guitarnut Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 Some of you have seen my other thread about the Texas Tele. I have been doing alot of thinking about how to execute the carve but the numbers aren't adding up. Here is a rough diagram of the profile of the body. My concern is keeping the neck at the proper height for the bridge. I have a 1/2" top that I plan to carve down to 1/4" at the edges. I need to take the entire perimeter to a maximum of this height to make a proper channel for binding. The issue is that the sides of the neck in the pocket will be exposed where the top tapers down to the finished thickness. Maybe it's not an issue but I'm struggling with that look. How deep can I safely take the neck pocket and still have a fair amount of adjustability in the bridge? Should I take the raw top down to 3/8" before I start the carve? This will lessen the neck exposure but also tame down the carve depth as well...which I'm not thrilled about. I'm ready to move on to the pickup cavities but I want to make sure my plan is in place so I get the neck pocket to the proper depth the first time. Any advice much appreciated. Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feral_smurf Posted June 13, 2009 Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 I don't know whether you really want to do this but one way to hide the neck is to have a les paul style angled neck. This might ruin the tele vibe but it would mean the neck would follow the carve and look alot neater without changing the carve. This idea may be a whole lot of work but here you can calculate a possible neck angle and see if it could work Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted June 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2009 I don't know whether you really want to do this but one way to hide the neck is to have a les paul style angled neck. This might ruin the tele vibe but it would mean the neck would follow the carve and look alot neater without changing the carve. This idea may be a whole lot of work but here you can calculate a possible neck angle and see if it could work Simon Hi Simon. Thanks for the link! I plan to build some more guitars, some with angled necks, that will be a great help to me. But, I really want to stay with the tele vibe on this one. I guess it's going to be a trade off between carve depth and appearence. Such is life. Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chops1983 Posted June 14, 2009 Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 Im not sure exactly how you want your carve to look but don't carve away any timber where your neck pocket is. Carve around the perimeter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted June 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 Im not sure exactly how you want your carve to look but don't carve away any timber where your neck pocket is. Carve around the perimeter. Hi chops. Thanks for the input! Here's a still of the planned carve. Here is the displacement map that I used to "carve" the top in software...it raises or lowers the mesh's polygons based on grayscale value. This is not 100% accurate in shape but close enough for the mockup. I can extend the carve higher into the pocket are but at some point I wiil need to bring the top down to meet the binding height. It's probably not that big a deal but I didn't want to take off routing cavities until I was right with it. Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted June 14, 2009 Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 If the bridge is going to be higher than normal, you need to either angle the neck, shim the neck, or recess the bridge. If you cut the neck pocket while the guitar is still uncarved and the bridge is sitting where it normally would, you shouldn't need to do anything as long as you make sure the bridge sits level. You probably want to just stay away from the neck pocket with your carve and carve closer to the edge like chops said. Absolutely don't cut the neck pocket deeper unless you make up for that somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarnut Posted June 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2009 If the bridge is going to be higher than normal, you need to either angle the neck, shim the neck, or recess the bridge. If you cut the neck pocket while the guitar is still uncarved and the bridge is sitting where it normally would, you shouldn't need to do anything as long as you make sure the bridge sits level. You probably want to just stay away from the neck pocket with your carve and carve closer to the edge like chops said. Absolutely don't cut the neck pocket deeper unless you make up for that somehow. Hi Keegan. Thanks for your input. Sweet!!! I'm at spec depth for the pickups and neck pocket. I will leave the center of the guitar untouched except for a bit of sanding so I should be good to go. The 3D images are close to what I want but I will have a flat spot big enough for the bridge, neck pickup and leading up to the edges of the neck pocket... then gently roll the top away from there. Peace, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chops1983 Posted June 15, 2009 Report Share Posted June 15, 2009 Im thinking for your situation and if it was me that you should angle your neck pocket. Why? Because with out a neck angle the amount of neck showing around your pocket will be too much. Not necessarily a problem but not aesthetically pleasing. The easiest way to do it is to draw your depth line right around your guitar. You can either draw this or route for your binding. Now that you have this height you should be able to work out how deep the neck pocket needs to be routed so you come to your finished fingerboard height. To find the neck angle check out Perry's tutorial in the solid body tutorial section on the main page and to find your finished fingerboard height.If in doubt draw it out!haha just made that up. I have done and would route the neck pocket before the carve but you really need to know all your depths and angles. Thats if the carve is round, i can't really tell from your photo. Alternatively check out the photos on this build of Perry's focusing on the carving photo's and the way he works his neck angle for routing the pocket.Flame build I hope Perry doesn't mind me posting this but as this is on his site im sure abit of free advertising won't hurt Bear in mind he is using a wraparound tune o matic bridge so the neck angle will be different. Hope some of this has helped Chad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted June 15, 2009 Report Share Posted June 15, 2009 (edited) Work from the bottom of your body blank rather than the top. That way you can still have a flat neck pocket and a 1/4" carve. EDIT: Keegan essentially said the same thing: If you cut the neck pocket while the guitar is still uncarved and the bridge is sitting where it normally would, you shouldn't need to do anything as long as you make sure the bridge sits level. Edited June 15, 2009 by Geo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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