How Thick Does A Body Need To Be?

[68 lost souls]

Hi,

I was just wondering how thick a body needs to be to install a recessed floyd rose? Im trying to go as thin as an 1 1/2" or 1 3/4" but Im worried that it won't fit.

Thanks

Edited December 11, 2004 by 68 lost souls

[68 lost souls]

Anyone?

[westhemann]

say bud,

standard body thickness is 1 3/4"

but going thinner depends on many variables.

in my experience i would say to go 1 1/2 inches you should build the guitar so that the bottom of the bridge baseplate is flush with the top of the body when action is optimal for you,go with the 32 mm tone block(they come in different sizes,35mm is standard for 1 3/4" body),and your trem cavity cover plate needs to sit on the body,not be recessed into it

you also need to rout the pickup cavities as shallow as possible,and do not rout the ears deeper,as you will probably go through into the trem cavity(snap the height adjusting bolts off with wirecutters to be short enough to sit in the shallower cavity)

and when you drill for the trem claw,you will probably go through into the neck humbucker rout.

i would not do it...but that is me.if you DO decide to go through with it...you should draw out full size body plans on posterboard,with all the depths of all your cavities mapped out so you will know EXACTLY how much room you have.

and doing that will answer the question with absolute certainty,one way or the other...and that is probably why you haven't recieved a response

when you try to reinvent the guitar world,you must do your own homework as much as possible,because nobody is going to draw these plans out for you...

have you considered a kahler pro trem?if you did,you could easily make the body 1 1/2"

[daveq]

As Wes mentioned - If you go with 1 3/4" or thinner (all other issues aside), you might need to buy a shorter block for it. The standard block that comes with the OFR and the Schaller Floyds are a bit too big.

Some people cut them down themselves and re-drill the holes. I don't have time for that. The shorter blocks can be found in various places - AllParts.com, GuitarPartsDepot.com are a couple that come to mind.

I don't personally like the look of a trem cover just screwed onto the back of the body but that's just me. I think Strats do this so maybe it's not such a big deal.

[westhemann]

I don't personally like the look of a trem cover just screwed onto the back of the body but that's just me. I think Strats do this so maybe it's not such a big deal.

the ibanez s series does this as well to account for the trem on the slightly thinner body

[68 lost souls]

Thanks for the response.

Yeah it sounds like I should go with the 1 3/4" body and maybe just chamfer the edges more. I could recess it then on the 1 3/4" body and get lower action without and angled neck.I dont like the idea of just sticking the backplate on top of the guitar.