Body Thickness

[daveq]

When I started building my guitar, I thought that 1 3/4" was the standard body thickness for a solid body guitar.

I have routed my neck pocket (5/8") and test fitted the neck. Things are looking good but:

The area where the neck joint screws will be going through (under the pocket) seems like it is a big cumbersome block of wood. I'm thinking of slanting it so that it is thinner near the higher strings and thicker at the lower strings. Does anyone else do this? I guess the screws would need to enter at an angle perpendicular to the neck plate if I do this, right? Or would it be better to just keep them perpendicular to the top of the body?

Is there a standard thickness for this part of the guitar?

[Scott Rosenberger]

ESP slants their Heel like that, just be carefull not to make it to thin as it could effect tuning stablilty

[krazyderek]

When I started building my guitar, I thought that 1 3/4" was the standard body thickness for a solid body guitar.

I have routed my neck pocket (5/8") and test fitted the neck. Things are looking good but:

The area where the neck joint screws will be going through (under the pocket) seems like it is a big cumbersome block of wood. I'm thinking of slanting it so that it is thinner near the higher strings and thicker at the lower strings. Does anyone else do this? I guess the screws would need to enter at an angle perpendicular to the neck plate if I do this, right? Or would it be better to just keep them perpendicular to the top of the body?

Is there a standard thickness for this part of the guitar?

AAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS perpendicular to the neck, so if u were going to do a slanted one like on some RG's then u'd have to drill the holes first to ensure a nice 90 degree hole.. once u have the wholes drilled i sujest u just kinda follow brian's tutorial here

http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/heal.htm

the depth of the "taper" can vary anywheres from 1/16 to 4/16 depending on the wood... like basswood u probably shouldn't go over 3/16 or 4/16 (3/16 would probably be best for a good effect) where as with a big honkin maple or mahogany u could go like 5/16 or 6/16.... but then ur starting to get into creating a creater not a tapper and u might want to consider just planing the whole back face of the guitar down a bit unless there's some reason u need it that thick..

i've found that it's easier to setup a gig before u cut out the body shape to do this taper, i tried it on a guitar that was already cut out and i had to meditate for about 5 minutes before i did it as to hold the router level cause only half the base is actually supported by something. but the disc sander and a good eye can do just as good a job!