Are Jazzcaster bodies typically heavier?

[MrHamburger]

I’m fixing to swap my partscaster to a offset body. Browsing Warmoth all the finished bodies look to be around 5lbs and change. Is that normal or am I just seeing all the rejects?

 

[NICQ]

Swamp Ash Jazzmaster bodies can be found around 4 lbs - I bought several when I built my partscasters andf they were 3,8 - 4,3 lbs typically. Alder and Poplar should be around 4 too.
The only one over 5 lbs is my walnut one piece Jazzmaster body but that's a given with walnut

 

[NICQ]

just had a look on the warmoth site - there are some finished ones that are around the 4 lbs mark
the 5 lbs ones are those with heavier wood - I guess people prefer buying the lighter ones and the heavy ones are being left over?

 

[Ronkirn]

Yes they are consistently heavier... it's just a larger body, expect to pay a premium if you want anything south of 5 pounds... or choose a lumber that is consistently lighter, like paulownia..''If anything lighter were "easy" you would see them listed on the sites like Warmoth, but you do not do ya... there's a reason...

rk

 

[Ronkirn]

I guess people prefer buying the lighter ones and the heavy ones are being left over?

that's because of the intellectual derangement infecting misinformed guitar players' thinking that lighter weight guitars sound better.... that's as illadvised and as stupid as playing in traffic, at night, while wearing a ghillie suit.

rk

 

[MrHamburger]

You lost me at ghillie suit, haha.
I only ask because I don’t want to end up with a heavier guitar when I swap bodies.
I’m thinking I wanna come in closer to 7lbs than 8lbs. I read in other posts that hardware & neck will weigh in between 3-3.5lbs.
But maybe “the difference in a 7 pounder, (kinda light) and an 8 pounder, (gawdawfull heavy) is less than the combined weight of your wallet, that big Bass Fish head belt buckle, the cell phone in your pocket, and that wrist watch that looks like a control console from CIC on CVN-76.”
Not sure if that’s supposed to be scientific or pointing out that it’s not a big deal.
I wonder if that belt buckle is equipped for popping the tops off a Colorado KoolAid?

 

[Ronkirn]

and an 8 pounder, (gawdawfull heavy)

Humm?? Really? I guess all those beautiful Blackguards in Nacho's book that peg the 8 pound or heavier notch should just be ground up and pressed into Fireplace logs.... and, of course ALL those bass players... are they deranged or what??

Weight was NEVER an issue until around the turn of the Century... between 1962 and around 2000 not once did anyone ever mention weight to me...... then Wham !! the topic exploded into Nitro, Nitro = Resonance, resonance, resonance is a product of light weight... light weight... it is ALL the same misinformed BS.. and I'm sure it can be validated that humanity wasn't cursed with a epidemic of bad backs as a result of the Y2K plague so widely prophesied..

Resonance is a Gawwdamm curse that has to be navigated around when making a guitar ... like the daughters of the river god Achelous one may think their songs are beautiful.. only until reality sets in...

It was over on The Gear Page that John Shur made the observation that he had never heard bad sound from a heavy guitar.. and he expanded, he could not say the same about Light Weight guitars... Some may think I'm nuttier 'n Squirrel poop, but John swings a pretty heavy weight...

Buy a guitar for how it sounds, not for how many check marks you can tick off on a list of Tres Chic physical attributes... you will be a better musician for it.. and if you're not sure which check marks guarantee a great sound... you're completely dished... you need to reassess what you're looking for in a guitar... because sound ain't it..

and if you think some article in a Magazine is the Gospel.. remember, Magazines are Media too..

and that wrist watch that looks like a control console from CIC on CVN-76.

and.. really?? I do not get those things.... I feel like they will take their place on the shelf of bad ideas with the Boom Boxes of decades past...

rk

 

[screefer]

This one is 3lbs 6oz. from ToneBomb in Canada. Pine

 

[Ronkirn]

do not neglect to consider the thickness too .... obviously a 1 ¾ thick body will be heavier than a 1 9/16

 

[MrHamburger]

Humm?? Really? I guess all those beautiful Blackguards in Nacho's book that peg the 8 pound or heavier notch should just be ground up and pressed into Fireplace logs.... and, of course ALL those bass players... are they deranged or what??

Weight was NEVER an issue until around the turn of the Century... between 1962 and around 2000 not once did anyone ever mention weight to me...... then Wham !! the topic exploded into Nitro, Nitro = Resonance, resonance, resonance is a product of light weight... light weight... it is ALL the same misinformed BS.. and I'm sure it can be validated that humanity wasn't cursed with a epidemic of bad backs as a result of the Y2K plague so widely prophesied..

Resonance is a Gawwdamm curse that has to be navigated around when making a guitar ... like the daughters of the river god Achelous one may think their songs are beautiful.. only until reality sets in...

It was over on The Gear Page that John Shur made the observation that he had never heard bad sound from a heavy guitar.. and he expanded, he could not say the same about Light Weight guitars... Some may think I'm nuttier 'n Squirrel poop, but John swings a pretty heavy weight...

Buy a guitar for how it sounds, not for how many check marks you can tick off on a list of Tres Chic physical attributes... you will be a better musician for it.. and if you're not sure which check marks guarantee a great sound... you're completely dished... you need to reassess what you're looking for in a guitar... because sound ain't it..

and if you think some article in a Magazine is the Gospel.. remember, Magazines are Media too..




and.. really?? I do not get those things.... I feel like they will take their place on the shelf of bad ideas with the Boom Boxes of decades past...

rk

Sorry I was just being cheeky Mr Kirn. That was actually a quote I pulled from something you posted in 2013. I have nothing but respect for your knowledge and craftsmanship.

 

[Snfoilhat]

I play a Warmoth Jazzcaster. I didn't specify any weight expectations to Warmoth when I ordered it, and I never weighed the painted body before assembly, but the guitar's total weight is between 8.5 and 9 lbs. It's solid alder, with minimal routing, and a Fender Jazzmaster body (the original template) is about as large as a Jazz Bass body. Considerably larger than a tele body. I overlaid all the full-size schematics when I was planning the guitar. I'm very happy with it.

Taking into account normal variation in a chosen wood's density, it seems reasonable to expect JM-style guitars to be heavier unless, like Ron says, you opt for a super-light species or ask the builder to choose you an extraordinarily light individual body blank. I think Warmoth may offer this for an upcharge.

 

[MrHamburger]

I guess I was just asking as a general inquiry.
I never really thought too much about weight until I went on Warmoth and saw the weights listed.
From what I gather the answer is yes, Jazzcasters are bigger than tele bodies so they tend to weigh more.
Thanks for all the feedback guys.