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I have some pretty wood that I think would make a great Les Paul-style top, but it's not 5/8" thick. What's the minimum thickness for a carved top? 1/2"?

Depends on how deep your top carve is. I've toyed with the idea of doing a 3/16" deep top carve on a 1/4" piece of wood. Haven't done it yet. I think it might be pushing my luck, but I bet it would work if I was careful.
However, for a Les Paul, I think 1/2" would work just fine.

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Mike

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

Are they 5/8th's thick?
Doesn't matter. It can be as thin as 1/4th inch (or thinner depending on your carve profile), make up the extra thickness with the body. Carve the top down to 1/32 at the edges and bind it. No one will ever know or care.
I usually do mine 1/2 inch thick.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

The first time I ever tried carving a top I tried to do it with a 1/4" thick piece of figured cherry. My advice: dont do that. Pretty much ruined a nice piece of cherry, if you are starting with anything much less than a 1/2 I wouldnt carve it, to me it just kinda looks odd. also the thinner your carve is the harder it will be to get it nice and even, a thicker carve is just a little bit more forgiving. If it is thinner than 3/8 i say you are better off making a flat top.

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~shad peters

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