While I'm waiting for a comment on the carved top issue, I have another one:
I'm chambering out as much of the body as possible, but I have some concerns--
If you recall, my maple is slightly cupped. I've decided that the glue should hold it in place just fine, as the cupping is very subtle, and has already been partially corrected by dry-clamping. I still want to make sure I have a strong glue job going on. So,
*How much wood should I leave around the edges, as a gluing surface? Would 1" wide all the way around be enough?
*Would I be better off gluing it so that the edges hold the top in place, or flip it over so that the edges are flush but the middle holds it all down and flat? I mean, I'll be gluing both the edges AND the middle, but I just need to figure out which will be more efficient for keeping the maple flat and secure
*For the controls, I don't really need to 'back rout' the limba, do I? I could use the maple top for mounting the controls, and in that area just go all the way through the limba from front to bad, no?
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I'm not sure if I'm being very clear, so I'll just explain what I WOULD do if I didn't have this forum, and you can feel free to jump in and tell me if you have a strong opinion to the contrary, as well as your reasoning:
*Although I'd like to chamber out as much as possible, I'm not going to touch the middle at all, so there will be a solid hunk of wood going down the centre of the guitar, wide enough for the bridge and buckers. This will be partially for stability, but mainly because at least I know I won't be f---ing it up this way.
*I will leave 1.5" around the edge, to give enough support for the glue when I attach the top. I'd like to leave less, but I'm not certain that I'll have enough surface area, since my wood is slightly cupped and I want a strong glue join
*I will place the cupped maple (remembering it's only slightly cupped, barely detectable, so it's not like I'm trying to fix a full-on warp) so that it's touching at the sides, with the gap in the middle. When the wood is pressed down, I'll be counting on all that extra wood I've left in the middle to provide a strong gluing surface for keeping the maple in place.
*Where the control cavity is, I will rout completely through the limba part of the body. The maple top will provide a flat mounting surface for the controls.
Greg