New Jag Body from BGP

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BrendanP
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New Jag Body from BGP

Post by BrendanP » Tue Sep 18, 2018 4:26 pm

My first order - a lefty. Nice grain. Quick turnaround. Not quite 3 weeks. However....
Image

I asked how heavy an alder jag was going to weight these days. The response:
"Our alder stock is pretty good right now, we can probably get you around 4.25 pounds." Unfortunately I didn't specify the weight I was looking for. I figured I'd be fine for anything under 5.

It weighs 5.5lbs. I was ready to send it off today to be painted. I'm putting that on hold now. I see 11 Jag bodies on Warmoth right now. 10 are less than 5lbs and the other is exactly 5lbs. I was expecting under 5. My tolerance for heavy bodies is proportional to what I'm paying for the end result. I want to get some feedback. Anyone here have something built in that weight range? I'm tempted to send it back. UPDATE - BGP got back to me. See post 13 below.
Last edited by BrendanP on Wed Sep 19, 2018 4:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Embenny
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Re: New Jag Body from BGP

Post by Embenny » Tue Sep 18, 2018 4:39 pm

I'm used to my jags being my heaviest guitars. It would kinda feel wrong if they weren't - I'm so used to that now.

Anyway, I play bass too, and I don't really have any qualms with heavy guitars because they fall short of my heavier basses. But everyone has their own preferences...I'm just not that fussed about guitar weight.
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BrendanP
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Re: New Jag Body from BGP

Post by BrendanP » Tue Sep 18, 2018 7:02 pm

I usually don't notice weight with bolt-neck guitars until they hit the 9lb mark. Once it's painted and saddled with 2lbs of hardware and and a fat neck, this body will push it past 9lbs. I just checked 6 Fender American Jag bodies on Ebay and they're all under 5lbs.

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wooderson
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Re: New Jag Body from BGP

Post by wooderson » Tue Sep 18, 2018 7:16 pm

Rule of thumb for a Telecaster is body + 3 pounds, I'd guess with an offset you add the weight of the tailpiece to that?

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BrendanP
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Re: New Jag Body from BGP

Post by BrendanP » Tue Sep 18, 2018 8:08 pm

wooderson wrote:
Tue Sep 18, 2018 7:16 pm
Rule of thumb for a Telecaster is body + 3 pounds, I'd guess with an offset you add the weight of the tailpiece to that?
Yes, I think the tremolo, 3 control plates and extra body hardware bits add another pound on there. I reached out to an experienced builder and he didn't think the weight was surprising. Still, it seems to be an outlier. Out of 20+ samples I looked up tonight, the only bodies that breach the 5lb mark are two MIM models which I believe have the thick polyester finish. Normally this isn't something that bothers me. I've built partscasters with bodies that weighed over 5lbs and I've owned a few Agiles which were quiet heavy. They're also cheap and don't stick around long. This, however, is being built as a keeper. With professional paint work and the extra costs associated with Jags, particularly the lefty bits and a custom bound neck, it's not going to be cheap.
I see that an ultra-light swamp ash ( under 4lbs) lefty from Guitar Mill in trans white is $439. I steered away from GM initially because they didn't have alder to produce a body under 5lbs. Heh..

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Re: New Jag Body from BGP

Post by JVG » Tue Sep 18, 2018 8:44 pm

What concerns you about the weight - is the potential sound, or playing comfort? If it's the latter, I understand, but if it's the former I'd say there's no link between weight and "good" sound (whatever that is!)

Cheers
J.

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Re: New Jag Body from BGP

Post by BrendanP » Tue Sep 18, 2018 8:51 pm

JVG wrote:
Tue Sep 18, 2018 8:44 pm
What concerns you about the weight - is the potential sound, or playing comfort? If it's the latter, I understand, but if it's the former I'd say there's no link between weight and "good" sound (whatever that is!)

Cheers
J.
It's a combination of comfort and a "livelier feel". If the guitar's weight is registering in my mind while I play, it's a distraction. My last Jag ( build documented somewhere here) was about 8.5lbs. Perfect.

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Re: New Jag Body from BGP

Post by wooderson » Tue Sep 18, 2018 10:08 pm

BrendanP wrote:
Tue Sep 18, 2018 8:08 pm
I see that an ultra-light swamp ash ( under 4lbs) lefty from Guitar Mill in trans white is $439. I steered away from GM initially because they didn't have alder to produce a body under 5lbs. Heh..
I just had to make that decision for a Jazzblaster build - I wound up going with the light swamp ash. I don't really believe in the importance of body wood (so many people building with basswood and pine these days and getting good results) but it still feels sort of wrong.

There was a Danocaster Jag up for sale a few months ago that was under 7 pounds with an ash body - 6.8# according to the Reverb listing.

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Re: New Jag Body from BGP

Post by oid » Wed Sep 19, 2018 1:23 am

Just start your day with a few dozen pushups and situps and all will be well by the time the guitar is complete.
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Re: New Jag Body from BGP

Post by Trout » Wed Sep 19, 2018 1:50 am

oid wrote:
Wed Sep 19, 2018 1:23 am
Just start your day with a few dozen pushups and situps and all will be well by the time the guitar is complete.
He is looking to be Rowland S howard, not Arnold S :P
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Re: New Jag Body from BGP

Post by Footbutt » Wed Sep 19, 2018 10:28 am

what is BGP?
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Re: New Jag Body from BGP

Post by wooderson » Wed Sep 19, 2018 11:16 am

Best Guitar Parts, a company that branched off from USACG from what I understand.

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Re: New Jag Body from BGP

Post by BrendanP » Wed Sep 19, 2018 3:53 pm

I wrote to them this morning and I was asked to send it back so they can make it right. That's excellent news!

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