jcyphe wrote:How many of these are confirmed to be accurate?
heh... maybe I'll go through a few of them when I get a chance.
1 - it'd help if you could pull it in cad to have a look at some of the measurements before hand
2 - and then there's the printing. If you want accuracy, the page has to have some sort of known reference measurement in both directions. Printers will often distort more in the paper feed direction. if you take it to staples or somewhere with a large format printer, take a good ruler with you and keep checking until they get it right. The first one will probably will be off. They'll convert the pdf bezier curves into raster and fool with the size (both directions to correct distortions) in photoshop.
If it's a cad file, it'd be great if you could find someone with a decent large format pen plotter.
3. most are in pdf form... here's a catch: if it was drawn in cad, the conversion to pdf may be off. I've seen a few drawings (and known who drew them) where the pdf is off and the guy had no clue his cad program wouldn't do a one to one conversion. they print them out from cad or go straight to cnc for their own use. They either can't or won't check the pdf accuracy.
I suspect that's what happened to the "60s stratocaster" file listed on page one here... it's off.
butt to inside of the nut should be 18.42" - it's measuring 17.681". the scale? 24.47"
So the guy was probably well intentioned... but, someone not checking could be in for a nasty surprise.
Conversion may be at least part of the printing problem... pdfs are in postcript language (bezier curves) and the expensive large format printers aren't all postscript printers - there's a language format conversion going on - some conversions better than others. rasterizing them and fooling with them in photoshop bypasses the built in conversion.
Back to your question...
telecaster - get Terry Downs Rev. E - as accurate as can be.
strat - preeb posted corrections to the strat file I made from fender blueprints where I had trouble reading some of the numbers. I think I was a couple thousandths off in 2 places, iirc.
http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/828 ... 0Fixed.pdf
other than that and the ones I've drawn up... can't speak to the accuracy without having a look - assuming I have measurements to verify.
It's the most popular designs you'll have a chance of finding a fairly accurate drawing of... law of averages.
I mean who with a vintage mustang wants to spend 4 to 8 hours mapping it out with accurate traces and such?
..and then want to draw it up accurately and share? That last part... the sharing...
heck... most scanners even distort... so scans often have to be manipulated to get the scan right on screen.
A new twist in "online plans and such" - guys with cnc machines will pull drawings off the net without checking or even knowing what to check... and cut and sell templates on ebay. Some kinda fun, eh? Caveat emptor.
example:
http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/luthier ... hands.html
bottom line: if you know what you're doing, you can make a basic outline work. It may not be totally accurate - a perfect copy... but at least a working guitar that can be set up to play nicely.
For a lot of people, that's enough (I guess). They'll take a pic and trace it (camera lens distortion and all) and go with it.
if using aftermarket pick guards and plates, etc. - heed AddamInsane's advice above. parts in hand first.
and do your homework!