why are all the recent thinlines such boat anchors

[popthree]

i thought the idea behind a thinline was to eliminate weight...yet it seems that every thinline i pick up weighs more than the regular ole standard tele's of the same ilk. anyone else notice this ?

[Stoked]

Yeah both the thinlines i tried out at GC the other day were way heavier than the solid bodie teles i tried too. I don't know how they do it

[Mark Davis]

As the years go by wood will get worse and worse.

I remember thinlines at 6lbs and less now they are 7.5 and higher.

[RodeoTex]

I'm thinkin maybe the guys at Fender derail the heavier body blanks down the Thinline conveyor since they are going to be partially hollowed out anyway.
Yeah, I noticed that the other day too.

[BroadMaster]

There is a wood that is grain similar to ash. It is called paulownia and is alleged to be about 1/3 (+-) less in weight. I believe some of the early, nice Jay Tursers employed this wood. They were very light guitars from my recollection and sold well at first.

Guitar Mill offers it. Anybody buy it yet? Any feedback or knowledge of this wood? As to the OP, I intended to offer this as a roll your own, alternative wood.... don't mean to seem like a hijacker.

I agree about most modern versions being heavy for hollow. Polyester is a heavy paint, too.

[boris bubbanov]

Originally Posted by Mark Davis

As the years go by wood will get worse and worse.

I remember thinlines at 6lbs and less now they are 7.5 and higher.

I think the marketeers assumed a Thinline had to be light to sell, at one time. Now the model has enough momentum on its own; some folks simply gotta have a new Thinline and nothing else will do. So this is a great way to avoid having to throw away some of the heavy blanks that show up in Ensenada.

I think there's a lot of grow back around the country that is coming into maturity and availability, and is becoming increasingly available to North American wood consumers. Sure, a lot of it is oak, birch and cherry but by no means all of it.
One side effect of so much outsourced asian furniture manufacture right now is they use more non- North American wood. This means more ash and alder of real nice quality coming available here. Of course it isn't first growth, but it is nevertheless nice stuff and it is not in real short supply. Birdseye is in short supply, but for the most part the tone woods under the most intense pressure are tropical ones, especially Braz. Rosewood.

[yegbert]

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

...so much outsourced asian furniture manufacture...

Is that why I see so many Cort furniture trucks driving around nowadays?

[TG]

I haven't tried any recent thinlines so I didn't know this.


I've been thinking lately that we're in another CBS-type period. Heavy guitars appearing is further proof.

[Ed Bickert]

I thought the entire selling point of a thinline was the weight. No? I don't know, was never a fan of a tele with an f-hole. But dang, it should be lighter. That means per sqare inch, thinlines use much heavier wood. Ack!

[Colt W. Knight]

If its heavier, does that mean it is more dense? If it is more dense will it transfer sound waves better or worse?

[AjayTele]

The CIJ Thinlines still seem to be pretty light. Maybe you should try to find one of those?

[jazztele]

they are?

my MIM '69 thinline weighs a lot less than my am. std. ash, which weighs in at 7.5 lbs.

i played 4 other thinlines at Chicago Music Exchange the day i bought mine. all were noticably lighter than their solidbody counterparts. not sure why i got so lucky.

[johnspierce]

I love nice wood, but isn't it time for someone to come out with an opaque custom-color guitar made out of a non-wood material that resonates well?

Snow skis have been made with space-age materials for years. I'm thinking like a Tele thinline (in surf green:)) made out of the same type of materials used in a Parker Fly. As Mark said, wood is going to get heavier and be of lower quality than in the past -- maybe Fender will step up and use it as an opportunity rather than a problem.

JP

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by johnspierce

I love nice wood, but isn't it time for someone to come out with an opaque custom-color guitar made out of a non-wood material that resonates well?

Snow skis have been made with space-age materials for years. I'm thinking like a Tele thinline (in surf green:)) made out of the same type of materials used in a Parker Fly. As Mark said, wood is going to get heavier and be of lower quality than in the past -- maybe Fender will step up and use it as an opportunity rather than a problem.

JP

I'm pretty sure Parker Fly's are basswood inside.

[boris bubbanov]

Originally Posted by johnspierce

I love nice wood, but isn't it time for someone to come out with an opaque custom-color guitar made out of a non-wood material that resonates well?

Snow skis have been made with space-age materials for years. I'm thinking like a Tele thinline (in surf green:)) made out of the same type of materials used in a Parker Fly. As Mark said, wood is going to get heavier and be of lower quality than in the past -- maybe Fender will step up and use it as an opportunity rather than a problem.

JP

I suspect this is one of the reasons I've been guitar playing more and whitewater kayaking less. Frankly, I'm kinda left out amongst all my comrades that have switched to synthetic composite paddles. I still prefer wood paddles, and I get a lot of funny looks for using them.

My friends who built wooden kayak paddles had excellent supplies of maple, basswood and spruce right up to the day they closed their doors. They quit because of fashion, nothing else.

[Tom S]

Originally Posted by Nick JD

I'm pretty sure Parker Fly's are basswood inside.

The USA Flys are wood bodies, but not basswood.

I have a Classic, in which the body is made of one piece of mahogany. The Deluxe is made of poplar. The Supreme is maple. The Artist, NYlon, and Bronze are sitka spruce. The Select Koa is....you guessed it, koa.

The necks are basswood! Reinforced by carbon-glass-epoxy, though.

[Scottlr]

My MIM 69RI also weighs very light. I never weighed it, but it is my lightest guitar. If I had to guess, I guess it in the 6 pound range.

[Telenator]

Hey man, the 70's thinlines were heavy. I owned an original '72. They're just being accurate.

[purpletele]

Mine is 6 lbs right on. But it's this one.

[petebradt]

Dang, my CIJ is 6 pounds and it's solid.

[maggieo]

Originally Posted by johnspierce

I love nice wood, but isn't it time for someone to come out with an opaque custom-color guitar made out of a non-wood material that resonates well?

One word:

DANELECTRO!