# Telecaster in Ash



## bevins (Mar 4, 2010)

Hi All,

I guess I shoulkd have checked and thought about this but, I buoilt a 52 telecaster body in ash. I have it shaped and cleaned up but it weighs in at just under 10lbs. this thing is going to be heavy. What can I expect? Just a liuttle to crispy or over the top useless piece of wood? Here is a pic of the body.


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

10 pouds for just the body!..man..NEVER seens a peice of wood that heavy. are you sure it's fully dried?..from the last pic..looks like 2 different peices of ash.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

The third body I made was a northern ash strat. I've never had it on a scale but it's heavy. Sounds good though.

Nice job on your tele btw. I really like the inlay strip down the back.


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## Jean GODBOUT (Oct 31, 2009)

*10 pounds body*

Wow, that HEAVY, I like my guitars with a total weight of 6 to 7 pounds. Here a suggestion, make a cut of 1/8" to 1/4" on the top (or the rear) make some holes in your body, then glue back an exotic wood top (or back).

Good luck


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

Lincoln said:


> The third body I made was a northern ash strat. I've never had it on a scale but it's heavy. Sounds good though.
> 
> Nice job on your tele btw. I really like the inlay strip down the back.


I Like heavy guitars personnaly..a Northern ash strat body..a heavy one...MIGHT top 6pouds..but that's the heaviest i've seen. 10 pouds for a tele..must be something wrong with the scale..LOL...that's almost impossible.


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## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

i built a strat one time from hard ash the body was 6 pounds it was heavy ok sitting hard to get use to but sounded good ,try it and see how it works for you 10 pounds seem like allot is it the standard size & thickness like 1 3/4"


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## bevins (Mar 4, 2010)

Yeah, it is off the dxf plans floating around of a 52. 1.750 thick. My friend says he is positive his scale is accurate. I will verify that tomorrow.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Looks great... it will probably sustain really well. Wide strap time for sure.


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## Alain Moisan (Jan 16, 2010)

Hey bevins, I don't know about the weight, but it will most certainly make a nice looking guitar.

Just out of curiousity, the inlayed strip looks a lot like bubinga, is it?


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## bevins (Mar 4, 2010)

Yup. Its bubinga. Great to see so many from Montreal and sherbrooke here. When are we going to have a get together?


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## Lowtones (Mar 21, 2006)

sounds like the wood is not dry yet. If that is the case it will lighten up over time.


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## bevins (Mar 4, 2010)

The wood was dried and sat around for 10 years. I am pretty sure it is dried.


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## bevins (Mar 4, 2010)

Just weighed it on two different scales and it weighed oin at 7lbs on the two different scales. Looks like the other scale is out to lunch.

I am back in happy mode. Now to finish this thang!!!


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

bevins said:


> Just weighed it on two different scales and it weighed oin at 7lbs on the two different scales. Looks like the other scale is out to lunch.
> 
> I am back in happy mode. Now to finish this thang!!!


I did some weighing today just to see. Used a bathroom scale, got my weight, then pickup up a body, noted the difference. How accurate that is I'm not sure.

The hard ash strat body I did weighs 6.2lbs and that's a hardtail without the floating tremelo routing. Pretty close to your 7lb tele. And sure it "feels" heavier than an alder strat but it's not horrible heavy.
The Paduck tele body I'm working on now, that "feels" like it weighs 20 lbs when you pick it up, only weighs 4.6lbs. I thought for sure it was 10lbs +


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## bevins (Mar 4, 2010)

I am practicing on what I am going to finish this body with.


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## bevins (Mar 4, 2010)

Just messing around. didn't turn out like I wanted. I may redo it.


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## Shooting Star (Jan 18, 2010)

bevins said:


> Just messing around. didn't turn out like I wanted. I may redo it.


Just my opinion, but those colors just don't say tele to me (not that it really matters if you like those colors). I would redo it. Hopefully, your color doesn't go too deep in the wood? Are you thinking of sanding it off or ??
You might want to do a lot more testing on scrap before you commit to the guitar. Good luck in any case.


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## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

i agree with shooting star about the colors dont say tele but i like them for maybe another project .. nice colors keep us posted ok.....cheers bevins :food-smiley-004:


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

bevins said:


> Just weighed it on two different scales and it weighed oin at 7lbs on the two different scales. Looks like the other scale is out to lunch.
> 
> I am back in happy mode. Now to finish this thang!!!


That sounds more like it.
My lightest guitar is an ash Mustang.
Now granted the body is smaller than a Tele's body, and less deep, but 10 pounds sounded too heavy to me for what you did, and for ash.
My Les Paul is about 10 pounds--and even with what my back went through a couple of years back, it doesn't feel too heavy.

But then not everybody likes a heavy guitar.


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## BbMaj7B13 (Dec 14, 2021)

bevins said:


> Hi All,
> 
> I guess I shoulkd have checked and thought about this but, I buoilt a 52 telecaster body in ash. I have it shaped and cleaned up but it weighs in at just under 10lbs. this thing is going to be heavy. What can I expect? Just a liuttle to crispy or over the top useless piece of wood? Here is a pic of the body.


Hi, its weird for a body to be 10 pounds. Is it dry? What type of ash is it?


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Well, a telecaster body is approx. 12-2/4" wide x 17" long. That's a little over 2 board feet of wood, but with all the cutouts, 2 board feet or even 1.8/1.6 is a good approximation.

Soft wood like cedar, pine, and spruce weigh right around 1.8lbs per bd/ft, up to 2lbs. (4lb body blank)
Swamp ash, poplar, and the lighter woods are normally between 2lbs and 2.4lbs
All the other normal stuff is 2.5lbs to 3lbs (5lb to 6lb body blank)
Most northern ash is 4lb per bd/ft or more. That's how you get a 10lb tele body.

Not all northern ash is super heavy, but some of it sure is.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

LOL, eleven year old thread?

By now the chiropractor bills from playing a 12 pound Tele should be arriving.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

Milkman said:


> LOL, eleven year old thread?
> 
> By now the chiropractor bills from playing a 12 pound Tele should be arriving.


Close, they’re recovering from hernia surgery!


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Baseball bats are usually made from ash. But some batters will sneak in lead weights into the bat to give it more clout. Maybe the piece of ash you bought came "pre-weighted" to hit the notes farther.


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