Parametric Models of Guitar Cutaways

by R.M. Mottola

Originally published in American Lutherie #99, 2009

See also,
A Method for the Design of the Guitar Body Outline by R.M. Mottola
A Method For the Design Of the Guitar Body Outline Part 3: Compound Radius Curves by R.M. Mottola



In the article entitled “A Method for the Design of the Guitar Body Outline” in AL#97, I introduced the concept of parametric models for the design of the guitar body outline. That article addressed symmetrical body outlines only. In this article I want to consider parametric models for the body cutaway. Taken together the two articles demonstrate a complete method for the design of typical guitar body outlines.

Although it was possible to devise a simple parametric model for the design of the symmetrical guitar body outline that was adequate for most of the “standard” guitar body outline types, things are a bit more complicated where the cutaway is concerned. The basic problem is that, except in the most basic designations, cutaway styles have not yet settled out into a small number of distinct types. Rather than pursue a model that would accommodate all existing cutaway designs, I chose instead to derive basic models for the two primary cutaway types, leaving enough configurability to insure that most existing cutaway outlines could at least be approximated.