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Here's my latest Archtop build. It is a 16" lower bout, 16 fret to the body join, Australian Red Cedar on top, Birdeye Maple back and sides, Australian Red Cedar neck, Rosewood Fretboard and bridge and the tailpiece is my first foray into making my own tailpiece on a small CNC. The Top and back are hand-carved and I have taken inspiration from a few builders for the f-holes. The pickup is a Kent Armstrong Slimbucker providing lovely clean Jazz through to a nice edge with some extra gain.

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

WOW that sure is nice looking guitar Martin. Beautiful craftsmanship

Sweet!


Steve

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

That is lovely in every way!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

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That's a beautiful guitar. That top is gorgeous. I really like the binding and purfling scheme, particularly the maple (?) binding with b/w/b side purfling. Very elegant. I also like the lack of purfling on the top and back, especially on top. The contrast of the maple binding against the cedar is a very clean and simple look. The pattern on the tailpiece reminds me of M. C. Escher tiling patterns.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

Very nice!

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Wonderful vision and execution Martin. The arching is beautiful. Australian Red Cedar looks stunning.
Well done.

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Why be normal?

Spectacular!

That’s really nice!!

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

I'm surprised how much I like the bindings with the lack of contrast but I really do.

The tailpiece is outstanding and the finish perfect.

Well done!

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

Wow. 16” is the perfect size.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

That is wonderful! I’m just starting my first archtop. I expect it to take a lot longer than my usual steel strings and electrics. There is a lot to learn.

How did you join the neck?

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Hi Steve,

I use a dovetail neck joint for my archtops. The most important part is the neck angle. Unless you are using a CNC to carve the top every top is slightly different in height and so you need to make the neck angle work with the bridge you have and the thickness of the neck extension. My go-to formula is to make a small block of timber 4mm lower than the bridge and stick it where the bridge will be located with some double-sided tape. At the neck/body join I then add up the thickness of my fretboard extension (anywhere from 7mm - 16mm depending on the style of archtop I am building) and the thickness of my fretboard (usually 6.5mm at the thickest part) and then 1mm for fret height. So that could be 7mm + 6.5mm + 1mm = 14.5mm. I make a block that thick and stick it right at the body join. Then I balance a straight edge across those two points and extend it out in front of the body. I then get an angle ruler and match the angle from the front edge of the body to under the straight edge. This then becomes my neck angle for the dovetail etc. I will see if I have time to draw up a diagram and post here later.

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

Martin - you really set the bar high on that one.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Martin, thank you so much for your explanation! That helps a whole lot to makes sure you have the “elevation” right for the bridge. What about making sure that the side to side neck angle is correct. On a typical steel string mortise and tenon joint you can floss to get the angle right. How do you get the angle right on a dovetail?

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

BTW - I purchased Robbie O'Brien's archtop course (which is quite good). The course material specifies a 4.5 degree neck angle using a jig to make sure that is the angle. You explanation makes sense but if the angle changes from build to build, how do you jig up for that?

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Really Nice!
I love the birdseye maple.
Congratulations!

I have the Robbie O'Brie designed Neck routing jig and when I have set the angle ruler and locked it I use that to set the angle of the jig. I will attach a jpg and a pdf of my set up for measuring the angle.

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Martin Taylor
http://martintaylorguitars.com.au

Fantastic illustration! Thanks Martin!

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

I use a saw and a chisel. It works, and is easy to dial in. I don't own a router.

Martin's illustration is pretty good.

I would work with the 16mm at the block, because that is where the neck itself will be. I'd use 17.5 for where I want to be at the bridge (18mm arch?) Move the neck down watching the height in both places, and making sure it is square, and straight.

I would probably go higher; maybe 19mm or so. Mine seem to rise in height. I ran out of adjustment on my first one!

But that's because that's what you do with violins and cellos. If you've done that, it's easy. If not, it probably sounds like a lot of work!

That said.

I think I'll be making a Stauffer style neck from now on. A tight mortice on the sides, and a single bolt at the bottom of the heel. It doesn't go anywhere.

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Why be normal?