Official Luthiers Forum!

Any info on how to make continuous backplates would be a big help.
Thanks in advance.

Daniel,
what's a back plate? I'm assuming you don't mean back do you?

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Hi Daniel,

My electric guitars are all "sandwiches" with a thick core and two guitar backs as skins. I cut the cavity cover from the inside of the back before it is attached to the core. I cut it with a dremel with a V-shaped cutter so as to get the smallest gap possible when viewed from the outside.

If you are building a solidbody, you can take a body blank thicker than what you need and remove a plate from the back, the plate being the thickness of your desired cavity cover. Then, by cutting the cavity cover from the plate at the exact position where it will be installed on the guitar, you will have a very similar grain pattern.

Note that I always laminate a cross-grain veneer from the inside of the cavity cover to prevent splitting.

Hope this helps!

Marc

Marc, Thanks alot, That makes since now i think about it. Could you explain alittle bit more about the last part "Note that I always laminate a cross-grain veneer from the inside of the cavity cover to prevent splitting". I really love the look of a continuous backplate, especially if you are using quality wood, its almost a must in my opinion.

Jim, A continues wood backplate is a cover for the electronic cavities, alot better then the cheap plastics.
This is an Alembic back plate from thier alpha omega guitar.

You can also do continuous grain covers on solid (not laminated) bodies.

Here's one on a quarter sawn sapele electric.



I thickness the body using a router on rails, and leave it unthicknessed over the cavity cover positions. Then I cut of the covers with a saw, and final thickness and shape them to get a perfect match.

Hi Daniel,

Since the backplate wood is only about 1/8'' thick, I always fear that it will split along the grain. I therefore remove about 0.030'' from the unseen face and laminate a maple veneer with the grain lines at 90 degrees from the backplate to strengthen it!

Here's a photo of one of mine in ovankhol.

I cut mine out with a scroll saw using the thinnest blade I can find. And if you're going the extra mile for continuous grain, go all the way and use rare earth magnets instead of screws to hold the cover down.

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The member formerly known as erikbojerik....

My feelings exactly Eric. Or, at least, use black ones like Setch. What a pity to put ugly chrome or nickel plated screws on those beautiful backplates.

That does add a very nice touch to the guitar. I'm going to have to look into this idea. It sure beats ugly plastic. I have always wanted to eliminate plastic use all together from my stuff. I have made wood pick guards and control plates but out of contrasting woods to the body. The method you are showing is much nicer.

FYI, I think I remember reading that Alembic uses a laser to cut their back plates...

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http://www.PeakeGuitars.com

Laser cut backplates??
Somebody's movin on up.
With 15k - 20k+ price tags, I guess they can afford it

The other option not stated here is to book match an electronics "cavity cover."

I cut my back plate in 3 sections. From my billet I'll cut the book matched drop top (back), say 3/8ths-ish, and I'll also cut a thinner 1/8+ plus plate. One that I can use for the cavity cover, Pick-up ring top laminate, back of the headplate and whatever else I'd like to match or inlay. Since it's book matched the grain difference is slight. I've also seen (and built) where the drop top (back) is the cavity cover. This allows for a thicker piece of wood that you can route the inside for switch clearance and leave bulk so it's not just a 1/8 (or less) piece of wood that can get punctured by someones rockin' studded belt in the midst of a "arm swinging 'rock their socks off' stage moment." I don't know about you cats, but that's how I play and sometimes the extra bulk is worth it.

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Todd Lunneborg
http://www.tlguitars.com/
http://www.fretboardjournal.com/