Routing Question

[12056]

for routing control and pickup cavities, i know on a 1 3/4" thick guitar, the wood left (veneer?) should be about 1/4". but what about a 1 1/2" body? one more question. what sized bit should i use for drilling the knob holes? thanks.

ps: sorry if its already been answered.

[Mickguard]

for routing control and pickup cavities, i know on a 1 3/4" thick guitar, the wood left (veneer?) should be about 1/4". but what about a 1 1/2" body? one more question. what sized bit should i use for drilling the knob holes? thanks.

ps: sorry if its already been answered.

I'm guessing you can go pretty thin, since acoustic guitars stand up from the strain, and the wood on them is really thin.

It might help if you choose hardware that will work with the body -- you could use mini pots instead of the large size, and even a mini-switch --that way there's no worries about the depth of the control cavity.

For the pickups, you could go with a thinner style --like a strat or a lipstick pickups, instead of some huge humbucker.

Or you could use a TOM style bridge and a good-sized neck angle, which will raise the strings farther above the body--that way the pickup can sit higher too and you won't need to route as deep.

First thing I'd do though, is make sure you really want a guitar that thin. Seems to me you're dying to use this wood, but suppose you don't like thin guitars? (I do, but some people hate 'em). Why not find a thicker piece of wood for the body?

[Drak]

but what about a 1 1/2" body?

There's nothing too bizarre about a 1 1/2" body to start off with, I don't think you need to do anything out of the ordinary to compensate for that fact. Drill to the same depth for the pots as you normally would.

for routing control and pickup cavities, i know on a 1 3/4" thick guitar, the wood left (veneer?) should be about 1/4".

Whoa pilgrim. Control cavities and pickup cavities are two completely different animals and in no way related as far as depths go. And the wood left is not called veneer, it's just wood.

one more question. what sized bit should i use for drilling the knob holes? thanks.

My typical pot hole drill bit size is 3/8".