New Build - Carved Out One Piece

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I just finished this one a couple days ago. It's a one piece body with a back plate and most of the inside of the guitar has been carved out in various places.

I started with a solid piece of black limba and drew out the shape, keeping in mind that everything from the pickups up would be hollowed out. I also tried to maximize the amount that the dark streaks would be represented in the finished piece.

The top was mostly carved out with a hand plane, while the inside of the body was done with a variety of router bits, rasps, chisels and sandpaper. The contour on the tail end is on its own, but the contour on the bottom goes all the way through to the top where it meets the large cavity on the top of the guitar. And since the guitar is mostly hollowed out, I put a backer plate of walnut to partially enclose the body.

I wanted the guitar itself to be simple outside of the body shape and design. I like guitars that are simple to pick up and play and don't require any fussing. So I skip things like inlays, fancy electronics, etc.

I used Guitar Fetish Dream 90's in this guitar and they are, without a doubt, some of the sweetest sounding pickups I've ever put in a guitar. I tried a Seymour Duncan JB and Jazz set that just didn't quite do it on this one. I think the true humbuckers were too much for a hollowed out body that needs a little more subtlety and nuance. 

Anyway, here are the specs. I'm also new to Project Guitar, but have been building very sporadically for a number of years.

Body: carved one-piece black limba with black walnut back plate.

Neck: Sapele with Indian Rosewood fretboard, 25.5 inch scale. Stainless steel medium tall frets. Bone nut.

Hardware: All black, Grover locking tuners, string through hard tail bridge.Electronics: Guitar Fetish Dream 90's, one 3-way switch, one volume.

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I'll post some better quality pictures individually...

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[Professor Woozle]

Nice looking guitar, the body reminds me of the Ovation Breadwinner.
Is there a reason for the cut-out bits in the limba on the tail and bottom edge?

[henrim]

Nice one, and welcome to the board!

1 hour ago, Professor Woozle said:

the body reminds me of the Ovation Breadwinner.

Yes, there is some of that with a more modern touch. But anyways, I always kinda liked Breadwinner, but it just wasn’t ever a great fit with the stuff I played. They are probably too expensive nowadays even if I wanted to get one.

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1 hour ago, Professor Woozle said:

Nice looking guitar, the body reminds me of the Ovation Breadwinner.
Is there a reason for the cut-out bits in the limba on the tail and bottom edge?

I wanted to try and remove as much weight as possible, and I wanted to have some extra contours to give it a sculpted look. The cut out bit on the bottom edge actually runs all the way through the body between the pickups to the cavity on the top of the body. I'll snap a picture or two and see if I can show that a little better.

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Here are  few more pictures that will hopefully show the contours a little better. For being such a distinct feature on the guitar, they are rather difficult to capture on camera. It's really hard to get a sense of how big the top cavity is from a picture. But you can see looking through the bottom that you can see all the way through the guitar itself. And the last picture shows a little better angle of the top contour.

[Bizman62]

The more pictures you post the more I seem to like that guitar!

The shape is not something I'd immediately buy or build but I might very well enjoy playing it. And the build quality is a pleasure to eyes.

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The shape isn't something I'm into either  but it worked with how I wanted to carve out the insides. The more I play it, the more I like it, too! Although I must admit  it is the most buttery smooth playing guitar I've ever had my hands on.

The neck shape is an asymmetrical shape that is kind of c shaped on the bass side and more v shaped on the treble side. Its not obvious until you feel it.

[LFlab]

Looks great! 

Very nice grain on that wood, Especially striking when you posted the profile pictures, and the picture looking down on the top horn.

Any progress pictures of the carving? Did you go the forstner drill and router route, or by  hand?

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I looked back through my pictures and actually found a couple of in-progress shots. I don't tend to take many so I'm surprised I even have these. Seeing the inside of the top cavity and how much that needed to be drilled, carved and sanded gives me the jibbly ibblies.