G&L Bluesboy Semi-Hollow, balanced or neck heavy?

[losj]

I'm about to order my first G&L guitar and I have decided to go with a Bluesboy but I can't decide if I want the semi hollow or the solid body version. I like light resonant guitars but I really don't like guitars that are neck heavy or unbalanced when standing up. Unfortunately I can't try one out before I decide because there is no G&L dealer where I live. So what are you'r take on this Bluesboy owners out there?

[Lefty]

I have a G&L SH Bluesboy - It has locking Schaller tuners. -

It is perfectly balanced.

[yowhatsshakin]

I have both semi-hollow (with and without f-hole) and solid Bluesboys and all are balanced well. Sound wise, there are subtle differences between solid and f-holed S/H Bluesboy, with the latter having the proverbial 'airier' sound, but that difference is hard to find when comparing solid body and non f-hole S/H models IMO. But I certainly know your shoulders and back will be thankful for the lighter body of a S/H!

Hope this helps,

- Jos

[Sean Clavin]

My buddy has a BB Semi Hollow and it really is light but balanced well. My ASAT Dlx semi hollow is balanced but weighs a TON! It's the heaviest guitar I own. It defies logic

[guitar_ed]

I have a semi-hollow BB, in black, no f-hole. It's balanced. Mainly because of the color. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

edg

[SouthpawGuy]

My buddy has a BB Semi Hollow and it really is light but balanced well. My ASAT Dlx semi hollow is balanced but weighs a TON! It's the heaviest guitar I own. It defies logic

My ASAT Dlx semi is slightly neck heavy, but it's a light guitar, not much weight in the body and it also has locking tuners which may be a contributing factor.


And to the op ... my Bluesboy semi balances just fine.

[blargfromouterspace]

My ASAT Dlx semi hollow is balanced but weighs a TON! It's the heaviest guitar I own. It defies logic

My Bluesboy SH is similarly heavy, probably the same, if not more than the solid Classic. Proof of exactly how much ash can vary in weight.

[Ivo]

My Semi-Hollow Bluesboy weighs 6,68 lb, and is perfectly balanced. This is the lightest guitar I have.
My Semi-Hollow Z-3 and Semi-Hollow Deluxe are about 10% heavier, and are slightly heavy towards the neck. These two have locking tuners.

[louis cyfer]

my bluesboy sh is perfectly balanced.



i think with locking tuners it wouldn't be.

[otis66]

my bluesboy sh is perfectly balanced.



i think with locking tuners it wouldn't be.

This is one beutiful guitar. Was this a custom order? This is what I had in mind but instead of semi hollow I was thinking belly cut. I was also thinking tortise pickgaurd but it would be a sin to put a pickgaurd on a body like that. What neck do you have. A standard with 7.5 radius?

[louis cyfer]

otis, i bought it used. it didn't look like this. it was the no f-hole with a black pickguard. the body blew up (you can find a thread on that) and g&l made me a new body(i guess it is kind of like a custom order now). they made it with an f-hole, so it can't ever blow up again. i decided against the pickguard when i got it back, it just looks too good without it. when i first got the guitar, i actually thought i'd rather have a bellycut, but after playing it for a while, i actually prefer the semi-hollow goodness of it. it is very light and very resonant. and the lack of bellycut does not bother me. all my other t style guitars have bellycuts though. the neck is a number 1. medium jumbo frets. the control plate is from luxxtone, with the angled switch, and i reversed it for better usability. i also got the chrome pickup ring from luxxtone, g&l gave me a black one.

[yelemusic]

Hi, sorry for resurrecting such an ancient thread, but...

I've just got myself one of those tribute semi hollow Bluesboys, the orange one, which is a real beauty! And whilst it's a lovely guitar that plays and sounds really good, it definitely is neck-heavy!
The American made models might be well balanced, but this one isn't.

Luckily it's not too bad though, I've had worse.

I will do the same I did to balance out my SG, I'll add weights. The SG's control cavity is full of fishing weights, and the Bluesboy will get a handful of weights through the f-hole. I figure there's enough room in there to discretely add weight to the body...

[Craig]

Hi, sorry for resurrecting such an ancient thread, but...

I've just got myself one of those tribute semi hollow Bluesboys, the orange one, which is a real beauty! And whilst it's a lovely guitar that plays and sounds really good, it definitely is neck-heavy!
The American made models might be well balanced, but this one isn't.

Luckily it's not too bad though, I've had worse.

I will do the same I did to balance out my SG, I'll add weights. The SG's control cavity is full of fishing weights, and the Bluesboy will get a handful of weights through the f-hole. I figure there's enough room in there to discretely add weight to the body...

What year is your Tribute? The serial number's first four digits will tell you: YYMM.
Let us know how much weight you add to balance it out.

Also, please post a photo of it and add it to our G&L Registry.
And since this is your first post, please check out this post: Welcome! Read This First.

