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What would be the effect of increasing the body thickness (depth) of an OM-size guitar by maybe 1/2"?

I did a 'deep body' 00 (posted a couple of years ago here). I feel the low and mid-ranges were enhanced with that one, so adding a half inch might do something similar in an OM.

I did a deep body 12 fret 000. It sounds very rich and the nicest sounding guitar of the 8 I have built - it is the equivalent of my Martin 000-28. However (there is always an however) you will have to have a custom case made if you want a case.

Ed

Ed, how much did you add to the depth?

Yes, the case problem had occurred to me.

I did something like that, I built (so far) three guitars of the same body 'shadow' but of varying thicknesses. I found a half-inch difference enough to be really evident (I made a mistake and made the sides my proposed finished height but forgot to add in the top and back thicknesses). All three felt different from each other, but not disturbing. The thinner ones were very happy to be on my lap. No idea about the influence of thickness to acoustics, there were too many changes in scale length and location (12-fret Martin short scale neck on a on 14-fret body, Martin short scale less the first fret, Martin long scale less the first fret, the last two being on 14-fret necks.)

I've made 000 size guitars within Martin specs, and with an additional 1/2" depth. The additional depth adds to the bass and mids, without overwhelming the treble. It also adds to projection and sustain. I love the sound so much that it's the standard that I use for all of my 000 and 00 sized guitars.

Diane, I'm seeing what you described in my thickest one, but all the other variations make my results a happy accident,by no means a planned outcome.

phavriluk wrote:Diane, I'm seeing what you described in my thickest one, but all the other variations make my results a happy accident,by no means a planned outcome.

My first was an accident too. Actually, it was guitar #2. As I was cutting the binding channel for the top, the guide came loose, cutting off too much of the top left bout. I scrapped the guitar, and started over, but saved the top. I moved the neck block inward, deepened the body to compensate for the loss in the top, and ended up with a guitar with a wonderful voice.

I repeated the depth adjustment for my next guitar, with the same result, so I've made them deeper ever since. I still own guitar #2 (Delilah) and have since replaced her top. She sounds better than ever.