Im attempting a guitar cake for a friend...and I still consider myself a newbie!

Does the cake need to be a sturdy?

If Im stacking cakes I usually use Sharon's Sturdy cake recipe (with the sour cream etc)...But since Im not stacking would it be ok just to use a basic doctored cake mix? I'll be covering with BC and then fondant? But will need to carve it into shape.

AI think you can use any cake for the guitar. You just need to freeze it enough to carve. I have used both sturdy and non-sturdy cakes for guitar cakes without any problem. I will post pictures once I can locate them.

AI used a sturdy cake for this- marble cake with pecan buttercream [IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3011468/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

I used non- sturdy cake for this - strawberry cake with strawberry filling [IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3011469/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

Both were covered with marshmallow fondant.

Thanks so much!

Did you use the Betty Crocker template that's online?

ANo, I made my own template by printing a guitar, expanding it and cutting out a template on a foam core.