avengers63 Posted October 4, 2008 Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 There's something about the shape that isn't right, but I don't know what to do. I've read the tutorial a few times, but apparently something just isn't clicking. I'm REALLY close to having it, but something is missing. Can y'all point me in the right direction or give up some much needed advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted October 4, 2008 Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 (edited) I dunno, the only thing that comes to mind is that the carve itself is not deep enough. See what the others think, but that is what my eye sees, I could be way off or it could just be the angle of the pics I don't know really. Still a nice looking guitar. Best of luck with it. Jason Edited October 5, 2008 by jmrentis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foggy Posted October 4, 2008 Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 (edited) I'm not a luthier by any stretch of the imagination, but from what I've seen of other carved top guitars this looks just a little bit too square around the edges to me (though looking at the piccy again now, that could just be the angle the photograph was atken at?). I've included a link to a picture on Ben Crowes workshop diary that shows what I mean. Ben Crowe This may well not be the kind of carve that your trying to achieve, but if it is it shows the carve pretty well. Jim Edited October 4, 2008 by Foggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted October 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 That Ben Crowe isn't what I was going for. I was looking for more of a traditional Gibson style carve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carousel182 Posted October 4, 2008 Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 http://ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthrea...ght=carousel182 That's how i do it every time. it looks to me like you just didn't carve it deep enough and your carve didn't go far enough into the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 It is kinda up to your personal taste, so no right or wrong. I imagine though Jason is probably on the right track. Have a look at an LP if that is what you mean by Gibson style carve. You will notice the carve is more like an archtop with a bit of recurve. Think of it like a ledge that picks up to a stronger curve. Not as even as a smooth graduated curve from the edge. Does that sound more like what you were thinkng? Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chops1983 Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 I guess there is many ways to carve your top but as the lads have said in previous comments it looks like it needs to go futher in to the body. I used a belt sander for mine and when shaping in the waist curves of the body i tilted the sander so only the front roller was touching the timber. In the cutaway i used half round and round files and a bit of 20mm pvc pipe with sandpaper wrapped around it to give the final smooth. A couple of progress pics. http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo14/ch...romark1073a.jpg http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo14/ch...romark1074a.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chops1983 Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 Not sure if that is any help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littleman Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 http://ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthrea...ght=carousel182 That's how i do it every time. it looks to me like you just didn't carve it deep enough and your carve didn't go far enough into the body. +1 From the looks of your photo, that body is very thick. So you need a much more aggressive(deeper/sharper) carve. I would also suggest working on keeping the lines where your carve meets the sides straight and sharp. Round them over for finishing after you've finished your carve. Also remember to keep it all even as you're carving it, it's easy to make the top feel "wavey". I would start with drawing a straight line where you'd like your carve to end on the side. (top of the guitar) Take out the majority of the wood with something more aggressive than sandpaper/sanding. Work your way down until it's nice and sharp. One other thing I saw was that your belly cut doesn't extend far enough "up" towards the neck end of the guitar. Remember to keep that cut nice and sharp/even as well along the side of the guitar. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 Maybe this would help visualize a little if your looking for a more archtop guitar profile. This link shows contour lines (1/8" increments) per. Bendetto's archtop instructionlink. Notice the contour is not even. Gibson's designs where drawn from archtop construction. Note also that the outer edges have a relatively flat area, then becomes more agressively tapered until you get to flatter center of the plate. The flatter area moves more freely than the inherantly stronger arched areas, which is an important concept in tuning the top plates movement. The LP follows a similar carve pattern(although of course a 13" LP is a much smaller body than a 16-18" archtop). Hope that helps. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted October 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2008 That's a whole lot of great feedback. So the concensus is that I didn't do it wrong, I just could have done it better. I know what needs to be done in the future to make it better: a deeper shelf on the edge of the body and a "taller" carve. Thanks for all the input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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