metal heads. I leave the body solid around the bridge pickup.
Nice & fat neck position where the top coil of the neck pickup is directly under the 24 fret sweet spot. When the neck pickup hole is routed in the top, it connects directly into the chamber.
Some people put the middle of the humbucker in these 'sweet spot' locations, I prefer an actual coil to be there when using split pickups.

The circles in the chambered areas are for reinforcement during it's life as a guitar & also so it doesn't collapse when I vacuum press the top on.
Since the guitar is chambered, I decided to hollow out the circles for the additional weight.
The reason I went w/ the circles are because they're a more gentle shape compared to a square. I tried using square reinforcement blocks at first, but I could see little creases in the top after they were vacuum pressed. I went for the softer shape & the problem was resolved.

Enjoy your quest for the ultimate tone!

 

[skolacki]

I won’t vote because I’ve never played a chambered guitar so I don’t have a valid opinion. Weight reduction is a good thing for sure. Billy Gibbons is big on that, weight relieved bodies and necks. His tone today is nothing like the early ZZ days but he’s older and using very light strings. Having read a lot of BG interviews over the years I have the impression that for him, it’s more of a weight thing rather than tone.

 

[Planta Fantasma]

I won’t vote because I’ve never played a chambered guitar so I don’t have a valid opinion. Weight reduction is a good thing for sure. Billy Gibbons is big on that, weight relieved bodies and necks. His tone today is nothing like the early ZZ days but he’s older and using very light strings. Having read a lot of BG interviews over the years I have the impression that for him, it’s more of a weight thing rather than tone.

One of my friends had me setup his PRS w/ 7's because of Billy Gibbons modern tone. They felt like they were going to cut into my finger like a cheese slicer. I'll pass on that.
I honestly didn't get a good evaluation of the tone on that one. Adjusted the neck, Intonated & sent it down the road. lol

 

[stink]

I have all 3. My preference is lightened. I have a Dean Solid Explorer, sounds killer but weighs over 12#. I have a solid Anderson and a lightened (hollow) one. I have to say, the older I get, light is better. You do have slightly less attack but it's something I'm willing to overlook due to the comfort aspect. That said, my hollow Anderson Tele (mongrel) is my favorite.

 

[stink]

I'd highly recommend buying a chambered guitar. The older I get, the more I appreciate them, both for weight & tone.
There have never been more options to choose from as there are these days.

I do my chambering for weight reduction to the body along w/ achieving a more hollow body effect for the neck pickup.

Fret scale divided by 16 will give you one of the many ways of finding harmonic sweet spots & pickup locations based on Bill Bartolini's research.
(This is one way to go about finding multiscale intonation points & pickup coil locations also)

I based these around what I wanted in a guitar:
Tight & thick bridge pickup response for rock & metal heads. I leave the body solid around the bridge pickup.
Nice & fat neck position where the top coil of the neck pickup is directly under the 24 fret sweet spot. When the neck pickup hole is routed in the top, it connects directly into the chamber.
Some people put the middle of the humbucker in these 'sweet spot' locations, I prefer an actual coil to be there when using split pickups.

The circles in the chambered areas are for reinforcement during it's life as a guitar & also so it doesn't collapse when I vacuum press the top on.
Since the guitar is chambered, I decided to hollow out the circles for the additional weight.
The reason I went w/ the circles are because they're a more gentle shape compared to a square. I tried using square reinforcement blocks at first, but I could see little creases in the top after they were vacuum pressed. I went for the softer shape & the problem was resolved.

Enjoy your quest for the ultimate tone!

That is F-ing beautiful!

 

[Planta Fantasma]

That is F-ing beautiful!

Thank you!
I just weighed this Explorer I put together from a 100 year old Mahogany coffee table w/ & korina neck. It's mismatched parts that I plan to metal flake.
The cool thing is the weight. Under 5lbs. By the time It's got a truss rod & hardware it should come in at 8 lbs or less. Definitely a game changer for an aging back.
One way I've found to get more attack on the chambered instruments is to 'slam' the bridge pickup as far back as possible.
I usually pull my bridge pickups back around an 1/8" or so. I'm still a stickler for aesthetics , so if the pickup is to out of place it seems awkward.

 

[Promit]

My experience has been that lightening produces a slight shift upwards in the resonance of the body, while chambering produces a substantial one. Lightening is very hard to hear. While the guitar may sustain longer or louder in the chambered case, I don't like the almost "honky" tone that can result from these guitars. Needless to say this is down to personal preference and interacts with many other factors - but I found that it makes the guitar more temperamental about pickup selection and I had more trouble getting it to sound "right". Active pickups seem much less sensitive, though I don't understand the technical reasons why.

I will also note that this same effect shows up in both smaller bodied headless instruments as well as composite ones (e.g. Aristides). I've tried several Aristides now that sounded quite strange with passive pickups voiced for conventionally constructed guitars. I believe it's not a coincidence that these instruments are favored more in progressive music styles where the tonal approach of the guitar is different (and often more heavily shaped in a processor) from classic styles.

 

[skolacki]

One of my friends had me setup his PRS w/ 7's because of Billy Gibbons modern tone. They felt like they were going to cut into my finger like a cheese slicer. I'll pass on that.
I honestly didn't get a good evaluation of the tone on that one. Adjusted the neck, Intonated & sent it down the road. lol

BG must have a super light touch too because I’ve read he rarely breaks strings. You’re in the biz and making guitars, damn nice ones at that. Do you think heavier sounds better? I do myself but now I’m mostly 9’s. 7? No way.