Maple Bodies

[DonP]

Quick question: how were old 1980's Charvel bodies made i.e. one big solid chunk of maple, or a butcher block of pieces?

Long story if anyone cares [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
I have a maple body - two hums and a Kahler trem. I bought it in 1985 with an Aria Pro II neck, but this body has nothing in common with an Aria body (wrong horn shape). I think it might be a JB Player body, since I saw an exact body like mine in an ebay auction a while back with a JB Player neck, but it was a hack job too so I'm not 100% sure if the JB neck belonged to the body.

This body is a butcher block of several pieces of maple, with a thin maple cap on the top. I'm in the process of striping it for a re-fin. Needless to say, it weighs a ton.

[~K~]

Re: Maple Bodies

This one is solid maple .. it's glued in the center but solid from front to back

[DonP]

Re: Maple Bodies

I'd expect that for a flame top, but did they do that on painted bodies as well?

I'm wondering if after I'm done with this project if it will sound like an early Lynch tiger striped axe (his old favorite). Fat chance, huh [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I think I read in an old mag that it was a Mighty Mite body, but memory fades and gets blurry LOL!

[Rupe]

Re: Maple Bodies

Yes, they were solid maple, anywhere from 1 to 3 pieces from my understanding. The butcher block construction that you mention is typical of cheaper import lines...I know Aria had bodies like this as I stripped one several years ago.

[LesPaulCustom]

Re: Maple Bodies

<font color="yellow">The body on my #3062 (Grimace) is almost assuredly maple, and I gotta tell ya (ask Splatterama), it is heavy as FUCK!!

Maple also has a distinctive tone.... </font>

[DonP]

Re: Maple Bodies

I think this one might be 5 pieces. Better than plywood I guess.

Any idea why they would put a maple veneer cap on it? I was thinking so that you wouldn't see the seams from the multiple pieces of wood.

This one is real heavy as well. Less routing than a Floyd, and the control cavity is very small as well, like a KE3. I have a Duncan Distortion (ala Lynch) Mayhem set I plan on dropping into it.

[~K~]

Re: Maple Bodies

[ QUOTE ]
Maple also has a distinctive tone....



[/ QUOTE ]


It is generally very bright .. it gets balanced nicely with mahogany

[Flatpicker]

Re: Maple Bodies

Would a mahogany neck on a bolt on maple body work?

[LesPaulCustom]

Re: Maple Bodies

[ QUOTE ]
Would a mahogany neck on a bolt on maple body work?

[/ QUOTE ]

<font color="yellow">I think it would to a point, but, I think Kev had the mahogany body/maple top idea like Les Paul's and some guitars with that combo to them.

It has the sustain and brightness of maple but the warmth and tone of the mahogany to level it out a bit.....

Or, I'm totally off and Kevin will correct me [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] </font>

[~K~]

Re: Maple Bodies

you would be correct sir

[Bengal65]

Re: Maple Bodies

I read that that's why Phil Collen went for the maple/mah combination to get that balanced Les Paul sound he was looking for.
I think some of the factories, depending on the economy went with multipiece bodies. My first Les Paul, a 1973 model I bought new had a 5 piece maple top! [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] I didn't know much about guitar construction then, but that was insane! Companies like Warmoth and Musikraft are offering 1 piece bodies. I just got 2 from Musikraft and are White Korina. Really nice wood with a consistent grain.

[Rupe]

Re: Maple Bodies

A higer output pickup with pushed mids will help tame the harsh high end in a maple body as well...the X2N works great.

[LesPaulCustom]

Re: Maple Bodies

<font color="yellow">Grimace has OLD Duncan's in it, a Custom in the bridge and a 59N in the neck, and it KICKS ASS!!

</font>

[mudkicker]

Re: Maple Bodies

There are some old Charvel butcher blocks out there. Hopefully someone has some pics they can post.

[LesPaulCustom]

Re: Maple Bodies

<font color="yellow">
Maple top on Mahogany:
The staple of vintage construction, the Maple adds crispness to the mahogany, but the lows and low mids of mahogany are still as apparent. The Maple combs out some of the upper mids, not because Maple lacks in these areas, but because it is vastly different from mahogany in its handling of the upper midrange. There is fighting going on in that range between the two pieces that results in a canceling out of some of those upper midrange frequencies. That’s part of the “smoothness” associated with the Les Paul & PRS types.
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