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estebanana -> RE: how to measure internal guitar dimensions, attn T.Blackshear (Dec. 27 2009 10:08:03)
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Make a christmas light bulb interior inspection light. If you don't already have one.
Get a small bulb, mine is a 40 watt bulb, and rig it to a socket on a long extension cord. It's nice if it has a switch on the cord. Make a half shell looking contraption with some stiff cardboard and tape it to the socket holder so that it provides a heat barrier and a non scratching surface for the bulb to move around on inside the guitar.
If you drop it in the guitar don't leave it on in there for any length of time or get a weaker bulb if you do. You can use tracing paper or any thin transparent paper to lay over the top and shine the light through the top. When you turn off the surrounding room lights you'll get a full shadow play reading on the braces.
It's helpful to have all the lights in the room turned low or off and have a desk light with a switch close by so you can go back and forth between looking at the guitar with the internal light and making notes on your paper.
You have to be really careful how you trace onto the top through the paper. You have to pick some type of drawing media which will not press through the paper and mark the top. One way I've been doing plans is to get thin sheets of clear mylar at the art supply store. You carefully cut out a rectangle to fit around the bridge and fingerboard (plus a hole at the sound hole for the lamp)and lay the whole sheet on top of the guitar. You then use a fine sharpie marker to note the positions of the ends of the braces, the plantilla, the soundhole or any other feature you would like to save.
If you carefully index the mylar to the plantilla and center line you can then make more than one mylar overlay for the guitar. On one mylar sheet you might want to plot top thickness with the gauge, (provided you account for the thickness of the mylar) and on another only the braces. That way you can later make paper plans of each separate issue by taking the mylar to a copy shop, or if you're keeping it for yourself you can work from tracing paper copies make from the mylar. Make sure you find a pen that makes permanent marks on whatever clear plastic you decide to use.
Slightly thicker plastic sheet also makes good templates which can be copied. I don't use wood or plex templates unless it's designed for use as a tool guide for routing. The plastic sheet is easier to store and it bends around guitar contours and slopes. I have some clear matt plastic sheets at 0.47 mm they are also really good for making protective covers for various parts of the guitar around the neck when fretting and filing up the fingerboard.
"The future is in plastics."
What movie is that from?
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