How much wood can safely be removed?

[Smith357]

I am planning a Telecaster project and had a question for the Luthiers.

I am planning to ad a forearm contour and tummy cut to my Squire VM 72 Deluxe, was thinking while I am at it I could try to rout away as much wood as possible out from under that honking big pickguard. It has two levels of routing done at the factory, deep routs for the controls and pickup screws, with a raised section spanning neck to bridge.

How much wood should I leave for support?

Not that it really needs any of that. The only unmodified part left is the body, and I can't leave well enough alone.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I am planning a Telecaster project and had a question for the Luthiers.

I am planning to ad a forearm contour and tummy cut to my Squire VM 72 Deluxe, was thinking while I am at it I could try to rout away as much wood as possible out from under that honking big pickguard. It has two levels of routing done at the factory, deep routs for the controls and pickup screws, with a raised section spanning neck to bridge.

How much wood should I leave for support?

Not that it really needs any of that. The only unmodified part left is the body, and I can't leave well enough alone.

For structural strength, you need to leave two long parallel ribs, one on each side of the pickups, from the neck pocket back to the bridge. Those ribs should be the full thickness of the body by maybe 3/8" wide. Everything else under the pickguard can be routed away as you please. It's better to do it as several smaller chambers with ribs between them, rather than one or two large ones.

 

[Smith357]

For structural strength, you need to leave two long parallel ribs, one on each side of the pickups, from the neck pocket back to the bridge. Those ribs should be the full thickness of the body by maybe 3/8" wide. Everything else under the pickguard can be routed away as you please. It's better to do it as several smaller chambers with ribs between them, rather than one or two large ones.

Very good, I sort of figured I needed some sort of support, thanks for the helpful info.