Weight reduction in a tele body

Hey guys,

Has anyone routed out the back or front of a tele body to reduce it's weight?

I wanted to do a waist and arm contour, but this will no doubt affect the way a cover plate will sit on the back and affect symmetry of the weight reduction on the back too. Id prefer to rout the back so I can go all natural finish without a guard with the gtl kit. But with all I want to do to it, it's probably not realistic.

Would folks agree that it'd be better to use the guard and rout some from underneath it and add the arm and waist contours for the sake of simplicity?

I've probably answered my own questions, but I'd lounge to know what you guys have done to create weight relief I'd any.

I am yet to purchase a router or buy/ create any templates. I should probably aim to keep costs down. Ha! Let's hope!

Cheers!
Derek.

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What’s the body wood? My TLs have all been basswood and are pretty light. I think belly and forearm contours are a good idea for comforts sake though.

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Originally Posted by Sonic Mountain

What’s the body wood? My TLs have all been basswood and are pretty light. I think belly and forearm contours are a good idea for comforts sake though.

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American Ash. The newer GTL kit with awesome grain.

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Fender themselves produced a weight-relieved Tele in 1967, referred to as the 'smuggler' tele, with large cavities underneath the pickguard.

Attachment 26731

They then shortly brought out the Thinline Tele instead and stopped the weight relief.

Couple that with a belly cut and forearm chamfer and without thinning down the body as well, you'll be as light as you are going to get.

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

Fender themselves produced a weight-relieved Tele in 1967, referred to as the 'smuggler' tele, with large cavities underneath the pickguard.

Attachment 26731

They then shortly brought out the Thinline Tele instead and stopped the weight relief.

Couple that with a belly cut and forearm chamfer and without thinning down the body as well, you'll be as light as you are going to get.

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Doesn't the Fender Custom Shop make those still?

only at the Colombian factory..........

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Originally Posted by Dedman

only at the Colombian factory..........

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Haha!

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Yeah fair enough then. That’s potentially a pretty weighty guitar.

Nice one dedman lol

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Originally Posted by Airwick

Doesn't the Fender Custom Shop make those still?

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The Fender Custom Shop will make anything you ask it too, but yes, I've seen reviews of at least one CS version of this style of Tele, and various custom builders do versions of them. Even with the weight relief, the Tele in that picture (an original), weighed 8.6lbs, as the Ash they were using was very heavy indeed.

Curious to know how much weight can be saved and what effect that might have on the overall sound? For mine, Strat's sound that way because of the hollowed out bit underneath scratch plate and Tele's have their unique sound due to having next to none subterranean excavation works carried out.

Could be a lot of work for minimal gain in weight savings and possibly compromise the overall sound.

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

The Fender Custom Shop will make anything you ask it too, but yes, I've seen reviews of at least one CS version of this style of Tele, and various custom builders do versions of them. Even with the weight relief, the Tele in that picture (an original), weighed 8.6lbs, as the Ash they were using was very heavy indeed.

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Adam says the GTL-1 kits are 4.5 to 5kg. That would bring the kit body to almost 10 lbs. Maybe he meant 4.5-5lbs? If it's kg, my back is gonna hate me! [emoji13]



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4.5-5lbs would be very light indeed so it's more likely to be kg. But that will be the shipping weight and the packaging will contribute some weight to the overall figure. Ash can be very dense indeed unless it's grown in proper swamp ash conditions. Also, individual bodies will probably vary significantly in weight, so you could always ask Adam to sort you out the lightest GTL kit they have.

Yep, 4.5-5kg. The GTL and GST kits are much heavier than the TLA and STA kits.