Carve
Depending on the model of guitar you picked, you may be looking at additional steps to shape your body. Jaguar guitars traditionally have arm- and chestrests, which are these sloped curvatures that offer a better fit of the instrument against the body of the guitar player.
What you need
angle grinder
fan grinding disc
excenter grinder
(or any other fitting tools - see Resources down below)
I think that the angle of the slope and its inward extend is a question of style and personal preference. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to add them, even though I visually prefer entirely flat tops, as in Tele models.
The main reason for adding rests with my build was not that Jaguars traditionally have rests. Actually, I thought a Jag looks great even without those slopes. But the several colored layers within the skate wood could be brought to the surface by carving arm and chest rests. So to understand the anatomy of these adjustments better, I took a closer look at a Fender Jazz bass, which I have at home.
I found the parallel channel, which both slopes created towards their outward bounds, was aesthetically pleasing, so I made this a requirement for my own guitar. Additionally, the adjusted surface direction divides the surface of the guitar. This effect would surely be amplified by the uncovered patterns in my skate wood. I planned for a curved transition into the arm rest slope, rather than a straight cut. This should resonate better with the already existing flow of the colored grain.
Mechanically, there wasn’t much challenge to this step. I simply drew rough bounds onto the body using a pencil and also marked them off using masking tape. Then, I took an angle grinder, with a fan wheel on it, and carved away wood, until I achieved a roughly satisfying shape. Finally, I used an excenter grinder to polish the result using 120 grit paper.
It’s actually a very pleasing task to model the edges of a guitar, especially when digging through colored layers of wood. Now, I get why some of the custom guitars often have such fancy edge carvings. Handworking them is just fun. As you can see in the pictures, I got a bit carried away and asymmetrically rounded some of the edge on the opposite side to the armrest. Before I finished up, I sanded the body all around. This was done to get rid of minor burns and some unevenness my router left on the wood.
Here I was, having my allround, smooth skate guitar body shape done.
Sweet!
