semi hollowing a strat??

I have a squire ply body strat i got for $10 as my first guitar. Im refinishing it and wondering if, it would be wise to hollow out all but save the neck and trem areas from the back, then seal it with a masonite piece to match ala danelectro? warnings, curses, words of wisdom?

Why?

Cause I can? consider it a thinline made backwards out of cheap materials, like half a danelectro.

It will probably sound like crap. :roll:

Chambering a guitar is not something you do randomly. A knowledge of acoustics is required.

so 15 minutes of questioning doesn't count? What makes an expert, I think I'll try to be one by this evening.

Why not just get a drill and drill a ton of holes through the guitar and then call it a "Swisscheesecaster"

really...

Is the guitar on the heavy side right now? If not, I wouldn't remove more wood as it can make the guitar very unbalanced on a strap. Sometimes to remove a little weight, guys bore "Swiss cheese holes" with a forstner bit under the pickguard. I have done this, but the weight change is almost unnoticeable unless you take out a lot of wood at which point the body is structurally compromised. Strats have three pickups and a tremolo block that contribute a lot of weight, so maybe making it a single pickup guitar would drop the weight and I assume your tremolo is already the smaller zinc block variety.

Otherwise, the body contours of a Strat make the post-production "chambering" process rather difficult. The combination of the tremolo, electronics, and contour routing already make for a lot of wood subtracted from the body blank, so there really isn't much left you can remove. This is why it's more common to see a chambered Tele because they have no contours or tremolo and minimalistic electronics routing.

Long story short, unless the guitar is uncomfortably heavy, I wouldn't do it. Even if it is super heavy, a good wide strap can help spread the weight.

I wouldn't do it with a plywood body... I don't know anymore about it than you do, but I would venture a guess that that plywood would be a bitch to cut out like that.

I would get a cheapy solid wood body to try your experiment. As for chambering a guitar, and needing a knowledge of acoustics, yes and no.

I've never seen a B-bender tele that didn't have a CRAPLOAD of wood chopped out of it. there is no acoustic thinking there, just "accomadate the device". So you remove a boatload of wood, and jam in a boatload of metal.

Not very scientific, and certainly not acoustically optimal, but I've never heard one I thought sounded really crappy. Still pretty much sound like your standard Telecaster to me.

I had a '67 Tele body that was super heavy at one time, so a previous owner had completely hollowed it out. From the front you couldn't tell, it looked normal. But if you looked around back, it was completely hollow except where the pickups and bridge mounted. It had a full back cover made out of B/W/B pickguard material.

It sounded different, but certainly not bad. At all.

As for experimenting, I wouldn't do it with a prized high dollar instrument. But hacking up low end stuff is how you learn. if you feel the need, I say go for it.

Im not worried about weight, Im just curious about the change in tone, Oh I forgot, I wasnted to add a piezo inside the chamber and have a switch for it, so I could add an acousticy nuance to low gain songs

I wouldn't do it.

Go for it, but make sure you send us some pics of the process.

It isn't like you are going to be losing a valuable guitar or much money and you can learn a lot in the process.
Be aware you may not have a playable guitar afterwards.
You can always replace the body with an aftermarket one.

indeed, i am worried about unplayable, because all three of my guitars have a semi sentimental value... or maybe that's what I call guitars that were free and have interesting paint jobs.

it's your guitar, do anything you want !!!

it's your guitar, do anything you want !!!

^^this^^

It will probably sound like crap. :roll:

Chambering a guitar is not something you do randomly. A knowledge of acoustics is required.


really??
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:PuPmeNogrd6uZM:http://jose.gs/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/weight.jpg&t=1:lol:

it's your guitar, do anything you want !!!

what he said :wink:

so 15 minutes of questioning doesn't count? What makes an expert, I think I'll try to be one by this evening.

Nice attitude. Have fun. :roll:

really??
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:PuPmeNogrd6uZM:http://jose.gs/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/weight.jpg&t=1:lol:





Do you really think those holes were just randomly put their without any thought to their impact on tone? :roll:

wondering if, it would be wise to hollow out..... warnings, curses, words of wisdom?



Holy Cow, go to a Gibson Les Paul forum and see what a can of worms that deal is !!!!!!!!

:shock:

Now I will put the wise a$$ hat away and add, COOL ! a 10 buck body, GO FOR it.

Were would we be if not for the Wright bros and a bicycle ?

Do you really think those holes were just randomly put their without any thought to their impact on tone? :roll:

I was just hving a wee bit of fun!

but yeah, from the Gibby site "Gibson first put unseen routes, or “chambers,” in some Les Paul bodies purely as a weight-reduction measure at a time when adequately light stocks of mahogany were difficult to come by"

weight relief :shock: OK let's call 'em "tone chambers" then :rolleyes:

:lol:

Do you really think those holes were just randomly put their without any thought to their impact on tone? :roll:

Looks to me (and I am 100% positive it is) nothing more than weight relief, in the only place on the guitar it would fit. You use one big chamber, and you risk cracking, or smashing a hole in the guitar if it gets impacted or dropped too hard. Use lots of little hole like that, and you maintain structural integrity, and lose a noticeable amount of weight.

Gibson can sell snake oil all day long, but looking at that guitar, I would bet valuable parts of my anatomy that this is the only thinking that went into that.

indeed, i am worried about unplayable, because all three of my guitars have a semi sentimental value... or maybe that's what I call guitars that were free and have interesting paint jobs.

If you're gonna chamber out a guitar, make sure it's one you won't miss if you **** up the job. Because, chances are you're not going to get it right on the 1st try.

I have a friend of mine with extensive woodworking experience who's getting into making guitars and he's made a ton of mistakes with his first 3 builds.