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Having built a Beard squareneck, I'm ready to try one from scratch. Rather than use plywood like the Beard kit, I want to use solid wood top, back and sides (I have some walnut saved for this). I have been reading the Drusina instructions, and for his post and baffle construction, he specifies .150 for the top, .110 for the back, and .100 for the sides. Does anyone out there recommend different thicknesses for post and baffle? What if instead I went with a sound well. What would be the recommended thicknesses?

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Kevin Mason
Mason Guitars and Ukuleles on Facebook
http://masonguitars.net

I like a thick top and prefer laminated so I usually
use 1/8" (.125") solid with an 1/8" ply layer under it.
I'd say Gary's recommendation is a good one for a
solid top.
A .110 back is fine too but .100 sides might be tough
to bend depending on the wood. I usually go more
like .085 before bending, sanding and scraping but
have gone .090 on easy to bend woods like Myrtle
and Walnut.

Thanks. Do you prefer a lamenated top totaling 1/4" for structural reasons? Or some other reason?

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Kevin Mason
Mason Guitars and Ukuleles on Facebook
http://masonguitars.net

Pretty much structural. I just like having a solid
foundation to hang the parts on. After cutting all
those holes, adding a soundwell or ring, gluing the
fingerboard on and screwing a big metal plate to the
top I don't think there's much tone to be gotten out of
them regardless of materials or thickenss. Add it all
up and there's maybe 10 sq inches of 'free'
(meaning the area that's not glued to something
else) top left.

Also I like to use 'f' holes and I've seen solid topped
guitars get cracks between the holes. I have one
model that has a bunch of floral-style sound holes.
On that one I use a thicker solid top but laminate a
very thin piece of ply (3/64")
to those areas. That way you don't see the 'ply' and it
looks like it's one piece.

Edit: Sorry on my first post I should have mentioned
to make sure you're either slightly under 1/4" total or
your binding over 1/4". Otherwise you can end up
with a small problem. DAMHIKT Mike Dotson39107.766875

Does any of this change if you build the guitar as a round neck as opposed to a square neck?

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Kevin Mason
Mason Guitars and Ukuleles on Facebook
http://masonguitars.net

Nope. The guitar in my avatar is a baritone rond neck
and it's top is done just as I've mentioned.

Like Mike I start with slightly under 1/4 inch for the top (because of the bindings - won't make that mistake again). After I've glued the top, cut the soundholes & cone hole and glued the cone ring I add extra ply reinforcement under the top between the neck and the cone ring so it's even thicker for most of its surface.

I do the same for biscuit bridge guitars too. If I was doing a soundwell spider bridge I'd probably do the same although I don't normally build that way. One of my customers told me he added a soundwell after a year or so because he wanted a more "traditional" tone and he's pleased with the result, so that's good enough for me!

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Pete
http://www.petewoodmanguitars.com

Must have been a dumb question I asked. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the subject. Thought it pertained to the "thickness question". I'll pm my question next time I guess.wyodave39111.0247569444

(because of the bindings - won't make that mistake
again)

You too eh Pete? Boy that was a bad feeling when I
realized what I'd done. Ended up OK though, I just
did an extra 'rolled' edge on the top.