Chambering A Body

Duppy03

My homebuild Telemaster weighs a tonne, I really like the guitar but it has been gathering dust lately as the weight is obviously putting me off.

So what are my options for having the Alder body chambered? Could the top or the back be sliced off, chambered, then capped with Maple or Mahagony? Would it then need binding?

Is this a daft idea, would it be cheaper to just commission a new body?

thermionic

The question we're all asking is - who is Matthew Rogers?

octatonic

Probably the OP.
This has happened before- probably an autofill-on-mobile device sort of thing.

Duppy03

Ha, obviously my name isn't intriguing enough to draw on the curiosity of fellow guitar models to drum up the answers I'm looking for but I appreciate the heads up fella's. Dont know how that happened but title has now been corrected

CasperCaster

Firstly, it's very likely that the cost of having the existing body chambered would be very expensive. So, that only leaves a few options - get a new body; put up with the weight; or rout out more material from the existing body. In the latter case you could deepen the pickup routs, extend or rebate the control rout, do a swimming pool rout under the pickguard - that kind of thing. However, even if you did all of the above it is unlikely to make a significant difference, and you may just make your existing body unsaleable (or at least undesirable), so I'd tend to opt for getting a new body.

WezV

They are a large body shape with relatively little routing and most of the weight behind the bridge... Always end up feeling a bit heavy 

If it's got a guard you can add a swimming pool or smuggle routes, but don't expect to lose more than 1/2lb max 

Carving the contours a bit more can also shave a bit.

You don't need to bind if you do retop it, but it does look best if it's going to be natural.  If it's a solid or burst finish I would not bind, and I don't think it would suit the guitar.


I have chambered and retopped a few guitars.  It is the most effective way to reduce weight.... But not easy and not cheap

Danielsguitars

Having just sawn a cap by hand today because my band saw is crap i concluded resawing large bits of wood takes forever, I'm not sure where you'd take the body to slice some off so it might be by hand, someone else can comment on if it's ok to bandsaw a guitar body that's already completed

The reason for the thin cap is to weight relieve a mahogany lp body i made years ago, i need at least 3/4 lb off it 

WezV

I wouldn;t normally saw the top off, although have done it by hand once.  That was enough. 

I normally route the body thinner, chamber it, and make a new top

Andyjr1515

WezV said:

I wouldn;t normally saw the top off, although have done it by hand once.  That was enough. 

I normally route the body thinner, chamber it, and make a new top

I remember that.  Best bit of sawing I ever did see.  Completely crazy.  But good sawing.

  I can't even saw the bottom of a Christmas tree straight

Danielsguitars

I've sawn a nice maple cap off before because a router slipped and went into a mahogany body and i reused the cap on another body

I've got one more cap to split which is by hand so not rushing, then I'll probably do a build thread