"Chambered" Tele sighting.. homemade or what?

[poodlesrule]

Live music Saturday night.. lead plays a good 'ole Tele sporting what looks like a bunch of 1" to 1 1/2" blind holes in the back of the Tele body.
Curious.

First thought was, uh, someone took that Tele in the shop, put it on the drill press and went to town..?

Could it actually be a well-thought mod for sonic effect, perhaps a boutique mod, or just a plain weight relief thing?

 

[markb]

It sounds like a weight relief thing but it would affect the tone too.

It's still not as extreme as Russ Ballard's heavily modified strat though. Note the tele neck too.