Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi All,

Do we have any artop builders on the site? Do we have enough interest to ask for a dedicated archtop forum section? It's something I always wanted to build... it is a different beast and there is vertually no information on it out in the worl (1 book and 1 set of plans that I know of). Input?

Dave

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God, Family, Carreer

ive often wondered why radiased tops, backs and fingerboards cant be "carved" using the router sleds that the radiased sanding boards are made on. using tonewoods instead of mdf. i have a textbook that was copied about 15 years ago with no cover or back. dont know the name of it but the introduction is signed GLUCK. it details constuction of solid and laminates archtops. the author tends to prefer laminates due to its ablity to hold its shape without spliting. i thought about routing out a back from a bookmatched slab of maple that was quartersawed from a tree that needed to be cut down on my property, just to see if it is feesable, some day that ive got nothing to do but make sawdust

Dave: Bob Benedetto has an excellent book and a set of dvds based on the archtop.Think they are both available from LMI . Happy carving. Tom.

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

There are a few of us here who build archtops, shoot away with any specific questions. The Benedetto book is really requiered reading, just about everything you need is in there. It seems like most people most people draw up their own archtop plans, whenever i get my hands on an instrument with a nice outline i trace it for future use.

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Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY

Maybe if enough of us archtop builders post they'll give us our own playpen.

Sorry I'm a little late to this thread. I had the 'ole flu! Anyway, I would LOVE an archtop section!! Archtops are all I'm really interested in building for a while and it would be nice to have a dedicated place here! I know most of you guys build flat top guitars, but I still think this is the best luthier forum because of the knowledge of the members and their will to pass on that knowledge. I've certainly gotten a lot from this place, mostly from guys who aren't that into archtops, but they still know their stuff! We also have some expert builders here that create some gorgeous guitars. Dave Stewart instantly comes to mind.

I vote for the archtop area even if it's 10 guys to start. Many of you have sufficient knowledge on the subject even if you don't mainly build archtops. Those contributions would be a very welcome addition too. At first when I signed up here I thought I probably wouldn't "fit in" because the flat top is the predominant guitar here. But like I said, everyone here were very willing to help me out with my archtop stuff.

Please keep it in mind. And if it happens, can there be some kind of announcement or sticky so some of us slow pokes don't miss it?
Best Regards,
John L

I build archtops as well. I started out before there was much info available, and sort of worked it out for myself, based on what I knew about violins and guitars, so I think I probably do things differently from most folks. I'd look in on an dedicated archtop area, as I do on the MIMF.

John, I’m certainly no expert, but thanks for the kind words.
There are several plans out there but, notwithstanding Alans thoughtful input (…believe some of his relavent articles are in the “Redbooks”), there is definitely a lot less instructional info out there for archtops than for flat tops. While it seems many on OLF just follow the “guitar building” forum & therefore miss posts in other areas (eg tutorials) where they might have valuable input, on balance, I think a separate area for archtops might encourage more traffic on the subject. If it enticed input from only a fraction of the many fine archtop builders out there, it’d be well worth it. Might also draw out info on related archtop instruments (mandolins?).

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Dave
Milton, ON

I would also be interested in an archtop area.
Walter

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Walter Lay
"It's taken me so long, but now that I know
I can see. All that I do or say, is all I ever will be"
- Billy Joe Shaver

Same here. I haven't built one yet but would like to someday after I manage to build a decent flat top.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I would love to see an archtop section. That's what I'm interested in building. While I have both the Benedetto book and the DVD's it's always nice to be able to ask specific questions of people who have already done it.
Jason

I'm an archtop builder, I'd probably actually start posting if an archtop section were created. The MIMF archtop forum is a real slow mover, but I think it could become a pretty active forum here.

Please please,please...

I'll even post some pictures if somebody will create the thing

Gordo

Archtop area please.

See? You're already getting some first-timers just by mentioning archtops!!
Welcome Mark & Gordo.
(BTW Gordo, please post pics anyway! We'd love to see them).

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Dave
Milton, ON

I'd love to have an archtop section here. It's true that we already have a fair amount of archtop discussion, but a dedicated section would make the topic threads so much easier to find.
Cheers, everyone.
Patrick

Another vote for a dedicated archtop area.
Brad

I have one in the works right now and I would support an archtop section.

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

Didn't know there were so many "archies" around here!
Where have you guys been hiding?

npalen asked:
"Where have you guys been hiding?"

In the shop, under a heap of shavings, of course......

I'm going to take some courses on acoustic guitar building but once I get back I want to try and make archtops, I sorta want that to be my focus so a section would be really cool to have.

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" Blues is a low down achin chill, if you ain't never had it, I hope you never will."

Robert Johnson

I vote for an Archtop Section...hopefully we can get "Archie-Boy Zlahtic" out of hiding at the same time!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Glad you mentioned him, JJ.
Where in the world has he been hiding?
He told me he was starting a new job, but my word that was like a lifetime ago. C'mon out, Anthony!

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

He's been summoned, Steve!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Another vote for an Archtop section, I've made a couple using Bob B's excellent book and DVD's Plus plans, pretty much required reading I would say as it's the only series on archtop construction out there at the mo.
I havent made as many as I would like as the limited number of pro musicians and work for them in New Zealand limits the number that can spend the $ on a hand made Archtop to approximately...............0! Plenty of players like the ones I've made but can't afford to shell out the cash

In a quick answer to markusrap, you could carve the plates using a copying router, Bob B, in his DVD's shows a Pantograph router he used for a little while but went back to hand carving because as he quite rightly points out, the mere fact of running a plane over the wood gives you feedback in both the sound of the plane on the wood and the amount of 'give' under the plane that you don't get from machined plates. This helps when voicing the instrument, it's very much an 'organic' process, hand carving
incase I haven't posted them before on this forum here are my archtop attempts ( I usually make Selmer Maccaferri's)

&

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Nick Oliver

http://www.oliver-guitars.com

Nice tobacco burst there, Nick!
And the natural is beautiful in it's own way.
Nelson