** Scooped out Les Paul **

[jimibt]

greetings all,

just wondering if anyone has had any experience in the customisation of a les paul involving removing a small percentage of the body (i.e. scooping out some of the body [about an square inch all the way around, avoiding the bridge] via the cutaways for the pickups).

i read about this procedure a good few years ago from one of the nashville guys. it apparently creates a 'mini' chamber which helps give more body and greater sustain to the sound and overall tone. (as far as i can remember, it wasn't even an APRIL edition of the magazine)  :lol:

not that i'm about to undertake the mod myself but just wondering about the pro's and cons of such an unorthodox procedure.

[_tom_]

I've never heard of that idea, but it sounds interesting. I'm guessing itll make it less full/thick sounding?

[jimibt]

tom,

the idea is that it losses a small amount of weight but at the same time, creates a couple of small chambers to give a more resonant sound (i.e. a bit more mid punch/crackle).

here's a link to a page that someone asks a similar question in:

http://www.guitar-forum.net/guitar/How_to_Chamber_Guitar_Body_630924.html

[_tom_]

ahh, sounds good! I am actually interested in that, but its probably some simple job that a guitar tech would charge loads for because "its not normal" haha. I have other things that need to be payed for!

[jt]

:D i don`t think it`s posible to do it to a completed guitar not unless you want holes in the back of your guitar. but chambering a new guitar is. I`ve had my custom build by Feline chambered. It`s said to help create a more  full bodied sound as well as helping to keep the weight down.


 :D  8)

[PhilKing]

My Les Paul in the Avatar was chambered after it was made.  However it was done by taking about .75cm off the back, hollowing around the mahogany back, then putting a new mahogany 'slice' back.  The jont is 'blended' in and is not noticable unles you know it was done.  

I had it done at the same time as it was getting a new neck and a full respray, so it ended up being about a thousand quid.  I know it is a lot of money, but I think a few people saw it at LGS earlier this year, and probably didn't realise it was not a real one!  

I have a guitar with the neck profile that I wanted, it sustains forever and which looks great.  The weight is not excessively light, but it was very heavy before the work (it is actually heavier than my 53 Les Paul still).

[jimibt]

My Les Paul in the Avatar was chambered after it was made.  However it was done by taking about .75cm off the back, hollowing around the mahogany back, then putting a new mahogany 'slice' back.  The jont is 'blended' in and is not noticable unles you know it was done.  

I had it done at the same time as it was getting a new neck and a full respray, so it ended up being about a thousand quid.  I know it is a lot of money, but I think a few people saw it at LGS earlier this year, and probably didn't realise it was not a real one!  

I have a guitar with the neck profile that I wanted, it sustains forever and which looks great.  The weight is not excessively light, but it was very heavy before the work (it is actually heavier than my 53 Les Paul still).

phil,

would you say that it 'affects' the character of the les paul sound??

also, (and i know it's subjective) would you say that it gives a 'better' sound than before the mod?? i'm thinking that i'd get a nice bit extra sustain but with a tad more mid punch to boot. and as a nice bonus, would have a pretty good 'unplugged' acoustic sound :)

interseting stuff...

[PhilKing]

It doesn't affect the Les Paul character at all really.  It hasn't made it like a 335 or anything!  You have to remember that I didn't have Will (the luthier was Will Scott), go into the maple cap at all so the top is still solid.

It did increase the sustain though.  Hard to say on the mid-punch, as I changed the pickups from Gibson 57 Classic to Bare Knuckles at the same time.  I do know that I get a great blues tone from the neck Stormy Monday in it.

The sound clip I did of the Riff Raff uses this guitar, that should show you that it can rock too.

[jimibt]

phil,

what was the actual 'process' involved. i.e. shape, depth (geometry) of the chambers??

i'm actually keen now to research this a bit more and if there's anyone in the uk that's undertaken this work before successfully, approach them for an estimate.

jim

[The amazing Phil]

I'm pretty sure LP supremes are cahmbered, and I know Billy Gibbons had one of his LPs practically gutted, they took the maple cap off and routed out every bit of wood they could....et voila. This wasn't pearly, but another LP.

I kinda regret not getting the chambered option on my tele body, but thankfully that's always rectifiable. But since I've not played a chambered and unchambered guitar side by side to compare it'd have been rather risky...

[jt]

:D Surely Phil it would`ve been better to have bought a new guitar already chamberd rather than go through all that mucking around.

There are alot of manufacturers Chambering guitars now, i no Patrick Eggles chamber some of theres as does Gibson. i can`t see it being a particuley cheap thing to do to your guitar, why not just get a custom build with it done right from the start.

 :D  8)

[Elliot]

The Squier Esprit is a cheapish mahogany chambered body guitar with a maple cap (unlike the old fender which has an alder body) = maybe you try that out in a shop to get an idea of chambering.

[Bob Johnson]

Jet Guitars are chambered. There are some good pics in their workshop tour on www.jetguitars.com

[indysmith]

the new epiphone les paul ultra is chambered i think - finding some details on that could probably help you and your LP if ur interested

[PhilKing]

:D Surely Phil it would`ve been better to have bought a new guitar already chamberd rather than go through all that mucking around.

There are alot of manufacturers Chambering guitars now, i no Patrick Eggles chamber some of theres as does Gibson. i can`t see it being a particuley cheap thing to do to your guitar, why not just get a custom build with it done right from the start.

 :D  8)

I already had the Les Paul custom built.  It has a great chevron flame top that I got in the states from Luthiers Mercantile.  What happend though, was the neck twisted.  So the guy who made it originally tried to fix it and broke the truss rod     He suggested Will Scott, and I had seen his work when he fixed a friends 63 SG after his son knocked it of the couch and broke the headstock off!  Having it chambered was an afterthought, because it used to weigh over 9.5 lbs (I don't know where he got the mahogany, but it was incredibly heavy).

Will made a great job of it, I don't think you saw it at LGS, I think the Maughn amp company scared you off  :lol:  If I hadn't already had it, I would not have done it this way.  but I ended up paying about 1400 for the guitar (not including the hardware - I already had everything for it from the States).