Carving a 1/4" maple top

[DJLockjaw]

So I'm planning a new build, and have the wood in hand. It was meant to be a carved top, but I goofed and ordered a 1/4" top, so there's not much room for carving. It looks like I'd need to drop a pretty penny to get nice figured wood thick enough to carve, so I'm coming to you guys for help. Which of the following would you do, if you were a big dummo like me?

1. Put the cap on, and do a very shallow carve. Disguise the shallowness of the carve by binding into the body core.
2. Do the aggressive carve I was planning, and have a ring of mahogany around the maple cap. This could look good if I can keep the dye out of the mahogany, similar to some of Kiesel's stuff (https://www.kieselguitars.com/series/guitar/osiris) where the contours have a natural look.
3. Order a piece of contrasting wood, maybe something like purpleheart or walnut, and sandwich that between the body and the cap, and carve that. I'm doing a sunburst finish, so if I got pretty dark, I wouldn't need to worry as much about the dye.

What are your thoughts all?

 

[fenderchamp]

Make it a 1 piece mahogany body or a mahogany top and carve that. I think Mahogany tops are tough personally and I get a bit tired of flame maple PRS looking things.

Get a piece of plain maple and do a plain-top or a gold top or a silver top or whatever you like.

or 3. or even 2 if you like that look.

Do 1 and bind it, 1/4'' doesn't really leave any room for a carve though, you could make it a flat-top with a bound top or a faux natural wood binding.

 

[1bad914]

Make a thinline style. I played one of my original thinline builds this past week. I had given it to my son. I then picked up a solid body I had also given him. I could not believe how heavy the solid body was. Build a thinline, cap it with the maple and bind it. Maybe a double bind.

 

[Freeman Keller]

I'll give you two options. A thinline style like Marty just mention will still be a flat topped guitar. You can bind (normal binding is 1/4 tall so it will sit right on the seam or not bind and do a faux binding. Chamber it if you want (I sure would), leave the f-hole off if you want (I would). Here is a chambered tele style mahogany body with a flamed maple top, rosewood binding





The other posibility is a very mild carve. This is a les paul style guitar, chambered mahogany body withe a flamed spanish cedar top and rosewood binding. Normally a LP top is about 5/8 thick, that allows a 3/8 carve and 1/4 binding.


As I recall my top was 3/8, I routed the binding channel almost all the way down to the body seam


The second step in the binding channel will be the recurve, I will have almost the full 1/4 for the top carve but not quite.



Here it is finished. Not as big a carve as a lester but enough that it doesn't look like a flat top.



I will add that doing the carved top is considerably more difficult but it makes an elegant guitar and I would sure conside that option.

 

[erix]

I second the thinline idea. That's about all I build nowadays. Spend your carving time hogging out the body, much less finesse is required!