guitar build body weights

Danielsguitars

The body weight has to be the right weight for me before I start doing anything

With les paul's I want a finished body around 6lb or just under to give me around 9lb finished 

Anywhere between 8.8 and 9 is my finished target weight for solid guitars 

I just calculated the weight of guitar build tele blanks and it should be around 4.3 lbs fully routed 

Graham have you got a les paul cubic inchs for the calculation 

Corvus

FWIW I just weighed my USA std body, stripped & repainted, at slightly under 4lbs or ~1.8kg in new money. Assuming the scales are accurate. Alder with the normal HSH routs that'll shave off an extra bit o'gravity vs SSS.

GSPBASSES

@Andyjr1515 that's always puzzled me, the data that gave me these figures was gathered many years ago, This was simply done by calculating the cubic inch weight of the wood being used, then when the guitar was finished it would be weighed. From that weight I calculate how many cubic inches were in the guitar. These findings were then put into a database over several years that averaged out the weight. What I did find that occasionally with Strat bodies the number of cubic inches did seem to vary, I dismissed this as bad maths by me. 

I should say I don't actually do the calculation any more. I find out the cubic inch weight of the wood, from that I know roughly the weight of the body.  Interestingly, I do this not to weed out the heavy bodies, but to make sure I don't use very light wood for Strats and Teles, I save these for Jazz and P basses. Any very heavy bodies are used for thin line T/C's, or if anybody wants a fully chambered body of some description. 

In the next couple weeks or so I'm going to be making three or four Jazzmaster's, I will use this opportunity to work out how many cubic inches there are in a Jazzmaster. I'm also going to be making some standard black guard T/C's, time permitting, I'll make a photo diary of the build from the planks of wood to the finished article, showing how the weight changes from start to finish. I can also use the T/C build to check the figures on how many cubic inches there are in a T/C. In all fairness it has work pretty well. The figure for the Tele was given to me by David Dyke, I never question whether it's right or wrong, but it does seem to work out fairly accurate within a few ounces. 

I've never done it for a Les Paul as the built procedure is so different it makes it almost impossible to calculate. I will be building some LPJ's later in the year, so again, time permitting I will try and calculate the cubic inch in the body. 

WezV

GSPBASSES said:

I'll make a photo diary of the build from the planks of wood to the finished article, showing how the weight changes from start to finish.

that would be extremely valuable information.

sweepy said:

Can I also throw into the mix the resonant characteristics of the body and neck, it’s not just a matter of weight 

yeah, thats a whole different topic.  But in a discussion about weight, weight is more  important

Danielsguitars

WezV said

sweepy said:

Can I also throw into the mix the resonant characteristics of the body and neck, it’s not just a matter of weight 

yeah, thats a whole different topic.  But in a discussion about weight, weight is more  important

Agreed 

Talking of necks for a moment, these will be vintage spec hand made to fit the body, the wood came from David dyke and it's nice so should be ok 
It was too cold to tap dance that day so took a chance lol

No more neck talk 

GoldenEraGuitars

customkits said:

lonestar said:

Id image the 3.6kg/7lb 9oz will take you close to that. As @WezV a Strat should get you that no problem. 

Having said that.. I’m sitting here with a rather nice 3lb 7oz ash tele body

Do you make your own?

I just couldn't be bothered to make them i've got enough to do and the 2 I got sent to finish were nice so ordered them

Thankfully not. I don’t have the space, money or tools/machinery to make my own. I don’t see it as a downside. I couldn’t make a body for less than I buy them for. If I bought blanks I’d take far too long pissing about with templates, routers and sanders to make it worth while.

I know @FelineGuitars said 4lb 4oz is getting heavy for a Strat/tele but I think on a tele you can get away with it. I did a 4lb 2oz tele body unloaded for a customer but I decided to weigh the entire build on the scales. 6lb 7oz all in. I think a Strat is a little different though.. I know you lose weight in the cavities but you have an extra pickup, extra pots and the bridge assembly to take into consideration. 

Danielsguitars

lonestar said:

 I don’t have the space, money or tools/machinery to make my own. I don’t see it as a downside. I couldn’t make a body for less than I buy them for. If I bought blanks I’d take far too long pissing about with templates, routers and sanders to make it worth while.

I know @FelineGuitars said 4lb 4oz is getting heavy for a Strat/tele but I think on a tele you can get away with it. I did a 4lb 2oz tele body unloaded for a customer but I decided to weigh the entire build on the scales. 6lb 7oz all in. I think a Strat is a little different though.. I know you lose weight in the cavities but you have an extra pickup, extra pots and the bridge assembly to take into consideration. 

I agree about not making these sorts of body's considering what they cost to buy, I've got a new workshop that should be ready in a few weeks, I use a pin router, sander thicknesser, planer etc and it's still not really worth me making bodys from scratch unless it's a custom build idea

I believe hand making necks is the right thing for me to do, I'm fussy with vintage profiles and thicknesses and fitting a neck to that body, I like to know where the wood is from and choose it

I only make set neck stuff from scratch for my own guitars and i do alot of carved tops and use a copy carver too, it's more time consuming than making flat tops like juniors etc which is a nice change and alot quicker 

I can live with a tele around 7lb

Any idea what a strat would weigh with a 4lb ish body fully built, no idea what the hardware weighs

FelineGuitars

~Getting a set of accurate postal scales or kitchen ones will pay off in time 

If you make certain guitars over and over, get to know the weight of a set of hardware

Weigh the neck , weigh the body 

Weigh the whole guitar assembled but unpainted and weigh it again when completed and painted

Some simple maths will give you figures for paint weight etc.

With that knowledge under your belt you should be able to carefully estimate guitar weights , even if you buy the bodies in.
Heck you can even choose to chamber or rout deeper if you need to shave an ounce or three

Danielsguitars

FelineGuitars said:

~Getting a set of accurate postal scales or kitchen ones will pay off in time 

If you make certain guitars over and over, get to know the weight of a set of hardware

Weigh the neck , weigh the body 

Weigh the whole guitar assembled but unpainted and weigh it again when completed and painted

Some simple maths will give you figures for paint weight etc.

With that knowledge under your belt you should be able to carefully estimate guitar weights , even if you buy the bodies in.
Heck you can even choose to chamber or rout deeper if you need to shave an ounce or three

I can tell you all about les pauls that's it, i got really anal a good few years ago I only have to weigh a mahogany blank and I'll get close enough 

I know nothing about strats and tele's that's why I asked, I'll get round to weighing the parts out when I eventually get something together, I roughly know what the body's will weigh now and I'm in no rush 

gavin_axecaster

Hardware and neck adds about 3lb to a Tele build, depending on the hardware. Vintage tuners and bridge will weigh a lot less than modern Gotoh bridge and locking tuners - a Gotoh modern bridge weighs about 1/2 lb alone.
Neck wood/thickness/type of trussrod can also vary, but 3lb is a good benchmark.

Danielsguitars

gavin_axecaster said:

Hardware and neck adds about 3lb to a Tele build, depending on the hardware. Vintage tuners and bridge will weigh a lot less than modern Gotoh bridge and locking tuners - a Gotoh modern bridge weighs about 1/2 lb alone.
Neck wood/thickness/type of trussrod can also vary, but 3lb is a good benchmark.

Thanks 3lb is the same as i add to a les paul body for a rough final weight