Hollow Body Strat.

[Guitar WIll]

Hi, I am building a guitar and I have made an Ibanez style body that I am using. It is made from mahogany and is very heavy. I was considering creating cavities in it like I imagined Gibson do with some of their les pauls to lower the weight. And then when I was on the Warmouth site I saw a hollow strat. http://www.warmoth.com/banner.cfm?itemID=6

I should add at this point that I am aiming for a strat sound with this guitar and am using a maple neck and fingerboard. My three questions are:

What effect to the sound would hollowing the inside of the body have?

Are there any particular ways of doing it. i.e. are there any templates that I should follow, or depths etc.

And would it work if I was to route the cavities and then apply another wood top, such as ash or alder etc?

Any advice or suggestions would really be appreciated. Cheers, Will.

[Jon]

What effect to the sound would hollowing the inside of the body have?

Less bright? Just a guess! All of the semi-hollows I have played unplugged have a really cool sound to them.

Are there any particular ways of doing it. i.e. are there any templates that I should follow, or depths etc.

I would strongly suggest using a template. Going about that many cavities would require several hours of work. I wouldn't imagine it being too complicated to make your own. I would recommend leaving about 10mm of wood left (3/8" or so) from personal experience, I feel this still leaves a fair amount of wood while providing good strength. You will be going over each cavity a number of times, about 6-7 is what I do. This will depend on the overall thickness of the body.

And would it work if I was to route the cavities and then apply another wood top, such as ash or alder etc?

Yes, typically you would add a wood with a nice grain pattern on top since it will have a small effect on tone (depends on thickness).

Although that's not much information, hopefully it will help some.

[Guitar WIll]

Thanks very much, it's good solid advise, something that I really appreciate.

[PeteBuchan]

I really like the sound of a semi hollow guitar. Acoustically they are much louder. Amplified they have a much fuller, warmer tone. Since I made my first hollow tele, all my guitars have been hollow.

I allow a 5mm thickness of wood. Seems to hold up nicely on my guitars. I'm not sure if a template would be too necessary if you are any good at freehand routing. Just mark where you want to cut and route it. Just make sure you leave enough wood to glue the top on. It doesnt really matter if it looks a little messy since it will be covered up anyway.

Pete

[Guitar WIll]

Thanks, how does having a hollowbody effect the sustain? and also, how hollow does it need to be, should it be very extensive over the guitar?

Cheers, Will