Multiple Peice Bodies

[Bmth Builder]

Hey

If a body is a two peice, the glue line generally lies in the middle and acts as a center line,

but if say I have a peice of wood thats nearly big enough for a one peice but not quite, can I just glue peices on the out edges to make up the width, like how people glue 'ears' onto necks to make the headstock wide enough.

Like so

(obviously I know I can do it, but I just wanner check whether any one has or not, I mean there isnt really any stress on the outer most parts of a guitar so its not like it would snap off or anything)

Cheers

Edited October 15, 2008 by Neil Beith

[Hector]

you can do any way you want to.

if its gonna be a solid color then it really doesn´t matter

I would move the body to one side and add the "ears" to one side only. (I'm lazy, I know).

[fookgub]

You could also split that piece down the middle and add a piece of wood along the centerline to make up the width.

Edited October 15, 2008 by fookgub

[Bmth Builder]

^ Yeah but I like the idea of 1 peice bodies (or as close as I can get in this case) I'de rather a bridge was mounted in one peice of wood than two seperate peices, not that the tone difference is audible anyway...

Although two peices are probably more stable on the warp front.

[NotYou]

Don't worry about it snapping. Wood glue is generally stronger than wood. There's a reason why set neck don't just pop off and acoustic bridges don't come undone. Those bridges have hundreds of pounds of pressure pulling on them too. Glue will usually make anything wood related stronger.

Edited October 15, 2008 by NotYou

[Mickguard]

It's a perfectly fine way of doing it. And if you do a sunburst (or solid color) the lines won't show anyway.

Although...what happens if you angled the guitar shape on the blank a bit -- are you able to fit it onto the blank? There are some schools of thought that prefer having the longest possible grain line (i.e., diagonal) for the guitar, so if that enables you to maintain a one-piece blank, I'd go for that.

[Prostheta]

Don't worry about it snapping. Wood glue is generally stronger than wood. There's a reason why set neck don't just pop off and acoustic bridges don't come undone. Those bridges have hundreds of pounds of pressure pulling on them too. Glue will usually make anything wood related stronger.

I couldn't agree more. Invariably when wood fails around glue lines, it's just that - wood failing, not the glue. Usually the glue line contains wood from the facing piece....unless the joint wasn't satisfactory :-D

Go for it. You wouldn't believe how many commercial solidbody instruments have 3 or even 4 piece bodies.

[avengers63]

You could also split that piece down the middle and add a piece of wood along the centerline to make up the width.

Absolutely. The "racing stripes" add a ton of character to the piece as well.

sapele & limba

mahogany & maple

bubinga, maple, jatoba

limba & african mahogany

Edited October 16, 2008 by avengers63

[Hector]

looking at your piece, i would cut it down the middle like the other guys said, but I would flip the pieces.

glue the outside edges to the new piece of wood. this way it would be closer to quartersawn.