Anyone into carve tops, why? (PRS, ESP Horizon or Warmoth carved top soloist)

I have all the bases covered.
but that includes my ‘75 Lester at about 11 lbs

 

+1 for Warmoth, I'm trying to nail down specs for a guitar from them too. I have a mahogany strat that's not Les Paul heavy, but I'd like something lighter.

 

I really only started (kind of) liking them after I saw Page Hamilton playing one. But I probably wont ever buy one.

 

I managed to score the aforementioned "Triple Crown" (albeit with threw separate guitars) after a number of years. Full disclosure, wasn't because "Triple Crown," but because Ash (I seem to have developed a bit of a... thing for Ash guitars over the past few years), "Triple Crown" was just a fortunate side-effect.

So from top-to-bottom: 2014 Fender American Standard HSS in Sienna Burst over Ash, 1996 ESP Original Series Horizon II TOM in Swamp Ash over Honduras Mahogany, and 2009 Gibson Les Paul Studio Swamp Ash with the "Smartwood" logo on the back of the headstock (even though it's not "officially" part of the Smartwood series).


Another pic just because ASH (well, you can't see it too well on the Horizon II when photographed next to the other two because potato phone camera contrast:


Here's the Horizon II by itself, still on potato phone camera, but ASH more visible:


Anyway, I will say that the Les Paul Studio Swamp Ash is by far the lightest of all three (at 6.4lbs), since it's weigh-relieved like many Gibbys of the early aughts, my other two mid-weight LPs are boat-anchors by comparison (they clock in at around 9.2lbs or so). So that may be an option, if you can find a Smartwood or weight-relieved Les Paul for a decent price. You'd think it would be neck-heavy with all the "chambers," but it balances just fine (probably because the hog neck and Kluson tuners are pretty light as well).

Edit: If you're looking at a combo of all three in one guitar, they DID make a Horizon II Custom with 22 frets quite a while ago (discontinued now). Not quite budget thanks to the conditions what prevail, but still, got a bit more Les Paul in there than you would think:

 

My Warmoth body is a solid (non-chambered), non contoured, slab of Ash that is cut into the shape of a Telecaster body. It's not a lightweight instrument... but it's a lot of fun to play.

I got into a PRS by accident when somebody was selling a Fender Deluxe ABS case that happened to have a PRS SE in it. I figured I could flip the guitar for only slightly less than the package deal and get the case for a bargain... but in the end kept it because it's a solid, made in Korea model, and plays very nicely, and it's my only guitar with a Floyd Rose... so it's there for those moments when I feel like playing whammy games.

This clearly isn't a full carve top - The pickup rings are flat - but between this and the Strats, the most important shaping aspects to a guitar body in order of importance are:

1. The fore-arm cut
2. The contoured neck joint found on my Mexican deluxe strat for upper fret access
3. The belly cut.

 

keep the les paul

 

Oh, them FGNs are ridiculously good. Fujigen does superb work, be it for Ibanez or themselves.


(So this is a lower-tier one than the one you're after (2019 JOS-FM-R, Flame maple over basswood) They've got that quasi-Suhr vibe going on-- kind-of what the 22-fret Ibby AZ sort-of goes for except without the roasted maple neck and recessed trem and SD "Hyperion" pickups )


(Another Strat-type I got because I wanted one of the older Fujigen-made Fender ST62 Reissues, but this one was newer, cheaper, and had better ergonomics)

Right now both are in rotation with my RG655 and an older 1990 RG560 in Grape Ice I recently picked up out of nostalgia and mid-life crisis.



But yeah, I seem to be on an Ibby/FGN kick right now.

I don't find it that noticeable-- well, if anything it's less noticeable than the Eclipse (thanks to the Eclipse's "Deep Dish" '59-style body carve). It's probably around that or maybe less than a modern Gibby's body edge. So yeah, less uncomfortable than an Eclipse, but not sure how much "less uncomfortable" would still be acceptable. Then again, I rocked out with this and an LTD MH-style without issues.

 

My LP's and a PRS. Don't have a postal scale for an accurate weight, but wish I did. Anyway, I'm mostly sitting and playing these days so weight isn't a deal breaker for me anymore.

 

I don't really give a flip about carved tops. I can take them or leave them. But I play a Tele, so what do I know?

 

My Charvel Desolation has an all mahogany body with a mahogany set neck. Flame maple top with a rosewood fretboard and is fully single bound. Has a carved top, belly cut and a 25.5 inch neck scale. Still resembles a Lester but still only weighs under 8 pounds. Though it does have a shredders neck it is really versatile.

 

My FujiGens are nice guitars.



FujiGen made the Japanese Fenders for the first 15 years or so.

 

Kramer Stagemaster, now released as the SM-1 has a carved top and is also neck thru. Supposedly similar to the ESP Horizon.
Old Stageys are hard to come by, but very comfortable IMO.

Kramer Stagemaster 20180520_172440 by joe_cpwe posted May 20, 2018 at 10:28 PM

Kramer Stagemaster by joe_cpwe posted May 20, 2018 at 10:28 PM

 

My idea of the "Triple Crown"
HB's
Coil split
24 fret
24.75
Built in eq
Master vol
Master tone
ebony fb

 

I started playing on SGs in the '80s and brought strats into my life in the '90s. So it's always been flat guitars for me. I did own a couple of Les Pauls along the way but didn't love them due to weight and my having a bad shoulder and they didn't last long. About a year ago a 1990 PRS fell into my lap on a great deal and I figured I had nothing to lose. It's on the heavier side for a PRS, maybe the heaviest I've been able to find doing google searches. But it's incredibly balanced and doesn't feel heavy on a strap at all. I can't say I'm a convert to carved to guitars, but I am to this particular carved top guitar. It's been my daily player now since I brought it home.

 

There’s more to those instruments than just a carved top.

 

Oh, @diogoguitar, another quick caveat: the FGNs use their own "exclusive" "Circle Fret System" where the frets are slightly curved in a large outward radius in order to help with intonation across the entire fretboard (allegedly). Yeah, sounds pretty gimmicky, though it seems to work out pretty well, I suppose, BUT.

If you're one to use a capo at all, I'd say forget about it on an FGN-- even that slight radius is enough to throw everything off tuning-wise (outer strings may be in-tune while the D, G, and sometimes B will be sharp) when using a capo across an entire fret (oddly enough, it doesn't affect barring with your fingers, or maybe I'm just unconsciously compensating for the slight differences, or something). Maybe with one of those complicated capos where you can adjust individual strings would work, but I've found that the tuning is way off if you don't adjust things with your tuners beforehand, which means your tuning is way off when you remove the capo.

In my case, I just wound up using an Ibby TM1730 for the capo stuff (another fine Fujigen product, sans "Circle Fret System").


Other than that, they're pretty awesome.

 

Almost all of my guitars are Strats, Tele’s or PRS. Never really worried about whether the top was carved or not. The three things that drove my purchase were: tone, neck feel and overall feel.

I have a couple of really nice looking carved top PRS, and that is nice as a bonus. However, never went looking for them; one could say they snuck up on me....LOL.

 

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Beveled tops are good.

The overly carved guitars can get to be too much just like inlays and crazy paint schemes.

Carved tops are generally done to signify pricing stratification. Yes, extra time sanding those carvings and not burning through the finish so there is some more cost, but it's a pricing thing.

cheap=flat
mid=beveled
high=carved contours.

Mix those with bolt-on, set-neck, neck through

colors/hardware/pickups/controls

and your marketing team has a great way to price a buyer at any level from low to high.

Top 'surface wrinkles' are purely a pricing game.


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