Paulownia Electric Guiars

[AlanSam]

Has anyone ever owned/played or know anything about electric guitars made of the ultra lght wood Paulowina?

[Piggy]

I played the Brad Paisley Fender Telecaster...and it sounded and played awesome..it has a sandwiched Paulownia body...it's really lite but sounds stellar.

 I believe the only concern is like Basswood, Poplar and other softer hardwoods, is maybe it taking dents a little easier?

The Paisley is 'relic'd' and you know the joke...does it matter if a relic'd guitar gets dinged? Or does it improve the 'relic' LOL

[Meathead]

What a coincidence - I also played a Paisley Tele this weekend at a guitar shop here locally. Cool guitar and agree - super light for a Tele! I had no idea it was made with that wood... I actually thought the guitar was chambered as it was so light.

[AlanSam]

For the record, the weights of 5 hardwoods used in guitar builds are :-
Paulownia = 18 lbs/cubic foot
Obeche =  23.8 lbs/cubic foot
Honduram Mahogany = 36.8 lbs/cubic foot
East Indian Rosewood = 52 lbs/cubic foot

[Meathead]

Interesting Alan, thanks! EIR takes the cake from a weight/cubic foot perspective.

[Piggy]

For the record, the weights of 5 hardwoods used in guitar builds are :-
Paulownia = 18 lbs/cubic foot
Obeche =  23.8 lbs/cubic foot
Honduram Mahogany = 36.8 lbs/cubic foot
East Indian Rosewood = 52 lbs/cubic foot

Is there a number for Sapele?  It feels lighter than Mahogany. I am liking it more and more. My next guitar will probably be sapele. The E1D I just bought my son felt as light as the D18's I've played and maybe even lighter??  Thing absolutely Roars!

[AlanSam]

Piggy - Sapele is 41.6 lbs/cubic foot as per the wood database: https://www.wood-database.com/sapele/
For ease of comparison, the weights of 6 hardwoods used in guitar builds are :-
Paulownia = 18 lbs/cubic foot
Obeche =  23.8 lbs/cubic foot
Okoume =  27 lbs/cubic foot
Honduram Mahogany = 36.8 lbs/cubic foot
Sapele = 41.6 lbs/cubic foot
East Indian Rosewood = 52 lbs/cubic foot

The wood used is one factor contributing to the weight of a guitar, and as you probably know, Martin D18s are built using Honduran Mahogany and Sitka Spruce. Other parts of the guitar and the construction are obviously factors too, and Eastmans do tend to be solidly built. Incidently I have a Sapele/Sitka Eastman E1ooss SB and it is a fine guitar!

[Sacdubro]

I have a Fender "Empress" Telecaster from 2011.  It was part of the Fender Tele-bration series they offered in 2011 as part of an anniversary collection.  It's light, resonant plays and sounds great.  As others mentioned it's soft wood and dings easily.  They came in Vintage White and Honeyburst colors with maple fretboards.  Here's one on Reverb.

https://reverb.com/p/fender-tele-bration...aster-2011

[AlanSam]

I have a Fender "Empress" Telecaster from 2011.  It was part of the Fender Tele-bration series they offered in 2011 as part of an anniversary collection.  It's light, resonant plays and sounds great.  As others mentioned it's soft wood and dings easily.  They came in Vintage White and Honeyburst colors with maple fretboards.  Here's one on Reverb.

https://reverb.com/p/fender-tele-bration...aster-2011

spec in Reverb ad says it weighs 'under 5 1/2 lbs' wow! Looks good and has good spec too.

[zoidberg]

For the record, the weights of 5 hardwoods used in guitar builds are :-
Paulownia = 18 lbs/cubic foot
Obeche =  23.8 lbs/cubic foot
Honduram Mahogany = 36.8 lbs/cubic foot
East Indian Rosewood = 52 lbs/cubic foot

Aside from the latter, I've got electric guitars with bodies from all of these. 

The guitar with obeche is my no.1, and the one with paulownia is a telecaster partscaster, it was fantastic but the maple neck warped during a really hot summer and I need to get around to replacing it.

A friend of mine makes very nice electric guitars, he's told me a few times he is reluctant to build with honduran and african mahogany (ash too) as the blanks you can find in the UK now, are usually on the heavier side of things and the blanks he can find could end creating instruments that would be in the 9lb to 10lb plus or so, which is heavier than he likes so he prefers lighter alternatives.

IMO, obeche/paulownia etc make superb resonant guitars but they might resonate a little differently to one with a heavier mahogany guitar, and this might be an issue for the player once the guitar is plugged in.