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Hi! I'm working on my second scratch build. The first was built out of an old cutting board and a piece of a chestnut table for the neck. The cutting board was 1.5" thick, and the guitar turned out good for a first. However, it was a facetted, or contoured top, not a true carve.

As i said, i'm working on my second scratch build. i'm using an old maple cutting board(again ) that is also 1.5" thick( My finances are limited, so i use whatever wood is available to me at the time. Hence the cutting boards). I'm actually doing a true carve top on this one. I'm pleased with the top carve, and the other work on the body. the carve was shallow(4/16"), and turned out well, but now i'm looking at the guitar and seeing that because of the carve the sides of the body look quite thin to me. Here are some pics.

The sides of the body, not counting the carve, range from 1" thick at the headstock end of the body to 1 and 3/16" at the heel.

Note: There is a piece of 1/4" thick poplar standing in for the fretboard.

The instrument in reality is only 1/4" thinner than a standard 1.75" guitar, but I'm unsure how I feel about the look of it. Can i get some opinions?

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I just measured my last 2 lap builds, and one is 1 3/8", the other 1 1/2".
I actually think your thin looking sides are cool looking!
So there.
Nice shape too!

Thanks, Alan.The shape is the same basic one as my first, but the carve top and neck joint make it look completely different. I think this will be my standard shape, though I may extend the neck out about an inch farther on the next one.
Here are some pics of my first for comparison.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I believe Ibanez has really this sides to their guitars, I think yours looks good!

The important is that the ''center block'' that retains bridge, pups and neck joint is strong enough to support the string tension. And that thickness depend on the wood you're working with, and even the grain of your specific piece. You need logic and a minimum of knowledge about mechanical strenghs of wood. After that, you can do what you want. Here's a nice example.

Jens Ritter's Princess Isabella baritone guitar. Hell thin.

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

Thanks to all who replied. This is just the advice i needed. I wil carry on with this one.
I have another piece of soft maple that's fully 2" thick that I could use for this project, but I was hoping instead to build a P bass out of that one. Looks like that's still in the works.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Hey, Mike, nice finished up geetar!
Whooeee!
What's the headstock look like?
A

I like the simple electrics too!

Thanks, Alan! Headstock is the one in my avatar. The headstock on the one I'm working on now will be similar, except that I've made it shorter, and it won't be as assymetrical( built the neck out of leftovers from the first one. the blank wasn't long enough).

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.