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4 Piece Back


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I am working on a guitar which i am using curly maple for the back and sides. the planks which I am using are narrower than i wished but i'm trying to make due. I had pieces cut and glued together as a 3 piece back. once the sides got done the back is too small. I have since then seperated the back pieces to start over. I was wondering what everybody thought of doing a 4 piece back. structurally how would it affect my bracing???

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It wouldn't at all. 4-piece backs are fairly common enough. Glue lines are stronger than the surrounding wood if done right, so unless you're putting an inlay strip down ALL 3 joints... it won't affect your bracing/structure at all. In case you WERE putting inlay strips down all the seems (hypothetical) the only difference it would make is you should probably put a cross-grain thing like a lot of people put down the center of a two-piece back. That said, those are only really needed if you are putting a center strip... otherwise... it's just a waste of your time and added weight.

Chris

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  • 4 weeks later...

My next problem is.............. I'm trying to decide whether to joint the pieces straight or to cut the pieces at angles. I have laid out the boards at the angle and it doesn't seem to look all that much different. If I screw up one board my project comes to a hault, and i only have one more month to finish it. I'm trying to weigh the risk with the difference in looks. If anybody has pictures of a 3 or 4 piece back with boards cut at angles. or any suggestions on which you would do.

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If when the 4 pieces go together you can't tell it's not two pieces... I say go with the 4-piece. If not, and the 3-piece looks better, go with that. I did a 3-piece on a terz.

terzparts.jpg

You can see the 2" flairing out to about 3" wedge center (don't remember EXACT measurements, but that's about it) if you look.

Chris

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