# To chamber or not to chamber



## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

That is the question. Started a new project on the weekend. It will be a Tele Les Paul cross. At present I am aiming for the thickness of a LP with a carved top. 

The woods are Mahogany with a purpleheart cap of 1/4" or so. This thing will be insanely heavy. I have not had anything near a scale ( I can't lift it :smile but it will be freaking heavy even chambered. 

Should I bother to chamber? It's not the work but I am looking for opinions on tone for either side of the debate. I doubt that I will play it all night. 

It will have Jon's V59 humbuckers in it.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

It depends what you want out of it.

Normally I'd prefer a Les Paul non chambered--I like the weight. So it's a preference based on feel. 

But since this is something different, and the weight is quite a bit, it could be okay.

As for tone, the chambered Les Pauls I've played are a bit different in tone, but put to a blindfold test I may not be able to tell them apart easily. I think it affects the resonance, but with the weight, you should still have a similar resonance to a non chambered one--or a minimal difference.

I've heard there is a cutoff point where weight stops contributing to tone & sustain. Years ago I read about a granite guitar, and the sustain & tone suffered from the extra weight. It was played on a stand--not with a strap, or sitting.


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## Irvine (Oct 11, 2008)

I still dont get why Gibson would decide to come out with 'chambered' Les paul, I mean the Les paul sound is mainly attributed to the Heavy Solid mahogany body, is it not?
I have'nt played one myself, but I imagine the tone and sustain have to be affected.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Paul said:


> Isn't Billy Gibbons legendary LP "Pearly Gates" heavily chambered?


Don't know.... I did a search and came up with "pearly gates' was a 59' LP so it wouldn't be chambered. There was also crap ( I read it on the net) stuff about chambering including hollowing out the neck. 

Anybody else?


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Paul said:


> I recall reading that it was re-engineered, for lack of a better phrase. Maybe Gibson built him a replica of his original, and the replica was chambered....I remember _something_.


I just spent a few minutes on Gibson site. Lots of chambered LP's and a couple with weight relief holes. 

What shall I do.....


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## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

Irvine said:


> I still dont get why Gibson would decide to come out with 'chambered' Les paul, I mean the Les paul sound is mainly attributed to the Heavy Solid mahogany body, is it not?
> I have'nt played one myself, but I imagine the tone and sustain have to be affected.



I had an R8 chambered LP around for a few days and believe me it was all LP tone, it was more prominent acoustically than plugged in comparing to a solid LP, but plugged in it would be hard to tell the difference. It still had a nice weight to it.


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## PaulS (Feb 27, 2006)

shoretyus said:


> I just spent a few minutes on Gibson site. Lots of chambered LP's and a couple with weight relief holes.
> 
> What shall I do.....


With the weight that thing would be as a solid body you'd have to get Lars to hang on to it for you. My vote would be chamber it to some degree to lower the weight a bit, think of how heavy the spalted tele is....


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## suttree (Aug 17, 2007)

shoretyus said:


> Don't know.... I did a search and came up with "pearly gates' was a 59' LP so it wouldn't be chambered. There was also crap ( I read it on the net) stuff about chambering including hollowing out the neck.
> 
> Anybody else?



i remember reading in a guitar mag that BG has his guitar tech cut all his les pauls in half and hollow out the insides, then put the guitar back together. he also plays with .008 gauge strings, which is very odd for a "tone guy"


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

PaulS said:


> as a solid body you'd have to get Lars to hang on to it for you.


Yeah or get one of those guitar stands ..... and we could all do this....

There's always a spare mic stand kicking around. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4udHNZnfBYQ


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Well. It is officially chambered. 

thanks folks


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## J S Moore (Feb 18, 2006)

I wouldn't believe everything you read about Pearly Gates. Gibson started to weight relieve Les Pauls because lighter weight mahogany was becoming hard to get. Concerns about weight stem from, IMHO, player desire. Some original LP's are pretty heavy and weight was not a consideration back then.

Let me know how those V-59's sound when you get it all together.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

J S Moore said:


> I wouldn't believe everything you read about Pearly Gates. Gibson started to weight relieve Les Pauls because lighter weight mahogany was becoming hard to get. Concerns about weight stem from, IMHO, player desire. Some original LP's are pretty heavy and weight was not a consideration back then.
> 
> Let me know how those V-59's sound when you get it all together.


I hear you about the pearly gates guitar. When I looked over the Gibson site most are chambered and the odd ones that aren't are drilled for weight relief. 

I haven't weighed it but it feels ok. 

You bet I will let you know. Those pu's are the inspiration. I did hear them briefly in another guitar but it wouldn't intonate as the neck was too long. 

I soon will try and record all the combinations of pu's that I have bought from you.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

"Chambered" has many different meanings. Same way that "semi-acoustic" has many different meanings. You can have a hollowbody guitar with a centre block or without one, and you can have guitars like the Rickenbackers or Custom Teles with F-holes that have large chanbers with openings.

"Chambering" can vary from something that introduces resonances by virtue of where and how big the chambers are, to chambers that are numerous and small enough to introduce no audible resonances whatsoever, to chambers that are deliberately designed to introduce complementary or strategic resonances.

When chambering is attempted, it is typically attempted from the top down, rather than from the back upwards. I don't know if that would make an audible difference, but the point is that no one ever seems to attempt it.

Danelectro guitars are a *kind* of chambered instrument in that the core is not entirely solid, and has a masonite top and back over the internal frame.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Yeah lots of various ways to it. I kind of repeated this but I cut out around the bridge too. I left the centre because I don't like the idea of too large of a span across the guitar. It probably wouldn't make a difference but the woodworker in me likes to glue stuff down.


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