Solid body vs weight relieved

[boardn10]

Hey guys,

Curious if you find certain common characteristics with weight relived vs solid wood singlcuts?
I've had a bunch of both, solid PRS/Gibson and weight relieved.
I am finding the weight relieved sound more acoustic and possibly have more depth to the acoustic tone. Almost like the acoustic tone is more 3 dimensional. My models that are solid, have a more immediate and dense wound acoustically.
Plugged in, the tone is more similar but I haven't done much side by side there.
I was comparing my 2001 SC solid to my 2008 weight relieved SC250.
I've had solid LPs and my main LP is weight relieved and I love it.

 

[The Bird]

I quite agree with you. I also find that (atleast heavily) weight relieved guitars have a certain, well, semi-hollow sound to them when compared to full solid bodies. I can swear I can hear the difference. It is also the reason why I have sold all of my weight relieved/chambered guitars and replaced them with fully solid ones. I also would not buy a weight relieved Les Paul / Singlecut anymore. But that’s just me. I like the sound of full, heavy singlecuts.

 

[boardn10]

I hear ya but I guess it is all personal preference. My weight relieved models are more acoustically loud and resonant. I like that. Plugged in, I sort of find weight relieved to sound a bit more 3-D as well.
Playing acoustically I almost find the solid wood models are not as resonant and the notes are thinner. For example, plain strings seem more plinky.

 

[The Bird]

Yeah, I’ve heard very similar things with my guitars. There’s an acoustic resonance, airiness and loudness to the weight relieved ones, I think. And what I dislike about that is that it KILLS my pick attack. The front of the note seems sharper, quicker and louder. And that doesn’t suit my technique and style of playing. I notice the same thing with a thinline Tele vs solid Tele. And I’ll go solid every time. But if I’m tracking big rhythm guitars, it’s pretty much the opposite. Then that hollowness works well.

 

[Greywolf]

My simple rule of 40 years of Lutherie .. the more in air the design the more air in the sound . Or more astutely put by Paul .. there is less "subtractive mass" in a semi /chambered / hollow design . Depending on your perspective of couse , this IME gives the notes more chance to resonate.

 

[boardn10]

Interesting on the pick attack.
Is that acoustic, thru an amp or both?

Do you notice strings especially above the 10th fret sound brighter, more immediate and and even thinner?
Not an issues plugged in, however.

For me the notes seem sharper and quicker with solid. They bloom more for me with weight relieved of some sort. Through an amp it's less noticable to me.

 

[boardn10]

My simple rule of 40 years of Lutherie .. the more in air the design the more air in the sound . Or more astutely put by Paul .. there is less "subtractive mass" in a semi /chambered / hollow design . Depending on your perspective of couse , this IME gives the notes more chance to resonate.

I get more resonance with weight relieved, chambered or semi hollow.
I've had guitars that were 11 lbs solid and sounded flat and even thin acouscally but great thru an amp.

 

[The Bird]

Interesting on the pick attack.
Is that acoustic, thru an amp or both?

Do you notice strings especially above the 10th fret sound brighter, more immediate and and even thinner?
Not an issues plugged in, however.

For me the notes seem sharper and quicker with solid. They bloom more for me with weight relieved of some sort. Through an amp it's less noticable to me.

I feel like some high mids are more present with the weight relieved ones on the front of the note but also a more aggressive transcience. I feel it plugged in just the same. It ruins some of my most common mannerisms.

But of course it’s great for other things, just like proper semi-hollow guitars. Just this past Monday I was trying out some guitars at a music store. And I remember thinking for example that the Les Paul Studio sounded much better than the LP Standard for many riffs, but it didn’t have THAT sound and feel I’m used to with them. There is a difference, I’m sure. And I think it is just like you describe.

 

[boardn10]

I like em both for different reasons. I have solid PRS models and weight relieved. I need to get another solid LP.

 

[boardn10]

Acoustically my weight relieved sound not as thin as the solids.

It's ironic that my lightest singlecut is the non weight relieved one!

 

[JasonE]

I can definitely hear a difference between solid, hollow and weight relieved guitars. I had a Les Paul that I liked but didn't love the sound of it. It was a solid, non-weight relieved guitar. It was about 10lbs. It had a high end bite to it that worked for some music but not so much for others. I went into GC one day and found a really nice figured top LP and plugged it into an amp and it just had this tone and bloom to the notes that I wished my LP had. After playing it for a while I ended up getting a really good deal on it and took it home. I later found out that it was a chambered body. I also found out that many hard rock players hated them because they said they had feedback issues with them. To me, it was a better guitar than the solid body.

I have solid and hollow (some semi-hollow too) body guitars, across several brands. I like having both because they are different. Most of my guitars are solid body but occasionally I want that hollowbody or semi-hollowbody sound. I hear the difference in pick attack immediately as well as how the note blooms after the initial attack. Sometimes I want that immediate strong attack and other times I want a softer attack and more mellow bloom to the note.

 

[boardn10]

JasonE,

I agree on having both. I sometimes find solid to be brighter and the weight relieved and chambered to have that airy bloom. So, when playing acoustically I hear that bite and attack with the solid wood, solos on the plain strings sound thinner and brighter but have good bite and attack thru an amp. The weight relieved bloom and sound fatter acoustically but maybe sound warmer thru the amp, less attack. Hard to explain.

 

[boardn10]

My weight relieved Les Paul and SC250 are way more resonant. I haven't really compared as much thru my current amp.
My Gibsons seem the most resonant.

 

[boardn10]

What about weight.
I'm finding that the heavier solid guitars sound more resonant and the lighter weight relived sound better.
But I am sure it varies.

 

[boardn10]

I quite agree with you. I also find that (atleast heavily) weight relieved guitars have a certain, well, semi-hollow sound to them when compared to full solid bodies. I can swear I can hear the difference. It is also the reason why I have sold all of my weight relieved/chambered guitars and replaced them with fully solid ones. I also would not buy a weight relieved Les Paul / Singlecut anymore. But that’s just me. I like the sound of full, heavy singlecuts.

It varies. My best sounding PRS is a weight relieved SC250! Resonant as hell and sounds massive!

 

[ViperDoc]

A slab body will offer more high/pinch harmonic resonance than a semi-hollow of the same design. The acoustic resonance is the trade-off with weight reduction.

 

[Longneck Tenon]

I quite agree with you. I also find that (atleast heavily) weight relieved guitars have a certain, well, semi-hollow sound to them when compared to full solid bodies. I can swear I can hear the difference. It is also the reason why I have sold all of my weight relieved/chambered guitars and replaced them with fully solid ones. I also would not buy a weight relieved Les Paul / Singlecut anymore. But that’s just me. I like the sound of full, heavy singlecuts.

Agree. I would rather go semi-hollow than weight relieved solid body.

 

[Greywolf]

In my experience the experimenting with every permutation of solid to hollow , I found the simple truth in tone . The more air in the guitar , the more air in the sound .

 

[Longneck Tenon]

In my experience the experimenting with every permutation of solid to hollow , I found the simple truth in tone . The more air in the guitar , the more air in the sound .

Okay, so what is your theory on more or less body thickness?

 

[Greywolf]

and on the other side of the aisle .. all things being equal .. the thicker the wood , the thicker the tone within reason of course .