I want to source an unfinished or finished tele body, but lightest weight possible balanced against good acoustic properties. I've had swamp ash (8.2 lbs), alder (7.9 lbs), and pine (8.6 lbs) bodies but I want to assemble something lighter. Lots of bodies out there wont give the weight, so could you help me cut to the chase by telling me what you have found to be the lightest suitable woods? This will be a H/S config, definitely string thru, ala Albert Collins. Thanks all.
lightest weight good tele body material
- Thread starter turfdoc
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.
the_utp
Tele-Meister
Warmoth lists all the weights of their bodies and you can even sort by them. A couple things to look out for:
1. All the real featherweight bodies are going to be chambered. Decide whether you care about that - I haven’t tried one so I can’t say how it affects the sound. (But, hey, isn’t it like a thin-line with no F holes?)
2. Read the specs carefully on whether it has a front arm contour or tummy cut! Many of the lightest ones do, but it can be hard to see them in the pics because of the light color of the wood.
Another option would be to buy a full guitar from a shop that does list weights (Sweetwater etc), buy a light guitar and part out what you don’t want or need.
Of course that assumes you can find a color you like - which of course a a big if!
Hopefully others have more ideas. Good luck with the search - it can be tough to find exactly the right weight, wood and color if you care about all three!
1. All the real featherweight bodies are going to be chambered. Decide whether you care about that - I haven’t tried one so I can’t say how it affects the sound. (But, hey, isn’t it like a thin-line with no F holes?)
2. Read the specs carefully on whether it has a front arm contour or tummy cut! Many of the lightest ones do, but it can be hard to see them in the pics because of the light color of the wood.
Another option would be to buy a full guitar from a shop that does list weights (Sweetwater etc), buy a light guitar and part out what you don’t want or need.
Of course that assumes you can find a color you like - which of course a a big if!
Hopefully others have more ideas. Good luck with the search - it can be tough to find exactly the right weight, wood and color if you care about all three!
I'm thinking Paulownia.
Sea Devil
Friend of Leo's
Warmoth chambered bodies sound good. I have one that sounds exactly like a solid-body, but with a little extra "thunk" behind single notes, even muted notes on the high E. I also have a custom one-piece sapele body with a maple cap that seems to add the same subtle oomph. It sounds bigger than it is. There's no loss of sustain in either one, but what sustain there is seems to happen differently, just as it does to a greater degree with a fully hollow body.
Neither of mine has f-holes, btw. Enclosed hollow bodies resonate in unique ways; the enclosed air seems to have its own set of resonant frequencies and affect the acoustic and amplified sound accordingly. I think it makes a bigger difference with a small body, as opposed to a big hollow-body like a Gretsch Country Gentleman with painted-on f-holes. A Lucille would be somewhere in-between.
Neither of mine has f-holes, btw. Enclosed hollow bodies resonate in unique ways; the enclosed air seems to have its own set of resonant frequencies and affect the acoustic and amplified sound accordingly. I think it makes a bigger difference with a small body, as opposed to a big hollow-body like a Gretsch Country Gentleman with painted-on f-holes. A Lucille would be somewhere in-between.
Sea Devil
Friend of Leo's
Paulownia is notoriously soft, even softer than basswood or pine. It's light, but not very durable. Whether it's suitable or not is a matter of personal taste.
Some old-growth pine, usually available as reclaimed wood, is both lightweight and hard. If it's been submerged, it may be very light indeed, but the grain can never be fully covered. If it was an attic joist, it may have a lot of crystallized resin and not take any finish well. But if you can find the right piece, that would be a good choice.
Some old-growth pine, usually available as reclaimed wood, is both lightweight and hard. If it's been submerged, it may be very light indeed, but the grain can never be fully covered. If it was an attic joist, it may have a lot of crystallized resin and not take any finish well. But if you can find the right piece, that would be a good choice.
Last edited:
Most really lightweight woods are also so soft that screws pull out when you sneeze on them. The lightest tele I built used pine flooring from my 1860 built home. Even with a Baja 50's thick neck, it still came out 7.5 lbs. Antique pine can be very light yet very hard which is what you want to find. Look for 80+ year old pine.
msalama
Poster Extraordinaire
Yeah. I once had a Harley Benton Red Blast and it was light as hell. Never weighed it, but it really was a featherweight.
Mongo Park
Tele-Afflicted
I love the thin line maple on top of mahogany is light sounds glorious. With a set of Bill Lawrence pickups and you are set for life.
