Guitar Bodies
USA Custom Guitars guitar bodies are made from the finest hand selected tonewoods with attention paid to every detail. Vintage and modern shapes, hollow body, and carved top designs are available to suit all players’ needs and preferences. Our standard bodies are made of 2 pieces of premium tone tapped wood, meticulously joined with special attention paid to grain matching. Premium one piece and lightweight bodies can also be supplied.
Body Options
Lam Top Bodies
Almost any guitar or bass body style can be had as a LamTop.
Tops with a thickness of 1/8″ can be bent over a forearm contour using a vacuum suction system. When choosing a 1/4″ top, a forearm contour is not available.
1/8″ LamTop S bodies have a slightly less pronounced forearm contour than non-LamTops.
We grade our 2 piece bookmatched Flame and Quilted Maple tops as either ‘Choice’ (nice, but not mind-blowing) or ‘Prime’ (the killer stuff!).
While the varieties of Maple are most popular for LamTops, from time to time other interesting woods find their way into the shop. Please contact us for alternate top pricing and availability.
Neck Pocket Routing
Guitar bodies: Neck pockets on all guitar bodies are milled to standard dimensions (2.19″ ~= 2-3/16″ wide).
On S or T style bodies, we offer two additional neck pocket options:
- 2-1/4″ wide pocket to fit standard 25-1/2″ scale Sharv-Hell necks (or spec out a neck from us with the slightly wider heel)
Either square or rounded pockets are interchangeable on any body style at no additional cost.
Control Cavity Routing
The standard rear routed control cavity is sized so that there is enough room to fit an assortment of pots and switches without removing too much wood. All rear rout bodies include a black plastic control plate cover. We also offer a rout for a battery box, if you need to have easy access to swap out a battery. Rear rout bodies cost an additional $20.
We have 4 different rear rout cavity styles:
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Bridge and Pickup Routs
Guitar Bridges
Non-Trem Bridges
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Tremolo Bridges
Please note: Different mounting hole positions are used for the B-5 and B-50 Bigsby vibratos. Be sure you know which one you’ve got before ordering. |
Guitar Pickups
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Don’t forget we also offer the universal top rout on S bodies and the swimming pool rout on T bodies for greater pickup configuration choices.
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Body Contours and Edge Radius Options
Certain body shapes have a classic design to which we have all become accustomed. S bodies are rounded on the edges and have super comfortable rib and forearm contours. T bodies are sharp and dig into your arm and ribs (but it’s a good pain!). We know that not every player likes to stick to these traditional designs, so we offer contours and custom edge radii on most of our body styles.
On bodies that do not normally have forearm contour or rib cut, we can add them for NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE!
Contoured heel is optional for easier access to the higher frets. Requires shortened neck mounting screws to keep them from exiting through the face of the fingerboard. Don’t laugh. We’ve seen it happen. It ain’t pretty! Contoured heel upcharge is $25
Binding
Binding on a flat surface – $75 per side
Binding on a carved top – $95 per side
Drop top binding = binding on a forearm contour. A labor intensive process will cost an additional $125
All binding on bodies is approximately .080″ thickness. Available in Ivoroid, Cream, Black, or White plastic.
Edge Radius Options
Edge radius measures the “roundness” of the body edge.
We offer the following custom options on most bodies (in order of roundest to sharpest):
- 1/2″
- 3/8″
- 1/4″
- 3/16″
Standard edge radii
- S Bodies – 1/2″ edge radius
- T Bodies – 3/16″ edge radius
- Dinky S (top rout w/pickguard) – 3/16″ edge radius
- Jazzymaster and similar bodies – 1/2″ edge radius
- Pea and Jay Bass bodies – 1/2″ edge radius
Guitar Body Shapes
STANDARD S
Our take of this vintage double cutaway style body was taken from the exact specs of an original ’54.
Base price includes: Arm contour, rib cut, choice of pickup routing, choice of bridge rout, 2pc center joined Alder
Options: Custom edge radius, no contours
Extras ($): Contoured heel, rear rout, binding, lamtop, other wood choices, 1 pc body
DINKY S
Features a standard 25-1/2″ scale length. The perimeter is bit smaller than our Standard S, with slightly sharper horns.
Base price includes: Arm contour, rib cut, choice of pickup routing, choice of bridge rout, 2pc center joined Alder
Options: Custom edge radius, no contours
Extras ($): Contoured heel, rear rout, binding, lamtop, other wood choices, 1 pc body
S-HOLLOW
A semi-hollow body design with full body contours. It’s got a 1/4″ top laid over the back, then the arm contour is milled, exposing some of the backing wood in the contour. You can also have it as a flat top without the forearm contour (aesthetically nicer if you go the Lamtop route!)
Base price includes: Arm contour, rib cut, choice of pickup routing, choice of bridge rout, 2pc center joined Alder
Options: Custom edge radius, no contours, f-hole(s)
Extras ($): Contoured heel, binding, lamtop, rear rout, other wood choices
STANDARD T
Our take on the vintage single cutaway style body was taken from one of our own ’52’s.
Base price includes: Hot dog control rout, choice of pickup rout(s), choice of bridge rout, flat output jack area, 2pc center joined Alder
Options: Custom edge radius, Arm contour, rib cut, “Total Old School T” top rout with angled wiring channel and truss rod access rout
Extras ($): Contoured heel, rear rout, binding, lamtop, other wood choices, 1 pc body
T-HOLLOW
Same outline as the Standard T, but with a 1/4″ top laid over a semi-hollow back. The sides are routed and the center is completely solid.
