deepblue Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I was looking at some new x-ray pictures of the chambered LP Standards. It baffles me how they can still legally call these "Soild body" guitars. Although my Strat has a slightly smaller body, if all were equal it would have more wood then my Standard. Im not complaining about the LP...Its sounds amazing. Whatever Gibson did to it, its okay by me, but solid body does not come to mind when you get a look at what goes on underneath all that beauty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Lets see some more of those X-ray shots... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXE® Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Ideed, they should definetively change the way they reffer to their guitars... They should call the USA lineup "semihollow". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil47uk Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Yeah, there are on chambered Lesters, but certainly not on these... '2003 1960 R0 Historic' 9lb on the nose with no chambering or weight relief holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibson CS Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I think that they can still call it solidbody, I always think of hollow and semi hollow bodys as guitars with holes in them. Like the ESs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I think that they can still call it solidbody' date=' I always think of hollow and semi hollow bodys as guitars with holes in them. Like the ESs[/quote']If that's the case, oilpit, then B.B. King's Lucille is a solidbody (which it isn't) because it has no f-holes. I actually think there may be more wood inside the current ES-335 models than there is inside the chambered Lesters. The ES-335 has a solid block running down almost the entire center of the guitar--a lot more than I see in those LP x-rays. The sad thing is that Gibson is probably wasting beautiful pieces of sold wood to create these chambered instruments. Ignatius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Plains Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 The sad thing is that Gibson is probably wasting beautiful pieces of sold wood to create these chambered instruments. Just my two cents... I don't think so. I'm not questioning the qualily of the chambered LPs, by any means...but, I think it's true that the wood used for chambered LPs is too heavy to use on a regular LP. So, Gibby decided they could use up a whole pile of wood that would otherwise be thrown out. The same goes for BFGs, I'm sure that the wood Gibson uses on BFGs is the absolute bottom of the barrel, as far as quality is concerned. Even still, they sound great! That's all that matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 My definition of a solid body? The back, top and sides are one piece. Gibson adds a Maple cap to the Les Paul. ALL guitars have some amount of wood routed from the body, so there's where it gets hazy. Hollow and semi hollows have separate pieces for the sides and top. $.02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 My definition of a solid body?The back' date=' top and sides are one piece. Gibson adds a Maple cap to the Les Paul. ALL guitars have some amount of wood routed from the body, so there's where it gets hazy. Hollow and semi hollows have separate pieces for the sides and top. $.02 [/quote'] Well, if THAT's the case, then the CS-336/356 is a solidbody, even though it has f-holes. (Well, almost anyway; it does have a separate top, but so does the LP if it has a maple cap.) The CS-336/356 has its back and sides all carved from one piece of wood. This is getting confusing. Ignatius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I agree. Confusing indeed. Where do you draw the line between a 336 and a LP? Same principle, just a matter of how much wood is removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I read somewhere that solid body meant they started out with a solid wood plank had nothing to do with the air cavity inside, don't know if it's true or not but??? here is a couple of different pics of the cavities kind of cool to see really the BFG was the big surprise to me? 1. BFG 2. Supreme 3. swiss cheese holes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Anybody got a pic of a Traditional yet? Same as a Custom? Same as a Standard used to be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 If that's the case' date=' oilpit, then B.B. King's Lucille is a solidbody (which it isn't) because it has no f-holes. I actually think there may be more wood inside the current ES-335 models than there is inside the chambered Lesters. The ES-335 has a solid block running down almost the entire center of the guitar--a lot more than I see in those LP x-rays. The sad thing is that Gibson is probably wasting beautiful pieces of sold wood to create these chambered instruments. Ignatius[/quote'] So what you are trying to say is Lucille has no f-hole? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlekenny Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 So what you are trying to say is Lucille has no f-hole? =D> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Hey does anyone has pics of a chambered Les Paul that has experienced sex change? (you know... some a-hole cutting an f-hole in one side of her?) If the x.ray pics are correct, one could just carve an f-hole in there and it would appear the guitar left the factory with it... wonder why Gibson doesnt give that option for the ones that like that kind of thing. I have to note that I dont aprove guitar transgenderism (spellig?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 I suppose it's possible. That top is pretty thick, though. Instead of an F hole, it might look like an F tunnel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarJunkie Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Instead of an F hole' date=' it might look like an F tunnel.[/quote']Beleive me, there's already enough pictures of "F tunnels" on the web already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepblue Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 So what you are trying to say is Lucille has no f-hole? I like my f-holes small. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibson CS Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 speaking of tight f-holes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Somehow I dont think she has any tight hole left in that body... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 I was just thinking.... All this fuss is just linguistics. You ask why does Gibson continue to call the Les Paul a solid body when it's actually chambered and alot of the wood is taken out? That fact is they call it a "chambered solid body" Which is a solid piece of wood that has had chambers ruted into it to make the guitar lighter. A semi hollow guitar, say an ES 335 or the newer ES 339 are constructed in a completely different manner. They are pieced together using various parts which make up the guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 I was just thinking.... All this fuss is just linguistics. You ask why does Gibson continue to call the Les Paul a solid body when it's actually chambered and alot of the wood is taken out? That fact is they call it a "chambered solid body" Which is a solid piece of wood that has had chambers ruted into it to make the guitar lighter. A semi hollow guitar' date=' say an ES 335 or the newer ES 339 are constructed in a completely different manner. They are pieced together using various parts which make up the guitar. [/quote']Not quite: the CS-336/356 is not made from various parts, yet it is called a semi-hollowbody. Its sides and back are all one piece that is chambered (just like the chambered LP), and it probably actually has MORE wood inside it than does the chambered LP. The CS-336 top is a carved, single piece top, which probably means that it is even MORE solid than the LP top. I'd be tempted to call the CS-336 a chambered LP with f-holes, but I think the 336 has more wood than the LP, and its entire body is only two pieces. Ignatius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Really... I didn't know that. I saw a video on how Gibson makes the ES 339 and there was alot of piecing together and gluing going on. I'd like to see an X-ray of the 335 and a 339 to see the differences... and othe semi hollows as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Really... I didn't know that. I saw a video on how Gibson makes the ES 339 and there was alot of piecing together and gluing going on. I'd like to see an X-ray of the 335 and a 339 to see the differences... and othe semi hollows as well... Hey Dave-- Actually, it's confusing because Gibson has two "smaller" ES-style guitars that look the same and have similar names: the CS-336/356 and the ES-339/359. The ES-339, as you saw, is built like a traditional ES-335 but just in a smaller package. The CS-336 looks quite similar to the 339 from the outside, but it is actually a carved top and a single-piece body (back and sides). Many people have told me that the CS-336 (which is not cheap but is a delight to hold and play) sounds like a true hybrid of the Lester and the 335 (I can't answer that because I've only played one unplugged). The ES-339, in contrast, is the attempt to make the sound of a 335 fit in a Lester-size package. Ignatius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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