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I'm preparing to build an all mahogany 000 12 fret. I'm thinking about making it deep but, I don't know what the depth should be at the tail and at the neck. Could someone enlighten me? Also, what's your opinion, should I stick with standard depth or go with a deeper body?

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Hi Steve,

i too am planning a 12-fret, closer to a 00 body style.
The last one I built was a bit deeper that standard - I went with 4.25 at the tail and 3.5 at the heel and the tone was (and I hope still is) pleasing.

Rob

My 000 and OMs are 4 7/16" at the tail for my standard depth. My body depth tapers by about ¾" towards the neck. If someone requests a "deep body" instrument I usually add a ¼" to the overall depth of the body. It really comes down to your personal preference on tone and what you want the instrument to sound like. I have designed and built my instruments to be very balanced at standard depth. My deep body versions accent the low end a bit more. Some of my customers love this, but I still prefer my standard depth.

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
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House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
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Total beginner but I like the added airiness in the tone from a deeper body.

If you increase the depth too much you may need a custom case.

I discovered that on my first.it is quite annoying but hiscox cases in the UK put in some custom padding free of charge.

Okay - So, it doesn't look like its adding much - around a 1/4" in depth. I still want it to have an immediate response, so I don't want to go too deep. A case is another thing... I'm thinking about a Guardian case. An expensive case just doesn't make sense for me. Any other recommendations for a case?

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

There is a fairly standard case for a nick lucas available in the states but I can't remember what brand.might fit though.

Steve:
Deep is a relative term. Here are 3 pictures of my '74 Martin 000-28 and a 1 year old 000-18 12 fret that I made last year. The Martin is 4-1/8" at the heel and the 12 fret is 4-3/4" for a difference of 5/8". I don't think that just increasing 1/4" would make enough difference to be worth doing.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/ ... 652357853/

My rosewood Martin sounds great - crisp and very balanced. The 12 fret is also well balanced but has a more resonant sound to all of the strings. Don't know whether it is the mahogany of the 12 fret or the depth, but it sounds like what I was after with the added depth. A bit mellower sounding and richer all around,

A Nick Lucas is a parlor guitar and the case would be too small. And the Nicks varied from 4-3/8" to 5" with no taper to the body - most copies do not duplicate that. I made one with a 4-3/4" body and had a Cedar Creek case built for it that worked out perfectly - PM me for details.

Ed

Parlor guitars are smaller than 0-size.

I have repaired over a dozen original Nicks and owned three, and all of them have had a slight taper in the body depth.
A deep body 12-fret 000 will fit fairly well in a dreadnought case. A little extra padding would keep it from moving inside the case, but it won't take much.

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John

It sounds like there is no standard depth for a 000 12 fret deep body... Isn't Martin making one these days? I wonder what depth it is...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Okay - I checked with a friend of mine that has the Martin Richard Smith signature model and is building one. He said that it's 5/8" deeper. The person in the video says 1/2" deeper...

http://www.myfavoriteguitars.com/produc ... at=&page=1

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

How about $172. for an Ameritage case(Luthiers Price)?
Add $35. for custom fitting(tracing) and extra $'s for options.
Ameritage cases are very good but heavy and that aint bad.