# Thinnest body possible?



## sojorel (May 5, 2012)

What is the thinnest you could make a body and still have it structurally sound?

Parker seem pretty thin. Ibanez S series are thin at the edges, but still pretty chunky in the middle to accomodate the trem system. Blackmachine look thin, but hard to tell from photos.

Basically looking for info on thin bodied guitars and any problems with thin bodied construction.


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## HighPotency (May 5, 2012)

Well the bare minimum would probably be thick enough to accommodate either the pickups or the tremolo system, whatever needs the most.

Also check out BJR slant tops:


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## Levi79 (May 5, 2012)

I believe those BRJs are just like S's. They look very very thin, but in the middle really aren't that thin. Blackmachines however I believe are something like 34mm thick. The chamfering makes it look even thinner. In theory, you can make a guitar as thin as you want, but it needs to be thick enough to accommodate electronics, pickups and hardware.


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## Hollowway (May 5, 2012)

Yeah, a half inch piece of hardwood is structurally sound, but realistically it would be hard to mount pickups or electronics to. But I suppose if you wanted you could come up with a way to do it, and just have a neck thru design taper down so the neck (which is pretty limited in how thick you can get) could be fatter. You looking to do a build with an ultra thin body?


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## Alberto7 (May 5, 2012)

What has been said I think is the most logical explanation; as thin as electronics permit it to be.

With that said, this guitar has to be one of my favorite thin designs I've ever seen: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/se...-slim-custom-56k-just-prepare-yourselves.html

So ridiculous.


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## sojorel (May 5, 2012)

Yeah, I love my parker and S series because of the thinness, so just got me wondering how far you could take it. I got the Melvyn Hiscock book and was thinking about making a thinline strat. Also chambering for the ultra-lightness.

Not really going to make it like paper thin or anything, but just noticed that many have a pretty similar thickness and you don't often see really thin guitars.

Probably just daydreams at this point. 

The chamfering on BM is a good point, I suppose you could make a similar argument about the S series as it gives an impression of thinness while still being a solid hunk of wood.


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## flo (May 5, 2012)

...and the body needs to be heavy enough to counterbalance the neck (or the neck light enough), always keep that in mind.


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## sojorel (May 5, 2012)

Alberto7 said:


> What has been said I think is the most logical explanation; as thin as electronics permit it to be.
> 
> With that said, this guitar has to be one of my favorite thin designs I've ever seen: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/se...-slim-custom-56k-just-prepare-yourselves.html
> 
> So ridiculous.



That's still 1.25" thick at the middle. Lose some weight, fatty!

Cool guitar though, I hadn't seen it. Thanks for the link. 

On another point, I guess if you went with a TOM bridge, that would save on the pickup depth a little too, assuming an angled neck pocket.


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## flo (May 5, 2012)

there are _very_ thin pickups out there:
Lace Music Products | Since 1979 - Lace Sensor electric guitar pickups, Alumitone, bass pickups, California Acoustic pickups - A pickup for any style of music.


or think of a piezo bridge


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## Zado (May 5, 2012)

BBZ guitars are pretty thin


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## darren (May 5, 2012)

It can be as thin as the neck, as long as you can accommodate your bridge, pickups and electronics.


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## MF_Kitten (May 6, 2012)

There is a point where the body feels too thin to be comfortable, to be honest. Unless you cleverly shape it so that it sits properly against your body, and your forearm doesn't touch it in an uncomfortable way. Which is hard to do.


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## leonardo7 (May 6, 2012)

Thinnest I have seen is Blackmachine. Second is KxK. Both those are thinner than Ibanez S. Then Mayones are thinner than Jackson, ESP, Ibanez RG or Schecter. But thinnest is Blackmachine then KxK.


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## Danukenator (May 6, 2012)

Speaking in terms of "possible" you could in theory make a stupid thin body where the overall body is about a centimeter thick but made up of something like carbon fiber. Then make spots a little thicker to accommodation the hardware. Possible but I doubt comfortable.


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## BlackMastodon (May 6, 2012)

^ With such an idea the controls would be a nightmare to do as well I would think.


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## eddiewarlock (May 6, 2012)

why would you want a guitar to be thin?? To have a thin sound???


There's a reason why a Les Paul is a solid chunk of wood...


