My Son Wants A Pointy Guitar

[madawgony]

We have had guitars around the house for his whole life and it took a trip to guitar center for him to tell me he wants to learn guitar (almost 11 years old).

But of course, he doesnt want to play one of the 5 I have at the house (strats, tele, carved top and les paul). He wants a pointy guitar. I let him look through the Jackson, BCRich and Ibanez sites and he settled on the Jackson Kelly.

Doing some research I worked up a drawing for a Kelly and ready to start. I am going to narrow the neck a bit (~40mm at nut) for his smaller hands and reduce the size of the body just a bit to keep it on the light side. 25.5" scale and dual hums, two piece mahogany neck with rosewood fb.

I have a 1.25" thick slab of mahogany already thickness sanded that is just the right width/length (two piece that has been in the garage for two years, mismatch on the grain when glued up) I am going with an opaque finish so the mismatch wont show. The thickness of the real thing is 1.75" so I am trying to think through any issues that might arise with a thinner body. It will be a set neck with a blended heel.

I have been woodworking for 15 years and building electrics for about 5. This wont be my first dance but I am trying to forsee any issues I will run into with the thinner than normal body. Looking for advice from the builders on what to watch out for. Thanks in advance

Edited June 10, 2010 by madawgony

[killemall8]

Well, first off, with a 1 1/4" thick body, and a set neck, You wont have hardly any room for a tennon and a neck pickup (if you choose to use a neck pickup) and IMO, a kelly needs a tennon. by enough room, i mean, there will not be enough meat of the tennon after you rout the neck picukp cavity.

Also, witha body that thin, and a long 25.5" scale neck, you might have really bad neck dive. I'd go wiht a slightly shorter scale.

[Tim37]

Well, first off, with a 1 1/4" thick body, and a set neck, You wont have hardly any room for a tennon and a neck pickup (if you choose to use a neck pickup) and IMO, a kelly needs a tennon. by enough room, i mean, there will not be enough meat of the tennon after you rout the neck picukp cavity.

Also, witha body that thin, and a long 25.5" scale neck, you might have really bad neck dive. I'd go wiht a slightly shorter scale.

yeah you might look in to making it a neck through and also shorten the the scale some, just to make it easier on those small hands.

and if ya dont have it yet invest in melvin hiscocks book build your own electic guitar then most improtantly read it befor building.

[westhemann]

Keep in mind I made my Exploder 1 3/8" thick(finish included) with a set neck,but with the heel shaped exactly like a bolt on neck,and it is perfectly stable.I did it by leaving some wood on the bass side of the neck to help it stay stable.Some guys on here tried to say the heel was too bulky,but that is mostly because they were too dumb to notice that entire end of the guitar was sculpted to be smaller for more fret access..the heel does not even start until the 19th fret(most guitars tend to start around the 17th)

Only thing is,the wood for the body is bubinga,which is much tougher than mahogany..but if you plan well and don't take away too much wood you should be fine.My neck heel is only 3/4" deep into the body thickness,which leaves more than 1/2" behind the heel.

Sorry about the fuzzy one,but it is the only pic that seems to show the heel straight on from the back.

[madawgony]

After drawing up the side view I see the limitations on the neck joint with that body thickness. I would be hesitant to try a bolt on with that thin of a heel. I still want to keep the design a set neck. Also, the pots and switches I already have (control cavity depth) will drive the design. Looks like I will either add to the mahogany i already have or glue up a thicker slab.

Adding a figured cap (either a 1/2" on top or 1/4" on both top and bottom) would bring the width back to what I am comfortable working with. I like the idea of two 1/4" caps as I could leverage the mating line between the mahogay and cap when cutting the bevel around the perimeter.

The shorter scale suggestion makes sense as I have already scaled the body down a bit.

I have some 8/4 swamp ash that could be used for the body. I have done several ash with maple necks but i havent tried a mahogany neck on an ash body. Opinions on how ash with a mahogany neck would work for htis type of guitar?