‘91-04 Gibson ES-135 (balsa)

[pingu]

Anyone here play /played one

the one with the Balsa wood centre
block and P100 pickups ?

like this kinda thing


I’m intrigued ….

[Jimmy blue note]

The Howard Roberts Fusion had a balsa centred semi hollow construction. I found that guitar to be comfortable but not all that resonant. That made for a warm electric plugged in response. Never tried a 135. Sorry. Looks nice.

[Archie]

Balsa wood would be a nice light weight hard wood to use but a real tone sink due to it’s soft nature (i would have thought).
That’s where Gibson get their thunk from (imo) from using softer, cheaper woods like poplar, in their laminations.

[Gitterbug]

Balsa is the softest and lightest wood. Paulownia comes next. Been using both.

[Jimmy blue note]

Balsa is the softest and lightest wood. Paulownia comes next. Been using both.

During WWII the British made bombers out of Balsa wood. Strong enough to fly a full bomb load to Berlin and faster than the fighters they sent up to shoot them down.
Pretty amazing stuff.

[Gitterbug]

The aeromodeling community discovered in the 1970s that the lightest balsa grades were getting more and more difficult to obtain. The explanation: balsa was getting used in huge quantities to isolate LNG tanks, both in-land and in vessels. Against modelers' needs of a few hundred grams per 100 work hours (well under one gram for the finest microfilm-covered indoor wonders), tons after tons into shipbuilding. Balsa is a farmed, fast growing tropical species. 95% of it comes from Ecuador, with China now as the main market. Not a huge but fast-growing commodity - annual exports have risen from around 100 MUSD to 500 MUSD in some 15 years.

[Archie]

The aeromodeling community discovered in the 1970s that the lightest balsa grades were getting more and more difficult to obtain. The explanation: balsa was getting used in huge quantities to isolate LNG tanks, both in-land and in vessels. Against modelers' needs of a few hundred grams per 100 work hours (well under one gram for the finest microfilm-covered indoor wonders), tons after tons into shipbuilding. Balsa is a farmed, fast growing tropical species. 95% of it comes from Ecuador, with China now as the main market. Not a huge but fast-growing commodity - annual exports have risen from around 100 MUSD to 500 MUSD in some 15 years.

I like Obeche. Similar to balsa wood but a bit heavier. I’m going to use some in a laminate and see what it sounds like. Might make for a very light, strong top.

[GNAPPI]

I have that 135 and LOVE it. The 100's are clean and have less gain than P90's or HB's but with a bit of diddling with the EQ I get some sweet sound out of it.

I also have a HR fusion, and I like it quite a bit also.

[Gitterbug]

I like Obeche. Similar to balsa wood but a bit heavier. I’m going to use some in a laminate and see what it sounds like. Might make for a very light, strong top.

Obeche is familiar, too. We used it in aeromodeling, as it was light and absolutely straight-grained. Great for speed and team racer wings, and profile fuselages. You wouldn't believe how much of it was used for Sauna seating in Finland back in the 1970s and onwards, due to its low heat conductivity. That role is now occupied by close-sourced alder, aspen and spruce.

[Archie]

Obeche is familiar, too. We used it in aeromodeling, as it was light and absolutely straight-grained. Great for speed and team racer wings, and profile fuselages. You wouldn't believe how much of it was used for Sauna seating in Finland back in the 1970s and onwards, due to its low heat conductivity. That role is now occupied by close-sourced alder, aspen and spruce.

Ha! Just when you thought you'd discovered a new wood. The blissfulness of ignorance.

[icr]

I got one when they first came out in 1992 or 1993. I still think it is a very nice guitar. Sounds and plays better than my Gretsch, which also had two "single coil-style" pickups.
I eventually got rid of the Gretsch and kept the ES-135.

[Woody Sound]

I like Obeche. Similar to balsa wood but a bit heavier. I’m going to use some in a laminate and see what it sounds like. Might make for a very light, strong top.

I always wondered how Balsa would work for a classical/flamenco top, less tension than steel strings.

When I got my Huipe traditional flamenco guitar, cypress, pegs, ~2.5 lbs, I let a non-musician friend hold it. He said "Wow, is this made out of Balsa Wood!?

[Gitterbug]

If I'm not wrong, an old friend of mine - aeromodeller, classical guitarist, PhD in musicology and teacher at the Sibelius Academy - eons ago made a classical guitar with a Balsa top covered with fine fiberglass mesh. Maybe it was just a plan. Balsa as such wouldn't hold a glued bridge under any tension. Nor does it hold screws, unless the pilot holes have been reinforced with thin CA glue. The guys who make solid-body guitars out of Paulownia use some kind of inserts for bolt-on necks. I my cab use, coarse-thread plasterboard screws work. Obeche is ok in this respect. One more light wood to mention: Okoume. Very similar to light mahogany or sapele. Could be a perfect middle veneer for laminated archtops.

[bebopblues]

I've had an ES-135 for many years and really like it. Mine is the version with '57 Classic pickups, so I can't speak personally to the P-100s, but that's just a matter of what you like.

As to the balsa block, this would apply no matter what pickups you have: The ES-135 seems to fall in between a fully hollow ES-330 and the semi-hollow ES-335. It is a bit heavier than the ES-330, but has more of a hollow body sound than an ES-335. I have played mine with loud jazz bands and feedback has not been a problem. It's quite versatile. The fit and finish is very good. It has the slim taper neck shape, but the depth at the first fret reportedly varies. Mine is around .83.

[pingu]

I've had an ES-135 for many years and really like it. Mine is the version with '57 Classic pickups, so I can't speak personally to the P-100s, but that's just a matter of what you like.

As to the balsa block, this would apply no matter what pickups you have: The ES-135 seems to fall in between a fully hollow ES-330 and the semi-hollow ES-335. It is a bit heavier than the ES-330, but has more of a hollow body sound than an ES-335. I have played mine with loud jazz bands and feedback has not been a problem. It's quite versatile. The fit and finish is very good. It has the slim taper neck shape, but the depth at the first fret reportedly varies. Mine is around .83.

Thanks for the report , I was kinda hoping for that kind of response
(Feedback resistant but with a bit of a following vibe)