AlGeeEater

If you wan't a good, reliable source for cheap tops check out Gallery Hardwoods. I bought a 3/4" 5A flame maple top from Larry there for $120. Great selection, great prices & great products. Chris

I think your best bet is to get a little indoor humidity gauge (I think they're called Hygrometers?) at let it sit in the office for an hour. They're pretty accurate, but i'd say you shouldn't have any problems from outside humidity. Chris

I'm not too sure about nitro over acrylic, but I've sprayed Dupli-Color clear over a burst finished with nitro, and the (test) body is still fine. I'd def. test on scrap first if you can, but again i'm not expert. I'd imagine you should be fine if the base totally cures, and you dust on the lacquer coats. Chris

Southpa - I've actually had good results spraying lacquer over factory poly. I've done a fair share of refinishes without stripping the factory paint, and they're all still fine as far as I know. As far as minwax poly, or any other non industrial type brands, I probaly wouldn't spray lacquer over them. Scuffing existing factory paint with 320 sandpaper, then spraying lacquer works fine. I forgot to mention this in my previous post, but the lacquer on the test piece was not totally cured before I sprayed the poly over it which is why the poly lifted, cracked and flaked right off. The lacquer was still gasing off solvents, obviously messing up the poly finish over it. Although, you SHOULD be safe spraying anything over a fully cured based, but testing on scrap is key. Chris

Poly doesnt work over lacquer, especially the Minwax stuff. Just for the hell of it, a few months ago I sprayed a test piece with McFaddens Nitro & then sprayed a few coats of the Minwax poly over it. I'm looking at the test piece right now, & a lot of the poly is lifting, cracking and the nitro is still soft underneath. I think you get the idea. Chris

Thanks, and yeah LP's are pretty fun to build. Post a thread up here if you go ahead with the build. Chris

More pictures will be up this weekend. I'm going to be re-routing the neck pocket to accomodate the new neck, inlaying the fretboard & possibly start carving the top. We'll see how things go! Chris

Finally. Looks great, I love bubinga! Stainless steel frets are sleeeek too. Chris

New beginning, new neck, new method to glue the neck to the body. I'm not going to use binding on the neck, I really like how the orange/brown grain looks on the egde of the fretboard. You'll see it once I get better pictures after I inlay the board. Chris

Man, this question isn't fair! Belive it or not though, most of my 'shop' is mainly hand tools, with the exception of the obvious power tools. Chris

All great guitars for February! The spalt top on Skelf's bass is suh weet! Also, Marcovis' LP is executed perfectly, what a nice guitar. I can't forget to mention the beautiful snakewood fretboard on Ron Steigers acoustic. Chris

Jay, he replied to me earlier in this thread (you probaly missed it) that the top is around 7/8" thick. Chris

Amazing, simply amazing. What are the sizes of the top and mahogany on the body? Was the top 3/4" before you carved it and the mahogany back 1-3/4" ? Chris

I've got the DeWalt, it works great. Still haven't had any problems with it, it does the job well. Chris

Items updated. bvalentine - somebody already got to the tune-o-matic before you did, thanks for the interest though. leeranya - shipping to Israel is cool, what are you interested in? Chris

I doubt the drum sander that you're using was even designed to widthstand the RPMs of the router. I'd wear safety goggles if you keep on doing it, which I don't suggest. Chuck it in your drill press atleast. Chris

Fretwire, Squier bridge & Seymour Duncans all sold. Everything else is still available. Chris

You can buy Tele templates from Ronny at Guitar Building Templates. www.guitarbuildingtemplates.com Chris

Looks like I have some work to do now. The plane you made looks gorgeous though. Chris

Pretty much any router will do the job for you. My first router was a pretty decent Ryobi 3/4 HP (I believe) router. It was $59 at home depot. It worked great until I upgraded to my current 2-1/4 HP Dewalt. That thing can route through steel. I think the most important thing though is learning how to use your router. I can probaly still use that Ryobi if I had it, it would work fine. Chris

Here's what I got. This is a great chance to get guitar parts CHEAP. If you want to see some Archtops built around here, buy this stuff! NEW Grover Mini Rotomatic Machine Heads. For 3x3 headstocks, fits headstocks 1/2" thick - 5/8" thick. $25 That's almost $15 off retail. (Add $10 for shipping and handling!!!) SOLD! USED(briefly) Seymour Duncan Distortions. Black/Cream set. SH-6(Neck) & TB-6(Bridge). $100 FOR THE PAIR. These are aggressive, high output pickups. I loved them, but I have to part with them. If you're looking for a VERY versatile pickup, look no further! I recommend these over active EMGs! SOLD! 8 Feet of medium/higher fretwire. Width = .095", Crown = .045", Tang = .73". Looking to sell all 8 feet for only $5 You can fret 2-3 guitars with all this, $5 is almost 75% off!! SOLD!! NEW Ebony acoustic guitar bridge WITH matching (unslotted) ebony pins. $10 Measurements are 11/32" tall, 2-1/8" string spread, and 3/32"-wide x 2-29/32" saddle slot. NEW GOTOH T.O.M. Bridge SET.Pre-Notched saddles!! $20 These are high quality GOTOH parts. The Stop Tailpiece is made of Zinc, chrome plated, the bridge is made of brass, also chrome plated. Measurements for the bridge are as follows. String Spread - 2-1/16", Saddle Radius - 12" , Post Spacing - 2-29/32", Post Threads - M8 x 1.25 Drill 7/16" holes for the studs. Measurements for the Stop Tail are as follows. Post spacing (center) - 3-1/4", Drill 7/16" diameter holes for the studs. SOLD! USED Squier Affinity Series Tremolo Bridge. $10 These are VERY nice bridges actually, but it's been sitting in my shop collecting dust for almost 2 years now. I have no use for it, but for $10 that's a BARGAIN. These are great bridges! Gets shipped disassembled for shipping purposes. SOLD!! NEW 2 Chrome Dome Knobs - $5 These chrome dome knobs are in PERFECT condition. 1/4" Shaft for the pots. They're great! Again, this is a GREAT chance to get some guitar parts for CHEAP. If you want to see a few Archtop guitars built here, BUY THESE PARTS. Payment - I accept PayPal & Cash. I'm not looking for trades or checks. There's $5 Shipping & Handling on ALL items, add that to the price. You can PM me or E-Mail me. My E-mail is in my profile. Thanks for looking! Chris

Hey Rich, The project looks great so far! I just have two questions for ya (well three maybe ); What wood is the bracing (i'm assuming spruce or maple?), & what are the dimensions of them before you started to carve them? Also, the sidebenders you have look SWEET! Did you build them, or did you purchase them? By the way, I see you got your daughter in on the luthier action, good deal. Chris

Archtops, erm 1.

Let me help you out of your wheelchair first. OK, enough of this Off-Topics-ness eh? Chris

Well see. You're all talk, Mr. Rich. Let's see if you can walk, the walk. I'm building one either way also. Actually, i'm building 3 either way. So, is it safe to say we have established a good set of regulations yet, anyone? Chris