82DeanZ Posted June 5, 2004 Report Share Posted June 5, 2004 Howdy, I am curious what would be considered the minimum thickness a guitar body should be, or how thin can it be. The reason I ask is that I over planed a little bit and ended up with a 1 9/16 blank when I was shooting for 1 3/4. Thanks in advance. Best Regards, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 5, 2004 Report Share Posted June 5, 2004 what type of bridge are you using?if you are using a fixed bridge you have no worries...if you are using a floyd you need the short trem block and it mioght be a good idea to not recess the trem cover on the back,and you would want to be real careful on the depth of the pickup cavity routing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82DeanZ Posted June 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2004 hey Wes, I was going to put in a Wilkinson Trem. Do you think I'll have any problems? Luckily this blank is a $17 alder blank and it wouldn't be the end of the world if I had to chuck it. Thanks! Best Regards, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted June 5, 2004 Report Share Posted June 5, 2004 hey Wes, I was going to put in a Wilkinson Trem. Do you think I'll have any problems? Luckily this blank is a $17 alder blank and it wouldn't be the end of the world if I had to chuck it. Thanks! Best Regards, Mike. how are you going to install the trem?on top or recessed?i think if you are on top you will be fine... at the very worst you could use this as an opportunity to install a 1/4" figured top... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82DeanZ Posted June 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2004 at the very worst you could use this as an opportunity to install a 1/4" figured top... Oooh....now there's an idea. Nice call. I was planning on a top-mount trem, but I like the idea of a figured top. Thanks for the idea! Best Regards, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blues-core Posted June 5, 2004 Report Share Posted June 5, 2004 If you want to see how thin a guitar can be and still sound good then take a look here. They are v .v thin Blackmachine Guitars Here is another shot that shows how thin they are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82DeanZ Posted June 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2004 Hey Blues, Wow, those are thin! I suppose I wouldn't have to worry too much if I was going for a hard tail bridge. With a tremolo, however, I guess I would worry about the trem block sticking out of the back the body if it were too thin! I like those Black Machine guitars. They have a JEM meets Parker Fly vibe to them. Very cool. Thanks for the link! Best Regards, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirit Posted June 5, 2004 Report Share Posted June 5, 2004 Wow! Thin! Now theres a guitar that you could play on a strap for days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KTLguitars Posted June 7, 2004 Report Share Posted June 7, 2004 You can reduce the depth of the trem-block by just cutting of 3 or 4mm, and redrill the spring holes. Put in one or two extra springs (if you only have three) to compensate for the reduced torque arm length. The point with the trem-block is to add mass to lower the natural frequency of the bridge to a level under the lowest freequency of the strings, ca 82Hz for the low E (ca 74Hz for dropped D). If you only cut away 3 or 4mm this should leave you with a good margin (depending of the original block, material and size). I have cut away 3mm of the Floyd Rose Speedloader I use in my Magnum648- which is recessed in a 34mm body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcamp67 Posted June 7, 2004 Report Share Posted June 7, 2004 Boy, looking at those thin bodies makes me want to get out to the shop and do some experimenting.... See y'all later!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hy_dro66 Posted June 7, 2004 Report Share Posted June 7, 2004 Those might feel wierd to play. They look too thin to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank falbo Posted June 8, 2004 Report Share Posted June 8, 2004 I had a solid piece of quilted maple that I got 2 one-piece body blanks out of. It's 30mm thick, not much thicker than their 27-28mm. It's really fantastic. I have another guitar that's maple with a Rosewood neck and an Ebony board. It's really true, if you have a warm neck you can have a sharper sounding body without sounding thin and weak. I'll bet those guitars are great. The one quilted maple blank is almost finished as a 7 string, and the other I'm thinking about using for an 8-string. With a thinner maple body the low strings don't get muddy. I have this: http://fvcc.com/music/guitar.html which is basically 30mm thick all the way around, but a little thicker in areas like the neck joint. The top is arched like a Brian Moore and the back is scooped out to match, except for the control cavity area. So the body blank was thicker than 30mm to get the arch, but that's what it is now. The Ibanez S guitars are 38mm thick or so and they use a real short trem block. You could put a top on it but you won't have to. If the trem block sticks out the back you can just leave the cover off until you have the means to shave it down and re-drill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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