Official Luthiers Forum!

I foolishly bought a piece of mahogany too small for the LP I had planned - I think LPs are 13 3/4". So do I add a chunk on the lower bout and lose the all important 1-piece claim or build something else. I have to say my philosophy is to use what I've got to the best of its capabilities, rather than making do - I'd rather haver a 'right' something else than a not ideal Les Paul - obviously I could just make the body narrower but I think that will screw up the contours aesthetically . Are there any conventional guitar designs that are that narrow? Or is it time for an original design?

Thanks guys.

Jim you could sandwich in a nice contrasting center piece like flamed maple.

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Yeah don't know why I didn't think of that as I've just done the very thing with an ash blank I had, I bought it rough cut out as a tele then it began to come apart (think the guy who did it got it wet or something) so I split it and rejoined it - though of course lost wood in the centre so I put a strip of rosewood through. Hmmm, so I'd need about an inch of maple. - still can't help feeling that a three piece body isn't as good as one.

...any idea how wide juniors are? Same as standards?

Do I hear another great myth about to bite the dust?

nah, dint think so!!

seriously the difference between a singl piece and a lammed piece is going to be MINISCULE.

were you planning on a maple cap? that'll make it a two piecs anyway won't it!!!

My last electric builds were both one piece (with a cap) simply because that's the size of the bartop lump of mahogany I had to hand.......

_________________
My soundclick xx luthier blog xx luthier soundclick

Yeah of course guys, it's not an 'engineering' decision to keep it as one - but 1 piece stuff seems to command the higher money. - OK so better to go centre line with a laminate or just add an inch to upper or lower bouts?

I would add "wings" to either side of the lowerbout to make up the difference. This way you will have the single piece in the middle and only a little bit on eithe side. I sometimes have to do this with tops and backs on my guitars. If it's done well, you won't even notice it.

Let us know how it turns out.

_________________
Don Sharp
Got Brazilian?
http://www.sharpguitars.com

with any luck that would be possible from off cuts from the waist.

I usually take the cutoffs from the upper bout and waist areas for this. Hopefully it'll work for you.

_________________
Don Sharp
Got Brazilian?
http://www.sharpguitars.com

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

I think a stratocaster is 12 3/4" wide at the lower bout.

Jim,

No problem! Just slice it up and you can make soprano ukuleles from it.

Philip

_________________
aka konacat

If you think my playing is bad you should hear me sing!
Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds competence. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in practice.

Put it on ebay, and buy the right sized piece....

I happily would but the UK's not that great for timber unfortunately.

For what it's worth a Tele is 13" , Strat 12.75" or so.
My favorite electric is a 1 pc mahogany set neck "strat" w/p90s, a big fat mahogany neck,ebony fb.
Can I "hear" the lack of a glue joint ? No, but it sure is pretty.

Whatever you decide, just have fun with it.

_________________
How long is that in luthyears?

Well in the end I decided to cut out the waist first and grain match to the lower bout - looks grand - thanks guys.

Jim---

I own an '84 LP Custom, and have a '93 Studio and '08 Standard on the bench right now. They are all 12-7/8" wide in the lower bout.

Sorry I'm late to this thread...if you play your cards right, and you're building from a set of plans, you should be able to cut the "ears" off exactly!

_________________
The member formerly known as erikbojerik....

You could give it to me and I'd make a uke out of it.

_________________
A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

You know... sometimes if the grain is very homogeneous if the piece is long you can cut it on the diagonal and "slip" the pieces and reglue it. That will give you some extra width. On very straight grained wood you would be surprised about how invisible this can be. I have done that several times on electrics and if you didn't know I did it (or didn't have the eyes of a wood worker) you would never notice it.

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I'll throw in on the side of using a piece down the center. i will loudly proclaim that it's pure myth to say that a glue-up that is done well will have any effect on a solid body. many of us make necks with lots of lams, and as has been said if you glue a maple top on here, that is one big glue joint, the whole face of the guitar has a glue joint in it. What you are talking about doing is small in camparison.

_________________
Mark Swanson
Swanson Guitars
http://www.MarkSwansonMusic.com