Chambering a solidbody

[Slofinger]

Is there any engineering that goes into where, and how much a guitar is chambered? I just made this body yesterday out of some beautiful mahogany, but it weighed a ton starting out. I just kind of guessed at it. I could kick myself for not weighing it before hand and during stages of it. Oh well. It weighs just over 6#s now, and I still have to add a 5/16" maple cap to it.

 

[mountain man]

Looks real nice!! It looks like you could still do a bit more cambering if you would like. I kinda like the modern method which you could still do if you have patience and a router.

http://www.gibson.com/News-Lifestyl...relief-gibson-les-paul-guitars-0615-2012.aspx

 

[Many Moons]

Neat work sir!!

 

[CaptainMoto]

Looks good.

I think the answer to your question is..............yes.
Cambering is different from weight relief.
I believe what you've accomplished there is weight relief.

I don't know the formula for correct chambering but, I'll take a guess that it could be described as "hollowing out".

 

[TwoNotesSolo]

The captain is right. And I think you meant weight relief. I think the answer is don't put it where you intend to have pickups or electronics, and leave a decent margin away from the body edge.
For chambering you want a large cavity that affects the sound (like Lucille, which is hollow without f-holes)

 

[Rancid Rumpboogie]

My chambered Warmoth Strat body was done more or less like this:

It is the lightest guitar I own, sounds awesome, and does have a bit of that "ES335 thing" going on.

 

[TwoNotesSolo]

That's pretty thin, but still each chamber is isolated instead of creating one large chamber.

 

[DesmoDog]

My chambered Warmoth Strat body was done more or less like this:
View attachment 4526
It is the lightest guitar I own, sounds awesome, and does have a bit of that "ES335 thing" going on.

Somewhere I have an xray of an older chambered Warmoth Strat and it has a pattern similar to that. While I was looking for it online though I got sent to Warmoth's site and to my surprise, this is what their chambered Strat looks like now:

Edit: FOund it. Here's what the older chambered Warmoth Strats looked like

 

[Rancid Rumpboogie]

Mine is like the bottom pic.

 

[DesmoDog]

Mine is like the bottom pic.

So is mine.

 

[MarkDyson]

There it is! I have one of those chambered Warmoth bodies on my Spincaster and I was also trying to find the pic I had of how it looked inside. Honeycomb, very cool. There's a video on YT of one of them being routed on a CNC table.

 

[MarkDyson]

One thing I've noticed on the Spincaster is the chambered body is so resonant sometimes the string noise is distracting when I'm playing at low amp volumes. It really rings out.

 

[CaptainMoto]

Somebody help me on this one!
What's the benefit of doing all routing and yet leaving the honey comb walls?
OK, weight relief, got that!
Is there some desirable tonal aspect achieved ?

 

[jmin]

Somebody help me on this one!
What's the benefit of doing all routing and yet leaving the honey comb walls?
OK, weight relief, got that!
Is there some desirable tonal aspect achieved ?

...only when playing "Flight of the Bumblebee!"

 

[OG_Blues]

My chambered Warmoth Strat body was done more or less like this:
View attachment 4526
It is the lightest guitar I own, sounds awesome, and does have a bit of that "ES335 thing" going on.

That's interesting - can you explain a bit more exactly what you are referring to by "ES335 thing"? Is the tonal quality, or what?
I ask because I have an Epiphone Lucille which I believe is constructed in the more traditional semi-hollow fashion with a solid center block and hollow sides (unlike the posted pictures), but has no F holes, i.e. it is a solid top, and to my ear, it does not exhibit any of the tonal quality of a 335 style guitar even though it otherwise structurally very similar. I have A-B'd them side by side. The Lucille, for all practical purposes sounds like a solid body guitar (aside from the variations obtained from the Varitone).
It wouldn't seem to me that the voids in these guitars contribute much more than weight reduction, but I could be wrong of course.
The honeycomb style construction probably does serve to retain some of the original structural rigidity to the overall construction compared to a more hollow construction. Or conversely, one could surmise it reduces the rigidity compared to solid construction. I guess that could have an effect on the tonal quality, but not sure how or to what degree.

 

[Slofinger]

I know my shop (garage) and building techniques are pretty primitive, but I had no idea Chambering and weight relief was so intricate. Those Strat bodies look like they would be light as a feather. I guess I'm going to be in the camp that the old heavy Les Pauls gave better tone. Or something.

 

[Rancid Rumpboogie]

That's interesting - can you explain a bit more exactly what you are referring to by "ES335 thing"? Is the tonal quality, or what?.

It has more resonance, more of a "woody" tonality than my MIM Strat. The difference is slight, but it is there. I tend to agree about there not being any really notable difference between a ES335 and a solid body. There is a difference, but again, to me at least, it is slight. Others will disagree, claiming a difference of night and day. But the guitar is NOTABLY lighter than my MIM Strat.