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Solid wood.box, How thick should the top be for best sound?

So I lucked into a reallllllly cool looking solid wood box that I believe is all mahogany, it’s a Camacho Connecticut 6X60 20 count box, with a very cool looking black face with the scorpion logo. It’s just crying for a Humbucker and walnut fretboard. The only issue is the top of the box is thick, on the order of 3/8 solid mahog under that beautiful wrapper. The sides and bottom are mahog as well. The bottom is 1/8, and the sides about 3/8 also. My thinking is use the router to chew away the underside of the lid, leaving it full thickness at the periphery, where it closes onto the box, but thinning out the soundboard so it’ll play in acoustic mode also. Any thoughts on the ideal thickness I should make the top? I can preserve the outward appearance by removing the lid from the hinges and routings tge underside, but as it is, the top is deader than a picnic table.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff 'Bones' Reilly on October 8, 2018 at 2:36pm

I've got 2 the same I'm going to flip them round build with the 1/8 bottom being now the top job sorted to keep it simple , there's no rules in this game . Have fun .

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Permalink Reply by Bruce Young on October 8, 2018 at 2:43pm

I thought of that, but that black lid with the scorpion in the middle would be so cool looking, lol.

I just don’t want to destroy the darn thing, and wonder if routing it out but leaving the edge thick will let the top ring?

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on October 8, 2018 at 6:29pm

The way these boxes are stored, then released from captivity , alot of them are dried out ,, and a router may be a bit violent for them . one lil snag and the top may get torn apart .

I'd just pop the humbucker in it and call it an" electric" ,...... and if it still sounds loud enough as an acoustic , that's a bonus .

When weighing looks and multi function , sometimes ya cant get the best of both worlds .

but call it electric , and its perfect ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Jeff 'Bones' Reilly on October 8, 2018 at 7:19pm

Yep that's a good point Pick after my last outing with a router was a train wreck I should of waited till had my carpal tunnel done ... :-(

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on October 8, 2018 at 9:55pm

Hi, I have mentioned this before, thickness is not a real good guide to producing a top, thats if you are looking for a louder more tonefull guitar.

When I'm prepping a top and back for that matter, I look for flexibility. To this end many a luthier will graduate the thickness to be thinner around the outside edge. Of course stiffer tops can be thinned more than flimsy overflxible top. Then braces added to control movement and add stability.

Thats in the guitar world, but we are dealing with box's, but I use the same theories in my build of a CBG.

When I want the best I can get from both worlds, I build the best acoustic sounding top, but mount the magnetic pickup so it goes through the top without touching it.

Taff

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Permalink Reply by Bruce Young on October 9, 2018 at 12:15am

All good thoughts. When I say router, that’s the short version of a Dremel with a router base using a 1/8” four flute end mill, so it’s not too likely to shake the world apart. Point taken that flexible is a good thing. I think I’m gonna give it a go and work toward around 1/8 inch with the border retained at full thickness. Worst case scenario it ends up a dedicated electric. Thanks folks.

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Permalink Reply by Bruce Young on October 9, 2018 at 11:52am

Well, it turns out that big 3/8 inch thick lid isn’t wood after all. So I routed away about half the thickness, down to 3/16 instead of 1/8, a little leary of going too thin with the cardboard. I used the black border inside the lid as a handy guide to , leave a full rim where the lid contacts the box at the original thickness. Did I mention it’s not wood, but that dense cardboard like a paper covered cigar box, only massively thick? That stuff produces the absolutely nastiest dust imaginable when routed with a four flute endmill at about 2/3 of full speed with a Dremel in a router base, but I got it done, and simply holding the lid on the box and giving it a “knock test”, it sounds a helluva lot better than it did.

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on October 9, 2018 at 1:50pm

Hi, I think that's what is called MDF here, man made fibre. Yep it's killer stuff, as in its not good for you. It will give out a fair sound though.

Taff

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on October 9, 2018 at 1:51pm

Hi, I think that's what is called MDF here, man made fibre. Yep it's killer stuff, as in its not good for you. It will give out a fair sound though.
Taff

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Permalink Reply by Korrigan on October 10, 2018 at 12:20pm

Since I play through an amp most of the time (because I like loud) and since when I want to play quietly (like when I'm in a hotel room) I want to play very quietly... I've come to the conclusion that, for me, thickness doesn't matter. Makes my life a lot easier. :D

But kudos to you guys that go for and achieve good acoustic tone and volume.

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Permalink Reply by Bruce Young on October 10, 2018 at 12:37pm

I hear you. I’m in an apartment with some very nice neighbors downstairs that go to bed early and get up early, so volume is an issue. But during the day nobody else in the building but me. So on the electric front, I’m about to do a pair of guitars, one fretted, one not, using the three string DeltaBuckers. Eventually I’ll probably go for a 10w tube amp. I told my son, if I only wanted to play electric, I’d skip the box entirely and use a stubby laminated canoe paddle as the whole darn thing. But I do enjoy acoustic guitar, so I’m trying to make that happen.