I think other wood thin line sound great as well. Well worth considering. Those solid body teles are all tanks. I have a few and they don’t sound better than a thin line. Well in my opinion
I think other wood thin line sound great as well. Well worth considering. Those solid body teles are all tanks. I have a few and they don’t sound better than a thin line. Well in my opinion
I have built both Warmoth chambered body teles and Allen Eden Paulownia bodies and hands down the lightest (and best sounding, most responsive) are the Paulownias. I’ll never need to build anything but these. Don’t buy Guitar Fetish. Get a quality accurately cut/finished body like AE!
They feel like playing a hollow body. Very lively.
They feel like playing a hollow body. Very lively.
Paulownia/empress wood.
redhouse_ca
Tele-Holic
Well, technically aluminum would be the lightest. I'm not sure exactly how many of these were made, but there was a run in '92 or so of aniversery strats and teles. I think all in the guitars were just a bit over 6 pounds, but I'm not sure if there were various neck options. I never played one but i think they look really coo. they did a good job with paints to take advantage of the possibilities of the surface material.
When I saw this, I did a quick search to see what's out there for sale. I saw a couple for sale to see what these sell for, I remember checking them out about a year ago. One thing that noticed is that there are quite a few unpainted bodies for sale, which I don't recall seeking when I last looked. Most were listed as original. Hmmm... maybe they are all legit, but there's quite a few. When a bunch of something like this (high cost, tough to distinguish, material-wise, no SN, etc.) it makes me wonder.
Anyhow, I digress. It's an option.
When I saw this, I did a quick search to see what's out there for sale. I saw a couple for sale to see what these sell for, I remember checking them out about a year ago. One thing that noticed is that there are quite a few unpainted bodies for sale, which I don't recall seeking when I last looked. Most were listed as original. Hmmm... maybe they are all legit, but there's quite a few. When a bunch of something like this (high cost, tough to distinguish, material-wise, no SN, etc.) it makes me wonder.
Anyhow, I digress. It's an option.
JeffBlue
Friend of Leo's
I don't think there is a lighter tone wood than Paulownia. Balsa maybe, but TOO soft. Here is my GFS Paulownia body tele with Seymour Duncan 59/vintage pickups. This guitar sounds fantastic.
Dismalhead
Doctor of Teleocity
If you want something that won't ding easily pine is a pretty good option. I've got a couple of paulownia parts guitars I made, easily the lightest wood, but you could put a dent in it with your fingernail if you wanted. Both came out weighing right around 6 lbs.
Gotta watch for neck dive too the lighter the body. I put high mass bridges and lightweight tuners on my two paulownia builds, and it mitigated most, but not all of the dive.
Gotta watch for neck dive too the lighter the body. I put high mass bridges and lightweight tuners on my two paulownia builds, and it mitigated most, but not all of the dive.
Last edited:
cousinpaul
Poster Extraordinaire
Check out the Guitar Mill of Murfreesboro, TN.
ponycar
Tele-Holic
Guitar Mill lists weights of bodies. Their bodies are not cheap, but the quality is unparalleled.
Woodtech routing are good quality, very reasonable.
Woodtech routing are good quality, very reasonable.
This! Those things almost defy gravity. I won’t use one because I’m afraid if the humidity gets too high it’ll float away.
mandoloony
Tele-Afflicted
The lightest weight can be achieved by substituting air for other material. This can be done by chambering, by roasting/torrefying, or both.
But at the end of the day, it will always come down to the individual piece of wood. I have a paulownia guitar and it is not light; I also have a solid maple guitar that is incredibly light. Species may tend to fall on the dense or not-dense side of the scale, but predicting weight from species is never a sure bet.
But at the end of the day, it will always come down to the individual piece of wood. I have a paulownia guitar and it is not light; I also have a solid maple guitar that is incredibly light. Species may tend to fall on the dense or not-dense side of the scale, but predicting weight from species is never a sure bet.
Hmmm... So I'm thinking... find an exceptionally light piece of paulownia and chamber it!
FuncleManson
Tele-Afflicted
I would agree with those that say paulownia is probably the lightest. I've never used it, so I can't comment on any other properties.
As for eastern white pine, I've gotten three Tele bodies from NoMoonLaser and two Strats, a Jazzmaster and an LP Special-type from Rosser. All good stuff, IMO. They range from a 6 lb, 1 oz hardtail Strat to the Jazzmaster at 7, 12. Average weight of all seven is 6, 13. EWP is on the soft side, so depending on how you finish it, it can ding fairly easily, but it holds screws just fine. I love my pine projects.
Also, I would second @ponycar 's mention of Woodtech Routing. I built a blackguard Tele from one of their catalpa bodies and really like it. It weighs 6 lbs, 8 oz. Catapla is a really interesting wood, IMO. Great grain, very porous (but not as soft as EWP) and light.
