Light weight Alder/Upcharge

[Ralph E.]

8 lbs. or less for a strat is FAR from being unreasonable...

I am very disappointed to hear about this upcharge, as I always tagged my order with "Very Light Alder Body".

Time for new wood or a new brand...

[GoPoundSand]

Has it ever been specified that 'lightweight' means at or under a certain measurement?

-GPS

[Wizard of Ozz]

$925 for "lightweight alder"... :ROTF:

[Learn Guitars]

I'd say that the upcharge really isn't that bad of a deal. There would be some time involved getting wood that fits that need. Wood by nature and species will have common characteristics that will deviate within a modest percentage. I think the expectations of Ultra Light woods of a give species is really a pain to find.

[LarryL]

I had talked to a guy last year that builds expensive Strat clones (Jonathan Wilson - GVCG). He said he almost never can find quality lightweight alder that meets his standards. He was doing 10 swamp ash Teles for every Strat he built just because he couldn't find the wood.

$925 is crazy though for an alder upcharge. Sounds like they are saying they would rather not bother with it.

[dannyr]

Yeah, but keep in mind we are talking about FMIC here. They probably buy more alder than any other guitar maker in the world. I don't have any idea who their suppliers are, but I'm sure they can get lightweight alder if they want and I'm sure it wouldn't cost nearly as much as their upcharge.