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Thanks to all who helped me with advice and encouragement. Most of you don't even realize you helped by posting advice to others. Some of you have seen these pics on another forum, but I'll post them here, too, in the hope that they'll encourage someone else to tackle a project like this. The guitar is a 17-inch archtop. Back, sides and neck are local black walnut (central Missouri). Top is sitka from Alaska. Binding is walnut with mahogany fillet, although the mahogany is too subtle to show in most of these pics. Finish is Target Oxford Ultima with tinting colors on the top plate. Stain and filler combination for walnut is IN the wood pores. If anyone is curious about the recipe, just ask and I'll be glad to share.
Patrick Hanna

Hi Patrick,
Nice looking guitar!
I really like the tailpiece.
Brad

Very classy and clean! I like the head and headplate especially. How does it play/sound?

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Very classy is exactly right - super nice job Patrick my friend!

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Thanks for the compliments, guys. I always have trouble describing a guitar's sound. This one is more open than you would normally expect from an archtop--very rich, lush, and full.
Nice acoustic tone, and great sustain. Plenty of cut when I drive it hard, but responsive to delicate playing, too. I guess I would say it's a darker sound than some maple guitars I have tried, but I am visually suggestible--by that, I mean it sounds like it looks to me: Dark and mellow. The strings are .011 thru .052, and it plays real comfortably with these. Electrically, it has a nice warm sound with tremendous power in the pickup, and no feedback (yet). I think it would sound even better acoustically with a heavier set of strings--.012 thru .056.
My band mates like it acoustically, but they haven't heard it amplified yet. It has enough power, even acoustically, to blend well with a clarinet and acoustic bass. When the reed man picks up his tenor sax and the drummer joins us, I think I'll want to plug it in.

Very tasty. I like pretty near everything about it.

One of these days I gotta build me one. (Sigh...adding archtop to the ever expanding to-do list)

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

Nice job Patrick! I like it alot. In many ways..I wish I had gone for a more "organic" first build. I like the colors and simplicity to your beautiful guitar. Maybe my #2 build will get a more organic finish...

Again..Nice job!

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Joe

Congratulations! That took a lot of work. Nice details.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Good stuff, Patrick!