I am really enjoying the build projects I am doing for the channels on TikTok and KZread. I get to meet new people that are creating beautiful guitar components that I get to work with.
I recently got to converse with Rich Babik of Babik Music in Illinois. He creates Guitar Bodies that are not only beautiful but also very unique. He has a store on Reverb where he sells his bodies. Rich specializes in lightweight guitar bodies this is something he is very passionate about. When I say lightweight I mean bodies that are on par with the weight you would expect from an acoustic guitar.
I'm very much about the weight. I started hollowing guitars out to use heavy woods in my builds. Then I started getting some very positive feedback on the tone and took more out of the bodies until they are basically a hollow body now. I don't add an F hole because they feedback more easily. I want it to play like a solid body.
The body’s top is made out of Zebrawood, Peruvian Walnut, Quilted Sapele (Sa Pe’Le) and Maple.
The body I am working with in this video was $379 and here is the unbelievable part - 2 lbs and 9 ozs. A normal Telecaster body weighs somewhere between 4 and 5 lbs.
When I got the body in the mail and opened it I moved it to the front of the line in projects that I had scheduled to film. I was that excited. This was something very different. I wanted to know how it would sound when assembled.
I had all of the components I wanted to use but had to decide. I wanted to find the lightest neck that I had, and I ended up trying three different necks before I ended up with the WD Telecaster neck I am using. It was the lightest and the guitar balanced perfectly. I had to make certain that there was no Gibson SG Head Dive here on this guitar!
For the pickups I installed a set of True Custom Shop® Quarter Pound Pickups.
The wiring harness I built was a Modern Telecaster circuit but with one exception. I installed a .05 uF Capacitor. I wanted to get a little more warmth out of the pickups.
The bridge is a Wilkinson Bridge that allows both Top loading of strings as well as String through. I wanted to be able to experiment.
On the WD neck I installed Hipshot locking tuners.
For the neck pickup installation, I used a nickel pickup ring that I ordered from StewMac.
I tried something different with this video. When I picked up the guitar and played it without being plugged in, I was amazed by the volume as well as the tonal quality. I mic’d the guitar without being plugged in so you could hear what I heard.
Next, I did the traditional samples of neck - clean, both - clean, and bridge - clean followed by the neck pickup with a Tube Screamer.
A few observations -
The final weight of the guitar is between 5 lbs. and 6 oz and 5 lbs. and 7 oz. Amazing!
The volume is excellent out of the guitar. The bridge pickup keeps wanting to overdrive in the clean mode. The middle position of both pickups on this guitar is an incredible rhythm position. She is warm, clean sounding, and makes me happy to play the guitar. Love the experience.