Making your own contoured heel

[jw5150]

Has anyone ever tried to sand down the heel of a strat body to match watmoths contoured heal?

I've got a Warmoth alder strat body w/flame maple on top. And I want to make my own contoured heel.

Please give me your pros, cons, and suggestions for this...

 

[Rickgrxbass]

Anything is possible with wood.  Keep in mind a couple things and you'll be fine:

-Depending on how much wood you remove from the heel, the neck anchor screws may end up being too long.
-The heel will have to remain flat to attach the plate.  If you're planning on using countersink washers, this is less of an issue.
-Removing wood from the heel will also alter the edge on the treble cutout.  This may or may not be an issue.

The main Pro of course is having a contoured heel that is designed for your own hand.

 

[tfarny]

cool challenge! Please please practice your technique on scrap wood first, you don't wanna ruin your baby. Maybe plane it instead of sanding, to keep the neck plate area flat? Let us know how it works out. I've had thoughts of doing the forearm cut the same way; it would be nice to have a flattop LP with just about half the size of a normal forearm cutout for comfort without being too noticeable.

 

[jw5150]

Good idea... I should use a planer.

What would you guys suggest I do to refinnish to area? The back is gloss black, I really just want to protect the exposed wood. I don't care how it looks back there.