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## Stealthdjentstic (May 6, 2012)

^ thin =/ thin sound


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## BIG ND SWEATY (May 6, 2012)

^ just because its thin doesnt mean its going to have a thin sound, a les pauls not even a good comparison for this.


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## Michael T (May 6, 2012)

*Bernie Rico Jr. Jekyll 727S "slim" custom owned by *jsousa
Body 1.25" contour to .5"


 This is NOT my guitar (I wish she was )​
I'm a Ibanez Saber whore, then i saw this guitar and fell in love, it's what made me order my BRJ Jekyll slant top. 
My slant top will not be as thin as this one because i do believe the owner had Bern do a custom thickness on it. I would gladly trade a few of my beauties for this slim honey.


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## Purelojik (May 6, 2012)

i havent heard a difference in solid body thin guitars compared to thick solid bodies. i think its just a cosmetic and/or psychosomatic thing. i built a thin guitar and just built a pretty thick one and sound wise its similar. i prefer the thicker one which actually surprised me.


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## Michael T (May 6, 2012)

I may be speaking out my ass here but i don't think thickness affects tone too much as long as it is compensated by the wood chosen for the body.


My Ibby Sabers sound just as huge as a Les Paul.

On the other hand a have a Custom Mahogany RG (which weighs way more than a LP) & it is a tone monster. A few members on here have played her and can verify this. There is no way you could preform with it tho unless you wanted to be in a back brace.


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## Hollowway (May 6, 2012)

I have no studies on hand to back this up, but my personal sense is that not only does the thickness of the body not make much difference, the wood doesn't either. It matters a lot for acoustic guitars, but solidbody electrics have so many rules and exceptions to the rules that when you put everything together it's all contradictory information. I'd love a blind "Pepsi Challenge" type study where people listened to a guitar and decided about the sound.


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## 0 Xero 0 (May 8, 2012)

^ I agree with you to a point. The physical properties of a wood like hardness and density are some of the biggest contributing factors to tone. If you think about it, these properties, in combination with the way the strings interact with the type of bridge and nut affect tone to some degree. The way the body resonates and transmits vibrations (which are affected by density, hardness, and construction methods) affect the strings, which in turn affects the signal sent through the pickups and the amp system. There is definitely a mojo/placebo factor most guitarists associate with a given wood or combination of woods though.


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## bob123 (May 8, 2012)

Hollowway said:


> I have no studies on hand to back this up, but my personal sense is that not only does the thickness of the body not make much difference, the wood doesn't either. It matters a lot for acoustic guitars, but solidbody electrics have so many rules and exceptions to the rules that when you put everything together it's all contradictory information. I'd love a blind "Pepsi Challenge" type study where people listened to a guitar and decided about the sound.




I have to disagree with this, a LOT. 

I had a wolfgang and axis super sport. Plugged in they both sound pretty similar through a distortion channel, but unplugged, they werent even CLOSE to being the same.

You can even hear it through my shitty ass webcam mic, there is 100% a difference between these two guitars. 

Compare at 3:30 and 8:10


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## Danukenator (May 8, 2012)

I personally believe that the wood of a guitar makes very little difference in the overall tone. Factoring in all the wiring in a guitar body, the pickups, the strings, your cables, the amp, etc. The overall sound of the wood is not going to be that different. I tend to think the reason Strats and Les Pauls sound so different is more due to the difference in pickups and scale length than the actual wood.


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## Swyse (May 9, 2012)

bob123 said:


> I have to disagree with this, a LOT.
> 
> I had a wolfgang and axis super sport. Plugged in they both sound pretty similar through a distortion channel, but unplugged, they werent even CLOSE to being the same.
> 
> ...



Pretty sure people are referring to after plugged in. If you're having amp problems I feel bad for you son, I got 99 problems, but my amp ain't one.


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## jimcorliss (May 26, 2022)

I’ve a nice piece of dry walnut that’s 3/4” this was my question too . How do I use it for a guitar body. It should hold screws well . Even probably be threaded . I can imagine a slot cut completely throug for the neck and then possibly laminate and glue in a contoured angled block of the same wood to build up something to bolt to . There may be other ways. For the pots I’m thinking router from the back so the front stay wood and don’t have a pickgaurd but a wooded recessed cover plate on the back. Must have been done before and love to see photos . Not interested in tremolo. Tele style pickups maybe.


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## Alberto7 (May 26, 2022)

Damn, even BRJ was liked back then, that's how big a necrobump this is.


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