I was hoping someone would "weigh" in on this subject. I don't want it to be too heavy, but I still want there to be enough structure for sustain. Right now I think I've got it at close to 1" around the perimeter and about 3/8" thickness at the bottom of the cavities. Is there a rule of thumb as far as how much material thickness to leave? 1/2 inch, 1/4 inch?
I'm also planning to rout matching shallow cavities into the topwood before I glue that on. Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Hey, this is a beautiful project.
I have not done a double neck. But on chambered guitars, my practice is to leave 3/8" minimum thickness at the sides (up to 1" where hardware is attached, like strap buttons), and leave 3/16" minimum thickness on the back. You could remove a lot more wood before you hit those numbers. You could also remove wood in the center between the two necks. You could hollow out the underside of the top; but if it is a flat, uncarved top on a chambered guitar, I make the top 3/16" to start with.
No matter how much the body weighs, it still has to balance the necks. I'd rather have a heavy guitar than one with a neck that you have to hold up.
Thanks for the advice, Ken. As is stands, I think I've managed to hit most of the thickness numbers you mentioned. For the time being, I'm leaving the chambers where they are until I can get her weighed. I need to borrow a bathroom scale from a neighbor because we are not allowed to have one in our house - wife's rule! My goal is for it not to be any heavier than the average unchambered LP (which is think is around 12 - 13 lbs.). I would prefer heavy rather than unbalanced and I think the client would agree.