HTS Measure Acoustic Top

Guitar tops come in many thicknesses, subject to the wood species, the desired tone, these measurements can vary dramatically

When refinishing an existing guitar, consideration has to be given to the thickness prior to doing any work, if you sand the top to thin and respray it, devastating things can happen, as such, I always measure a top before doing any refinishing work

Time to measure 15 minutes

Steam any dents out and refinish the top

When building a guitar, typically we use a vernier or dial indicator attached to a large throat clamp.

Example, one freshly made top

Pushing the preloaded spring allows access between the two measuring points

We slip the top between and we have a measurement, 2.94mm thick

Vernier measuring devices are also readily available

Same again, 2.9mm, note however it has only a limited throat distance

We do not need to remove our strings, just loosen them for access inside the guitar.