NGD: Blue Fender Toronado GT

[Pens]

[quote

It's definitely a heavier Fender guitar with that Mahogany body.

Interesting, so it's the same thickness as a standard Fender, like a Strat? I have a project planned with a mahogany body as well, but I planned to make it thinner than usual to offset the weight difference. How much heavier, would you guess, that it is over a Jaguar or other Fender?

I really like those abalone dots, I didn't notice those in previous pics.

[NickD]

[quote

It's definitely a heavier Fender guitar with that Mahogany body.

Interesting, so it's the same thickness as a standard Fender, like a Strat? I have a project planned with a mahogany body as well, but I planned to make it thinner than usual to offset the weight difference. How much heavier, would you guess, that it is over a Jaguar or other Fender?

I really like those abalone dots, I didn't notice those in previous pics.

For context I have a mahogany strat body that is around 2lb heavier than the (probably) alder body I replaced it with. Mahogany doesn't have to be heavy but it tends to be more expensive the lighter it is.

[sunshiner]

Yes, lighter wood usually goes into producing more expensive guitars. Though I had an all mahogany les paul junior clone ten years ago and it was probably the lightest guitar I've had, on par with my current strat. I've had other mahogany guitars and even stripped off all the hardware they were heavier than that guitar. Then there are several species of wood that guitar companies designate as mahogany which can be not really close in terms of how much their wood weigh. Also when you cut a tree, different parts(for example one closer to the roots) are denser than other and weigh more, so wood from one and the same tree can significantly vary in density and weight. Companies like Gibson will swoop in and buy all the light wood for the top of the line models and all of the medium weight wood for the rest of their line, and heavy chunks will be sold to someone who makes cheap and mid range priced guitars.

[NickD]

My Eastman is 6lb or so, but that's okume, so mahogany adjacent rather than mahogany itself. It's a lot cheaper than mahogany though so might be a good option for Pens if lightness is a requirement,

[plopswagon]

I'm mahogany adjacent.

[Pens]

All great info, thanks y'all. I don't wanna derail this thread, though. I was just curious.

I'll be making a separate thread soon enough in the Projects section once I get more bits ordered and in.

[taylornutt]

[quote

It's definitely a heavier Fender guitar with that Mahogany body.

Interesting, so it's the same thickness as a standard Fender, like a Strat? I have a project planned with a mahogany body as well, but I planned to make it thinner than usual to offset the weight difference. How much heavier, would you guess, that it is over a Jaguar or other Fender?

I really like those abalone dots, I didn't notice those in previous pics.

I measured the body and it was a thickness of 1 5/8 inches. I think Strats are 1.75" thick and Mustangs are 1.5" thick.


I grabbed my postal scale and weight my guitars.

The Toronado GT weighs in at 8lbs 5.9 ounces

My AVRI Jaguar weighs in at 8lbs 6.6 ounces

My J Mascis Jazzmaster (basswood body) weighs 8lbs 7 ounces


While the Toronado is the lightest of the three guitars, it has the least metal hardware(bridge, posts and tailpiece) compared to the Jaguar and the Jazzmaster. The basswood body of the Jazzmaster should be lighter than the mahogany body of the Toronado, but it also has anodized pickguard with screws, the electronics (rhythm/lead circuits), longer 1.75" depth body and the tremolo.

I thought the Toronado was would be heavier, but it's nearly as heavy as the Alder body Jaguar. It's an interesting comparison for sure. I kinda wish the Toronado GT had the arm contour like the normal Toronado for comfort.

[dots]

great post!

bummer about the crack in the finish, but other than that, it sounds like you managed to get all of the needs addressed without getting ripped off by the shop. nice work! when i brought my toronado to the local repair guy a couple years ago to get rid of a horrible grounding buzz, all he did was replace the pots. i had already pointed out to him that it was probably the ground wire didn't properly connect to the bridge as it should and showed him all the "extra" grounds somebody tried to introduce to deal with that. he didn't do shit about it and left that wiring mess in there. once i cleaned that up, i determined that the ground to the bridge must have a break in it somewhere. at some point i'll thread a new one with enough bare wire to touch the post. until then, i just have a ground wire extended from the jack screw to the bridge running on the actual body. looks lame/punk, but what happened to your beautiful blue paint is exactly what i'm trying to avoid.

but yeah, these guitars have their own vibe to them. i attribute it to the gibson scale and hardware, but it manages to avoid that LP chunky feeling when slung around your shoulders; still feels like a fender.

in all its glory...

► Show Spoiler

PXL_20221208_184625804.jpg (2.89 MiB) Viewed 3742 times

[Nick]

great post!

bummer about the crack in the finish, but other than that, it sounds like you managed to get all of the needs addressed without getting ripped off by the shop. nice work! when i brought my toronado to the local repair guy a couple years ago to get rid of a horrible grounding buzz, all he did was replace the pots. i had already pointed out to him that it was probably the ground wire didn't properly connect to the bridge as it should and showed him all the "extra" grounds somebody tried to introduce to deal with that. he didn't do shit about it and left that wiring mess in there. once i cleaned that up, i determined that the ground to the bridge must have a break in it somewhere. at some point i'll thread a new one with enough bare wire to touch the post. until then, i just have a ground wire extended from the jack screw to the bridge running on the actual body. looks lame/punk, but what happened to your beautiful blue paint is exactly what i'm trying to avoid.

but yeah, these guitars have their own vibe to them. i attribute it to the gibson scale and hardware, but it manages to avoid that LP chunky feeling when slung around your shoulders; still feels like a fender.

in all its glory...

► Show Spoiler

PXL_20221208_184625804.jpg

I must have missed it in the Comp Orange thread but what's going on with that hole in the side of the neck heel?

[dots]

It's where warmoth puts the truss rod adjustment screw for convenience. Iirc, there's another brand who does that, too, but my quick googling failed me in verifying my old brain's story.