Base price includes: Choice of pickup rout(s), choice of bridge rout, choice of control rout, flat output jack area, 2pc center joined Alder back
Options: Custom edge radius, f-hole(s)
Extras ($): Contoured heel, rear rout, binding, lamtop, other wood choices
CARVED TOP S
This carved top beauty sports a slightly smaller perimeter – somewhere between our Standard S and Dinky S body, and features a 5/8″ thick top. Available with rear rout only. Choose either a Solid or Semi-hollow back. Semi-hollow version features optional f-hole, and rib cut.
Base price includes: Rib cut, choice of pickup routing, choice of bridge rout, 2pc center joined Alder back, 5/8″ carved top
Options: No rib cut, f-hole on semi-hollow version
Extras ($): Contoured heel, binding, semi-hollow construction, other wood choices, 1 pc solid body
T DELUXE
Deluxe style T, top rout only. Load it up with those wide range humbuckers and a giant pickguard -70’s style! We can also do it “Custom” style with a bridge mounted T single coil.
Base price includes: Top rout, choice of bridge rout, flat output jack area, 2pc center joined Alder
Options: Arm contour, rib cut, Custom edge radius
Extras ($): Contoured heel, binding, lamtop, other wood choices, 1 pc body
EL CUERPO
South of the border inspired T body. Rear rout only. Load it up with some TV Jones pickups. We’ll include the rear cover plate, but you’ve got to drill the control holes.
Base price includes: Rear rout, hardtail bridge rout, flat output jack area, 2pc center joined Alder
Options: Arm contour, rib cut, custom edge radius
Extras ($): Contoured heel, binding, lamtop, other wood choices, 1 pc body
CARVED TOP T
This carved top beauty sports the same perimeter as our standard T body and features a 5/8″ thick top. Available with rear rout only. Rib cut is optional w/ a solid back.
Base price includes: Rear rout, choice of pickup rout(s), choice of bridge rout, rounded output jack area, 2pc center joined Alder
Options: Rib contour (solid back only), custom edge radius, single, double or no f-hole on semi-hollow version
Extras ($): Contoured heel, binding, other wood choices, semi-hollow construction, 1 pc body
WOLFPACK
The Wolfpack is based on the 25-1/2″ scale downsized single cutaway body made famous by you know who. A Floyd and wood mounted humbuckers are a favorite configuration. Rear rout option only.
Base price includes: Rear rout, choice of bridge rout, choice of pickup routs, 2pc center joined Alder
Options: Custom edge radius, arm contour, rib cut
Extras ($): Contoured heel, binding, lamtop, other wood choices, 1 pc body
JAZZYMASTER
Classic offset design. All routing matches “F” standards, so you can use their replacement parts.
Base price includes: Top rout, choice of bridge rout, fully contoured body, 2pc center joined Alder
Options: Custom edge radius
Extras ($): Contoured heel, rear rout, binding, lamtop, other wood choices, 1 pc body
Body Woods
Quality tonewoods are available here at USA Custom Guitars. Alder, Swamp Ash, Mahogany and the many flavors of Maple are our preferred body woods.
We sometimes stock “exotic” woods such as bubinga, wenge, goncalo, limba (korina), etc.
Here are some subjective descriptions of the woods we use for our bodies based on years of building, playing and listening.
Swamp Ash
Has a tight bottom end (which we all like), scooped mids and a bright top end. It has a very quick attack when striking the strings – which is great for some players and bad for others. It has very open grain, which makes it a pain in the backside to finish. It is a very resonant wood, so it sounds phenomenal played clean. Great for Funk, Surf Music, Blues with a bite, Country twang, vintage Rock, and clean smooth Jazz.
Alder
The “tastes like chicken” of wood. It has a nice even response all the way around the tone spectrum! Mostly known for its great Blues and Rock tones. It’s the one body wood you can go play a Death Metal Gig one night, country the next night, Blues the next night and it’s sounds fine for all of them. It is normally lightweight and has a closed grain which is a finishers dream. We carry hand selected Alder that is suitable for clear finishes as well as bursts and solid colors.
Mahogany
Our favorite wood for different varieties of Rock and Jazz! Normally pretty non-back friendly in a solid body, especially after years of gigging! Mahogany tends to filter out some of the shrill highs, has nice mids, and a fat bottom end. Can’t be beaten for chunky rock in a solid body, or chunky Jazz in a hollow body. You can add a 1/4″ Maple top to get back some articulation if used with a Mahogany neck. We offer African and other types of equatorial mahogany – truly killer tonewoods. Honduran has gotten awfully scarce and very expensive, and there is an upcharge when available.
Basswood
A nice resonant wood. Normally associated with Metal and Hard Rock guitars. Has a fat bottom and can sometimes (depending on pickups) have a mushy bottom end. But overall sounds pretty darn good. But if you look at it to hard it may dent because it is quite soft!
Eastern Hard Rock Maple
Durable, bright, and articulate. We can build entire bodies out of it for that 80’s shrill screaming Metal tone. Rock maple can be used as a top wood too, if you so desire.
Western Maple
Softer than rock maple, we carry all of the varieties for top woods (quilt, flame, and wild).
Paulownia
This is a pretty soft wood, but If you want a super lightweight body, this is the stuff for you!
Poplar
Doesn’t sound too bad, but we refer to it as “the poor mans Alder” and normally use it for prototypes. Not something we normally sell, but if you want it, contact us.