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Lid thickness

Posted by Dale Torbett on March 14, 2013 at 3:04pm in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

I have a really nice Drew Estate Undercrown box for my next build. The lid is 7/16" thick which is considerably thicker than the usual box lid. Will this additional thickness adversely affect the sound?

I have thought about routing out the bottom of the lid, coming in about 1/4" on all sides to bring down the thickness to approx 1/4".

Any thoughts or ideas are much appreciated.

Thanks

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Replies

  • Bad Wolf March 15, 2013 at 11:22am

    my first CBG was with an undercrown box and i didnt thin the lid at all. it has a very deep sound compared to my other guitars and its also quite loud. im pretty sure the wood is spanish cedar

  • Huntz Meyer March 15, 2013 at 5:50am

    I thin them to 1/8-3/16.

    http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/wagner-safetplaner-thanks

    Huntz

  • BrianQ. March 14, 2013 at 3:32pm

    Nice! it's gonna be on da warm/bassy side, which is not a bad thing. no matter how thick your lid is it's still going to resonate the vibrations that your bridge is going to produce,it just won't be as bright as a standard box.try it, U might like it?

    • Dale Torbett > BrianQ. March 14, 2013 at 4:37pm

      Thanks Brian I actually have 2 of those boxes so I think I'll probably make one with the lid routed out and one I'll leave thick and see what happens.

      Thanks 

  • Mark Lindsay March 14, 2013 at 3:32pm

    I had to look up the box online, and it is a nice one. That lid is pretty thick, alright. Do you happen to know what species of wood it is? No matter what kind it is, it should be thinned down if you want acoustic volume out of it. If you plan on using a piezo bridge or magnetic pickups and playing it primarily plugged into an amp, then thinning down the lid isn't really required as acoustic volume probably won't really be all that important to you.

     If acoustic volume is important to you and you want to thin down the lid, you have a few options. You can rout the underside of the lid as you described, and that will work just fine. If you have access to a table saw with a dado blade set up, you could also use that to thin down the underside of the lid lengthwise, then brace the underside of the lid at the short ends. No matter which method you use to remove material from the underside of the lid, I'd leave the lid as is for about 1/2" along the front and rear edges rather than the 1/4" you describe. That will let the lid close down against the top of the box, like it does now, along the front and back edges. It's also where the hinges attach to the back of the lid, and there needs to be a little more beef along that edge. Those hinges need something to bite into.

    Thinning it down to 1/4" may or may not be enough. A lid thickness of anywhere from 1/8" - 3/16" is usually preferable, but not always practical. If thinning it down that much isn't practical for you, then 1/4" will work. It just won't be as loud acoustically as it could be. This is where the species of wood comes in. Some woods will resonate beautifully at 1/4" of thickness, while others just won't. If you build your guitar in such a way that you can remove the lid after it's built, you can try the 1/4" lid thickness and see if it gives you the volume and tone you're looking for, then remove it and take a little more off to suit you. If you build it to where removing the lid would be impractical or impossible, and acoustic volume is important to you, I'd go for the 1/8" - 3/16" lid thickness from the get go.

    No matter what solution you ultimately settle on, good luck to you, and remember that we love pics!

    • Dale Torbett > Mark Lindsay March 14, 2013 at 4:30pm

      Thanks Rusty Pup that's great feedback to consider. I'm not really sure of the species of the wood, but overall the box is well made and fairly substantial especially after it's all glued together. I'll be using a piezo pickup so I can play through an amp, but I also really like having a nice acoustic tone and volume as well. With that in mind I will definitely be routing out the top to bring the thickness down.

      Thanks

  • Craig Mayhem March 14, 2013 at 3:10pm

    Some people use the bottom of those Undercrown boxes with success. I like the Undercrown Gordito boxes and the lid IS thick but I cut a big rectangle hole in it and cover it with a license plate.

    Routing the middle of the lid would eliminate having to trim the side edges if you were to plane it down.

    I've also seen builds (on this site) that have used the thick lids and they were successful builds. But if you have the tools and the skill I say go for it.

    • Dale Torbett > Craig Mayhem March 14, 2013 at 4:16pm

      Thanks Craig for the info.

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