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I've started underway with a thinline telecaster build using ash with a 1/4" maple top. I'm planning on using a Bigsby B5 tremelo (which I haven't picked up yet), and I'm wondering if I'll need to keep the ash under the tremelo screws, or if the 1/4" of maple would be enough? If not, I'd probably be keeping a 1/2" spine along the centerline of the guitar. This piece of ash is a bit on the heavy side, so I'm trying to shave a couple ounces where I can.

Cheers,
-Ronnie

there can be an awful lot of leverage applied to a tremelo arm...i wouldn't trust 1/4" wood of any kind to act as an anchor, at least not for the long haul...
mind you this opinion is not based on any empirical data, just spidey sense.

Thanks, That was my feeling as well, but I figured if I could get away with it... I suppose a little extra weight in the tail isn't going to be a deal breaker anyway!

Why not go with a B3 instead?

That's a very good question! To be honest, I hadn't really looked at it before. I've seen a few teles with the B5 and was hyper-focused on that one.

I was hoping to use the traditional telecaster style bridge plate, and I'm not sure that the B3 will fit. It's still early enough in my build though that I might just have to investigate this a little bit.

You could even do a B16, which was pretty much designed around a Tele.

I like it! I'm reading here that you may need to shim the neck to make it work... I'm wondering now if I should just route the neck pocket a bit on the shallow side or if I should put a slight angle on the pocket?

Are you building the neck yourself or buying? Either way, draw it out full size and see if you need a neck angle. If you do, build it into the heel of the neck. If buying the neck, simply make a full size tapered shim and glue it to the bottom of the heel.

I'm building the body and neck from scratch. It never would have occurred to me to build it into the heel of the neck... I like that idea far more than routing the neck cavity on an angle! I'll be sure to post pics when it's done!

I started doing that because one of my models has contoured neck/body joint for better high fret access. The angled neck pocket, combined with the angle from the contour, make it look like I cut the neck pocket crooked. DOH! It all looks fine with the angled heel, of course.

If you leave the area under the bridge solid I don't see any reason to worry.