Thinline/chambered build advice

[jmurph]

I'm planning on starting a Mustang/Duo Sonic build soon and was thinking of making it a thinline (no f-hole) or chambered body as the block of wood is fairly heavy and not that much bigger than the body will be. Eerything will be mounted to the pickguard (as usual) and there will be a battery compartment for a Ghost system on the back.

My question is: Should I carve it out from the top or the back? Are there pros or cons to either?

If I carve from the back, the cap will remain whole except for the small cut where the battery compartment goes. This seems like the simplest & most logical path.

Thanks in advance!

[kdanie]

I've built several thinlines including a 'stang. I always chamber it from the front though I don't really think it matters much. Other than more thought going into planning the routing sequence. If you go in from the front you can also do a rear contour if you plan it and are careful.

Here's a Mustang:



A JM routed for a rear contour:



JM back side:

jpg images

Finished Mustang:



Finished JM;



ken

[jmurph]

I've built several thinlines including a 'stang. I always chamber it from the front though I don't really think it matters much. Other than more thought going into planning the routing sequence. If you go in from the front you can also do a rear contour if you plan it and are careful.

A JM routed for a rear contour:



JM back side:

jpg images

Thank you so much for the input, Ken. Your work is fantastic! I'm glad you mentioned the tummy cut because even though I won't be doing one on this guitar, my next project will be a chambered Jazzmaster. Do you do a build thread for that Jazzmaster? I looked for one but couldn't find it (perhaps I overlooked it). Any advice on planning/cutting the tummy cut on a thinline?

jas

[kdanie]

I don't remember If I did a thread on that body or not, it was maybe 6-7 years ago so I'm sure any pics would be gone by now. It was an alder body with an alder top. I built the body for member apreswho who finished the guitar and used it as his main gig guitar for a couple years. He described it as "the most articulate JM he had ever played".

The process is basically the same as a normal thinline but the area inside the rear contour is cut in several steps down then rasped & sanded smooth. The trick is to NOT cut through when doing the outside of the rear contour.

That mustang has become my favorite guitar, it's got a pair of Rose American Beauty pickups (staggered on the backside so mustang covers fit) and being a thinline it just sings. I did it with alder body & top like the JM so now I have some idea of what he was saying about "articulate".

ken

[ClintCC]

Great work. Stepping down the inner part of the tummy cut looked tricky

[Deed_Poll]

Excellent advice from Ken as usual!

If you're doing a solid finish - especially with no f-hole - a belly and forearm cut thinline body could be achieved by hand doing Ken's stepped technique on the inside of the belly contour and foregoing the cavity in the arm contour area.

Here's a belly cut I did on the CNC, inside after end mill main cavity:



After ball end contour cut:



And after machining the back contour, neck bolt holes and ferrule pockets



the front view after gluing the ply top. 1/4", machined down to 1/8" around the f-hole, f-hole cut then glued up to the back (square) before routing the pickups, neck pocket, bridge holes etc then finally the outline of the whole guitar.

[74vibrolux]

Wow! Those look amazing.

Curious how much of a difference the chambering and f hole make in these. I love a good hollowbody, but wondering if there's enough air moving around in the body of a jazzmaster to get that feel that a 335 or 330 has.

[kdanie]

It would be very hard to determine exactly what difference it would make without doing two guitars as close to the same as possible-wood/pickups/wiring/paint (or none would be best)/neck/strings/bridge/tuners/ even neck screws.

I have two 'stangs, both alder, the chambered one above and a solid one (below) but it has a different neck, paint, tuners, bridge/trem and lipstick pickups. They sound quite a bit different. I prefer the chambered version. It also sounds MUCH better unplugged, I play a lot that way so nobody can hear me...



ken