I agree would love to see pictures of the guitar. That's a project I once attempted a couple years ago, and quit when I ran out of funds, and subsequently lost motivation...
I personally am not a fan of this Roccat Sova thing at all, I find it is just way too freaking big, and I would rather something like Lowpoly posted and actually just stick my keyboard and mouse on top of that, so I could work in that setup when I wanted (but still have the option to move my keyboard around).
Whether I like the idea for myself or not, I say it sounds like a great project, and I am willing to help if I possibly can.
So I have been planning quite a big project this summer for wooden cases myself. In fact I am actually pretty close to beginning work on my prototypes myself! Wood is a wonderful material to build in, prototype in, and make cases or constructions out of. I agree with that all the way. How ever, make sure you do this yourself (by hand or with power tools) as machined wood designs are just cheating, and don't turn out nearly as well.
Since you built a guitar I am going to assume you already know this though.
I would be happy to look over your poorly drawn designs. I myself, have non-existent CAD skills so I have to resort to pen and paper... which I also have poor drawing skills! For proof, check out some very random preliminary drawings of some wood case concepts I drew:
http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/grou ... -1020.html All the way at the bottom of that page (don't feel like figuring out how to perma-link a specific post). I also have another on the next page. So trust me, poorly drawn or not, I would love to try and interpret it. That thread might also prove very interesting to you as well. Its Matt3o's group build. Specifically, since you are looking for a type of TKL plate for your "key-table" Matt has designed a really superb layout with his "Elf-Board", aka "Robot-65". It has arrow keys, and even some of your nav keys! That could easily be incorporated into this design here. Hand wire the plate, and build a small "60% style" compartment around it! By 60% style, I mean something very very basic similar to a Poker case. Where it is just a box basically (possibly with a small incline). That would be easiest to implement into this table.
ALSO ironically, a "sister" project I am working on along side my wood cases is for a type of wireless slightly sub-60% keyboard. It is definitely not something, that in itself could be incorporated here, but it very well could provide some very useful insight and ideas for your project. As soon as I get a plate in the mail, and build my prototype, I plan to open a workshop thread for "Keyboard Carpentry", so you can see and discuss any of my progress if you would like. The wireless project will probably be posted in a few weeks or something like that as well.
Something else I wanted to mention, I would really work on the layout of that Roccat desk thing. I am not sure how much I like how the keyboard is all the way to the left, with that massive trackpad (that is what that is right?) on the right. If you rest that on your legs or what ever, that seems pretty unbalanced. Also something like Apple's Magic Trackpad, might be a much more manageable size for this type of project. That or if you really did like the size, or wanted something more controllable, you could try to implement something like a Wacom drawing tablet. The ones they make now a days also include touch and gesture control, so you don't have to use the pen if you don't wish.
Finally, back lighting... Personally, I hate it. I think it looks just generally stupid. A vast majority of my keycaps don't even have backlight supporting legends in the fist place, meaning it would only just barely illuminate enough so I could see the key. Since I touch type, I also don't find myself needing the back light. So for me, I like to reuse something (I think) Matt3o said, which was that adding backlight to a keyboard is like adding neon to a car...
BUT if you are still so inclined to adding LEDs, you have some options I guess? If you are looking to handwire, well you don't really have many options. Its totally do able but the amount of time and effort spent on it, would be much better spent, learning a type of CAD software, and then designing and fabricating a PCB that supports LEDs...
No clue if this essay of jumbled nonsense has helped you even in the slightest, but I will say that I and many many more talented and experienced people then I are happy to help you with this project. Well actually I don't want to speak for anyone else, because technically for all we know this is just an episode of the Twilight Zone, and you and I are now the last 2 people on earth, since Lowpoly was just transported to another planet by your home made electric guitar... You never know these things.
EDIT: Beautiful guitar by the way. What types of hardware are you using? Pickups?
EDIT2: The type of 60% Poker case I was talking about implementing into your design was something similar to what Hermith just did over here:
http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/75-s ... t8304.html. Nothing super fancy, but will look nice, and support your keyboard and give full minimalist access to your switches (the most important part).
EDIT3: There are also a bunch of different methods for doing wireless. In the project I am working on is using a very tiny and inflexible (feature wise, of course) controller that goes over 2.4GHz, not actually bluetooth. Either I or someone else could list the otherways of implementing bluetooth. There are bluetooth "cubes" that have batteries and transmit keyboard signals, and other things that would probably interest you more.
EDIT4: Don't you just love editing your post?
EDIT5: I also now realize that the section on the right is actually a mouse pad I think, not a massive freaking trackpad. In that case, one major tip I can give, is MAKE SURE that the mousepad you use is not only highquality, but it is REPLACEABLE! You also don't want to track your mouse around on the bare wood. It might work fine, but trust me, in the end after a lot of use it will wind up dented, scuffed, and no where near as pretty. Especially if you "game". Also have you considered using trackballs? While they aren't for everyone of course, a Trackball would be a hell of a lot easier to install here, and (in my humble opinion) are a million times greater then a mouse