[yelemusic]

Oh, it's brand new, April 2013. I've seen it on Musikmesse Frankfurt this year and fell in love instantly. Unfortunately it wasn't in the shops that time, so I had to wait almost 3 horribly long months

Yes, I'll let you know how much weight I added. If I remember correctly, this SG of mine needed around 3-400 gram (sorry, metric here), and I don't mind my guitars being a bit on the heavy side.

Oh, and yes, I'll check the welcome post as well as register my axe

[helle-man]

Funny, but for my tastes G&L can't make a guitar too light for me. The lighter the better.

I also have found that the Tributes tend to be lighter in general than the USA ones. You'd think it would be the other way around, but it's not.

The only real neck-heavy guitars I've played have been cigarbox guitars. I guess I don't get out much.

Will Ray

[sirmyghin]

^^ Probably the cult of ' weight = tones' at the expense of ignoring all other factors (modulus, damping, etc)

Can't comment about a hollow ASAT, but I find tele style guitars, and my ASAT, to hang a bit flat. It isn't going to neck bomb, but it wont hang at a nice angle I find. Still excellent and you get used to it though.

[louis cyfer]

^^ Probably the cult of ' weight = tones' at the expense of ignoring all other factors (modulus, damping, etc)

Can't comment about a hollow ASAT, but I find tele style guitars, and my ASAT, to hang a bit flat. It isn't going to neck bomb, but it wont hang at a nice angle I find. Still excellent and you get used to it though.

you put a 4" strap on there, and the friction will keep it at whatever angle you like.

[yelemusic]

you put a 4" strap on there, and the friction will keep it at whatever angle you like.

Yeah, that's one way of fixing the problem, but I'd rather balance the guitar out and thus don't have to use a specific strap every time I play.
Even with a wide strap there's always that feeling of the guitar pulling in the wrong direction. Luckily there's enough room in most guitars to add a few pieces of lead.

I've just ordered a few metres of those curtain weights, those ropey thingies with small blobs of lead inside a fabric tube. I think they make a marvellous added weight, easy to fix inside the guitar, and very little chance of them rattling while playing.

[louis cyfer]

my bb is very well balanced. and it is also very light. but with locking tuners it probably wouldn't be.

[sirmyghin]

^^ Probably the cult of ' weight = tones' at the expense of ignoring all other factors (modulus, damping, etc)

Can't comment about a hollow ASAT, but I find tele style guitars, and my ASAT, to hang a bit flat. It isn't going to neck bomb, but it wont hang at a nice angle I find. Still excellent and you get used to it though.

you put a 4" strap on there, and the friction will keep it at whatever angle you like.

it is partly a my body shape vs the tele body shape. I did put my bass strap on it one day for the exact reason you mentioned though. I think it is more an body shape thing for me, being a bit stocky the upper bout hits my chest and doesn't like to hang a touch higher there. The cut in for the contour looks to be shorter (so lower radius) than the super strat or double cut styles I would normally play. This appears to be what is causing the tele body to hang flatter overall. Maybe I need to buy a lot of beer, get a beer guy, and the gut will push the guitar past my chest and eliminate the problem.

Doesn't stop the ASAT from being my go to jam guitar. Just not often the long session shed guitar.

[yelemusic]

Well, seems like I like it heavy: I've filled the guitar with 600 grams of lead, and now it feels about right to me
But I have to admit, I never had to complain about a guitar being too heavy, even my non chambered Les Paul is just fine. So I guess I must be incredibly strong

My other Tele, which happens to be a Levinson Blade solid body, is still a little heavier, but feels just right the way it is.

BTW, did I mention, that I had to level one fret, because it was ever so slightly too high when I took it out of the box? Not a problem, took me 5 mins, and now it plays like a dream. Excellent guitar for a very fair price!

[sirmyghin]

^^ I have a 12 lbs bass you should try some time for 3-4 hours standing. A heavy les paul is what 9 lbs?

[NickHorne]

Hey, try a banjo!
That'll soon put "heavy" in a new perspective.
All us solid guitar players have it easy!

[helle-man]

.

I'm really baffled by the amount of effort people will go thru in order to make a guitar hang comfortably on their body. Louis alluded to the fact that the right strap width will make a big difference and I agree. I would also suggest trying different materials - leather, woven cloth, nylon, cotton materials all make a huge difference.

In my lifetime I've probably owned (and sold) close to a thousand guitars, and I own many different style straps that I use to either grip or slide across my shoulder, depending on what's needed.

Interestingly enough my favorite all around utility strap is the old G&L straps that were given away at G&L events and clinics. They's woven cotton, black, have a huge amount of adjustment length and have leather strap ends. They will hold any guitar and any angle I want. Too bad they quit making 'em.

And yes, I am a proud member of the cult of light-body guitars = great tone. It's based on 40 years of trial and error.

My 2¢
Will

[yelemusic]

Well, aren't we all different?

What feels right for me might not feel right for others and vice versa...