weezerboy Posted November 26, 2003 Report Share Posted November 26, 2003 mmmm hotbox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snork Posted November 26, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2003 was it a difficult first guitar? as hard as these guys are making it sound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snork Posted November 26, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2003 also one more question. about how far away should the bridge be from the butt end of the neck?and how do you dress the frets for a low action? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted December 1, 2003 Report Share Posted December 1, 2003 now, i wanna make one. Im dead willing to put in the effort... and seeing as it would be a slow process , money would`nt be such an issue. hmm.. really tempted. if i started one it would be my fourth axe, is that too early too start in your opinions? john. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeli Posted July 27, 2004 Report Share Posted July 27, 2004 I'f I start building one, it will be my fourth too and I have a lot of time to spare since I've no hurry. I have many long years in front of me and I can spare even three years for an archtop. BTW for how much do you think a well intonated, handmade archtop with everything in it's place would go for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeli Posted July 27, 2004 Report Share Posted July 27, 2004 There is a man I know who is making guitars for a living and he is pretty old. He makes some crazy archtop guitars in shapes resembling the stratocasters. Pretty weird stuff tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 There is some good advice in this thread (and some good laughs!). Most important is patience, and more patience. Archtops are not the easiest type of guitar to build because of the complexity of the arched surfaces and then matching the angles of the neck, fitting the bridge to the curves, etc. You have to develop the feel for this architecture. Gaining experience is necessary but I always have to differ with the concesus that building a more 'normal' electric solidbody will get you that experience. You will come away with the basics of guitar building (you can't get more basic than a strat) but you won't learn how to do arches unless you do arches. A carved top electric is closer but a sem-hollowbody is closer still. The best way to learn how to build an archtop is to just build one. It is so different from any other style of guitar that you really have to just jump in to learn it. If you have watched the Benedetto videos for the last 5 months then you are way more prepared than I was. I assume you also have the book so just follow that closely and go for it. Get some cheap spruce or pine and test out the carving if you want to save yourself some grief before you commit to the nicer stuff. Other than that I would suggest mahogany for easier carving. I made this with nothing but hand tools as an experiment: archtop1 , archtop2, and archtop3 (check out the tailpiece height). It turned out much better than I expected (although still not very good) and was way easier than anyone told me it would be. After going painfully slow with the carving of the back I got the hang of it and carved the top out in a few hours. Expect your first one to be an experiment and just don't stress about it. Unless you are going for a production model just have fun and learn. You can't get good until you build up your woodworking chops and there is only one way to do that. Just don't waste all the mad koa on your first archtop. Get some paint grade mahogany and cheap spruce instead. I did and the guitar sounded really nice and warm. And if you have anywhere near $2000 for tools just get a pair of these: carving planes. I use the larger one more than the other but for smaller guitars the small one comes into play a lot. There, now you still have $1790 and some sweet carving planes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren wilson Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 You guys do know that this thread was dormant since December 1, and was resurrected July 27, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted July 28, 2004 Report Share Posted July 28, 2004 gotta love it eh Darren? I always wanted an archtop acoustic/electric, i got my dad's lefty and my regular acoustic (archtop) might be an adventure in a few years Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted July 29, 2004 Report Share Posted July 29, 2004 Building solidbodies only gets you the very basic skills. Like many here, I got the Benedetto book and vids, went through it several times, assembled the wood, and (5 solidbodies later) I'm still not quite where I want to be to do justice to the wood (walnut back/sides/neck, curly redwood top, mmmmmm). Although I do have the body mold made. Each of my solidbodies had a different feature, in common with the archtop, that was a "first" for me (carved top; set neck with angle; body binding, etc). This way, when I do get to the archtop, I will have done everything at least once. Someone on the MIMF suggested making an archtop mandolin before trying an archtop guitar. I thought that was a great idea, much better than trying a flat-top acoustic (I've already got one of those), so now I've got the "Ultimate Bluegrass Mandolin Construction Manual" from Siminoff (different approach from Benedetto) and the lumber ready to go. I'll be starting next week, and I'm certain after this that I'll be ready to dive into the archtop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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