Maple on Spruce?

[mushy the shroom]

So I'm thinking of building a guitar with a bookmatched 3/8" thick figured hard maple cap, and a 3/4" thick sitka spruce body. It's a neck-thru (the piece that runs through the body is hard maple, and the fretboard is ebony), so the spruce would be in the wings. Don't ask me why it's so thin.. I like 'em like that. Anyway, I was thinking of chambering the spruce, and maybe a little of the bottom of the maple, and in the neck-thru.

Now, tell me how this is going to sound. For a pickup (yes, only one pickup... but I need suggestions on the model), I was thinking a VERY HOT pickup with searing lead tone, but that also works for rhythem, and can clean up if need be. Here's the catch: The pickup is embedded under the maple so that there is 1/8" of maple avove it, and 1/8" between the maple and the strings. So active is out of the question. But also, where should I put it (neck/middle/bridge)? Oh, and do you guys know anyone who sells a push-pull pot that can have volume in, and tone out (or vide versa, I guess)

My last question is: is it possible to carve the maple top (remember- 3/8" thick), with a spokeshave and sandpaper? Would this ruin the figure? If it does, would a shoulder-contour ruin the figure?

Thanks for the help!!!

-Ryan

[skibum5545]

With only 1 1/8 in. to work with in total body thickness, I'd wonder if the pickup imbedding would work too well. I'm not sure how deep a pup is, but it seems that 1/8 plus the depth of the pup would equal more than the total body thickness. Also, even if the pup itself fit, wiring it up would prove difficult. Spruce isn't a backbreaker; make the guitar 1 1/2 in. thick and you'll probably find that executing the idea wouldn't be near as hard.

Of course, you could always wind your own pup....

As for the carving, it won't ruin the figure. An arm bevel, however, will be deep enough to go all the way through the figured maple into the spruce; this can be fixed with

a. A bent drop top if the bevel is on one plane (no compound curves)

b. A dark laminate between the maple and spruce to accent the contouring of the

bevel (it's not a bug, it's a feature!)

c. A wide black burst to cover the area where you carved through.

While thickness experimentation and pup experimentation are both fun and greatly encouraged, building a guitar is enough work in and of itself. You'll find yourself with plenty of engineering dilemmas building a stratalike, and making more for yourself might not be the best thing to do.

However, whatever you decide on, remember to post your progress (with lots of digital images) in the work progress section!

[mushy the shroom]

That was fast.. Yeah, most pickups average about 3/4" deep. So, with 1/8" minimum on top and bottom of the pickup, I have another 1/8" to spare if the pickup proves to be thicker. Anyway, the arm contour isn't compound, and I wouldn't make it deep enough to go all the way through to the spruce. The guitar would be so thin that it doesn't really need contours anyway. Plus, I could always carve it.. so...