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Drop tops?
- Thread starter EAdanikDG
- Start date
Isn't a drop top like a bass with both a seperate glued on top and a forearm contour, whereby the top wood is bent so as to follow the curve to said contour?
Not sure, just an educated guess.
Not sure, just an educated guess.
I believe that a drop top is a top that is too thin to be used for a carved top. Some shops sell 3/8" drop tops for strat style flat faced guitars and 5/8" tops for Les Pauls and other carved top guitars.
Isnt a drop top a full faced top on a neckthrough? Ive called it that in the past... you just need to route out the heel of the neck and glue the top on. In my opinion its the hardest method of building a bass
- Dec 20, 2004
- 4,267
- 2,481
- Disclosures
- Player-Builder-Founder: Honey Badger Pickups & Regenerate Guitar Works
as noted above, a drop-top is a laminate top that 'drops down' on the forearm contour. installation of this top requires that the underlying body be machined with a uniform ruled surface (contoured in only one direction) so that the wood can be bent onto the body core during glue-up ... you only need to be off a few thousandths of an inch for the glue line to get real ugly. you can clearly see that the figured maple top on this body drops down on the forearm contour
the other method for constructing a figured top is to glue-up all the laminates in a planer (flat) configuration. a forearm contour cut from this configuration will reveal the body core wood as the contour cuts thru the top laminate and into the body. you can clearly see that in this body
of these two options, building a drop-top so that the glue line disappears is definitely the most challenging to build. either method is purely a cosmetic choice, so choose the one you like and run with it.
all the best,
R
the other method for constructing a figured top is to glue-up all the laminates in a planer (flat) configuration. a forearm contour cut from this configuration will reveal the body core wood as the contour cuts thru the top laminate and into the body. you can clearly see that in this body
of these two options, building a drop-top so that the glue line disappears is definitely the most challenging to build. either method is purely a cosmetic choice, so choose the one you like and run with it.
all the best,
R
I was referring to the tops sold by wood suppliers. On the musical instruments page they only have solid bodies and drop tops. I assumed they were just tops to be used as a veneer due to their thickness, but was confused with the "drop" labelling. So what's with the "drop" name? (Sorry, I should've explained better to begin with.)
Like you said, the ones labeled "drop top" are around .250" thick, suitable for a front facing on a mostly-flat top guitar, whether it gets the drop-top treatment or not. The next size thicker often gets termed "les paul" because it's thick enough for a bit of carving, and the really thick ones get called something like "full carve."
