Archtop guitar top thickness

One thing that i should note is that if i thickness a top and then put in the rosette, i always end. Its going to sound like an archtop, with lots of percussiveness but not much sustain. Among the features of this instrument were a violinstyle arched top and back, each. This model is now referred to as a classic jazz or cj. Can we make guitar from teak wood, means back, side, top n neck all. Im having a custom archtop done and i like the idea of. Paying tribute to our iconic past, the original collection brings back the classic guitars that shaped sound across all generations and genres of music. Rough carving the convex sides of tops and backs archtop guitar. It is inspired by the recent work of a number of innovative makers of classical and flattop guitars. Archtop guitars grez archtops are handlaminated using vintage forms and presses that once belonge d to r.

Here is a douglas harrison 17 inch archtop cutaway guitar, built at harrisons shop in toronto, ontario during 2000. As i understand it, the thinner they are, the more they will ring. I know i could have done with one template, but i wanted to see them both on the guitar. We are pleased to offer an extensive line of new and vintage parts for archtop guitar restoration or construction, including. Aug 15, 2011 variable thickness, on an archtop guitar, impossible. The plan is to build an archtop guitar and a guitarshaped octave mandolin gom side by. As to pressed tops, i believe there is one builder in the archtop section that does exactly. These include the woods used, the thickness of the top, how tall or flat the arching is, the soundholes, and a number of design elements such as the height of the bridge, neck angle, and tailpiece. Includes everything from the first video but has all the steps ive taken since uploading that one.

The different parts of these guitars end up creating some different sounds and actions that help give its type its own guitar category. Voicing the steel string guitar by dana bourgeois bourgeois guitars. The taylor line explore our guitars with videos by series, woods, and. Merrill, for example, patented in 1896 a very modern looking instrument of the guitar and mandolin type. How did you determine how thick the top, back and sides should be. After cutting the rough shape of the top, its side edges are marked at the final thickness that i want them to be, and then the carving begins. It would make sense to figure out the logical top thickness of that 18 length guitar, based in your current 21 guitar criteria. Guitarkitworld offers a range of archtop guitar kits including the following models. After the two halves have been carefully joined together, they are sanded smooth to the proper thickness, usually around 78. Dec 21, 2011 it is the most even guitar ive ever played. Ive owned a number of laminated top and pressedtop archtop guitars, all of which retailed for more than this guitar, and none of which sounded as good acoustically.

Carve the plates, make the bridge and tailpiece, bind the headstock. However, you might not know what these differences mean for the guitar in terms of sound and other features. If it were too thick i could see it really deadening the sound. A top thickness of 2,5 between sound hole and bridge i would consider as constructive fault. Octave mandolin builders are more rare, and there is no entrenched design standard like there is for mandolins and jazz guitars. That is to say, the edges of the sides rims are parallel.

Nov 05, 2011 i am building my first arch top guitar. Double top this guitar incorporates a top formed by laminating two very thin layers of engelmann spruce with a center core of a composite kevlar material called nomex. Interestingly, there are two distinct methods whereby one could arrive at an answer. Oskar graf luthier, maker of fine handcrafted classical, acoustic, steelstring and archtop guitars since 1970. Then the slab is cut out in the rough shape of the guitar. Its not going to sound like a taylor, if thats what youre looking for. A mandolin has 8 steel strings, so needs to be able to hold. These pages will detail the steps that i go through to build the top from raw wood to finished top ready to glue to the ribs. Vintage 1954 gibson kalamazoo usa l4 natural arch top acoustic guitar wohsc. Archtop guitars have less top bracing since they rely on the arched carve or moulding of the top for its strength. Oct 14, 2019 i am building an archtop uke based on the shape of a hofner senator guitar. Archtop guitar build carving the inside of the plates when i read the benedetto book a decade ago the one thing that struck me as really cool was using a drill press to drill index holes to insure a uniform thickness on a curved plate. Solomon has tended to build the phidelity with the traditional maple back and sides, but this particular example is made from walnut.

Fine acoustic carved archtop guitars show a considerable graduation of the plate thickness, varying on the specific piece of wood used, and depending on the sonic properties the guitar maker or customer is after. To carve an archtop instrument you need fast, precise measurements of critical top and back thicknesses. Some controlling factors that are usually altered are the thickness of the base, the thickness of the top of the bridge, the size and shape of the inner openings, and the width of the feet. Stewartmacdonald safetplaner setup for use with a silverline pillar drill duration. Palen archtops are among the finest archtop guitars ever built. The golden era returns with the original collection. So my guitar will have a spruce top and the sides and back will be mahogany instead of more commonly. Materials range from sitka spruce for tops, that we have custom milled specificlly for guitar top laminating to a variety of hardwood veneers and solid woods for necks and fretboards. Several differences between archtop and flattop guitars.

Learn how to make a carved top and back archtop jazz guitar with brazilian luthier joao cassias. I am building an archtop uke based on the shape of a hofner senator guitar. A stepbystep look at how an archtop guitar is crafted. A simple archtop carving method telecaster guitar forum. Carving an archtop guitar timelapse video and photo timeline. Aug 19, 2019 the term archtop now usually refers to a fulldepth hollowbody electric guitar, much like the original guitars used in swing bands. This is a quick thread to show an easy method to roughout the top and bottom of a hollow archtop guitar. The jazz elite 17 7 string is an all carved, 17 lower bout, 2 12 at rims archtop, custom designed by guitars n jazz with heavy paralell bracing, block inlays, hand wound lollar imperial set humbucker pickup, and all maple binding.

Bear in mind that these chinese archtops probably arent carved and tap tuned by hand. The insides are carved out to approximately 3mm thick. The top, spruce, and back, maple are both carved to shape on the outside. American archtop guitars and nazareth guitar building institute. So my rule is 3,0 to 3,1 mm prepared for bracing depending on the stifffness of the top and the size of the guitar to gain the best results. Sep 14, 2015 this roundhole archtop takes its name from the concept of phior the golden ratio, 1. High quality caliper is designed specifically for luthiers, with a deep 9 228mm reach to accommodate an archtop guitar, mandolin, violin or viola. One big difference, though, is a mandolin and arch top guitar is designed for steel strings. On an flat top that is not the case in fact the profile of the top toside and backtoside joint is very tricky. I find that most of todays players prefer this sound, as well. Theyre a little oversized to allow for the binding. Feb 08, 2019 archtop guitar is a retrolooking guitar originally from the 20th century. This is probably one of the most creative and fun parts of making an archtop guitar. With accelerated development of jazz in early 20th century, evolving bands.

Homemade thickness sander constructed from 2x4s, mdf, particle board, bearings, shafting, pulleys, and an electric motor. To achieve a warmer, bigger tone, a number of factors must be considered. I started thinking about cutting these with a coping saw and i admit im a little intimidated, but i guess ill just take a deep breath and. Woods and materials custom archtops professional luthier. Under the bit is a roundedover stop against which the outer surface of the top or back bears.

Otherwise known as a jazz box these guitars enjoy enduring popularity with jazz, blues, rockabilly, and psychobilly bands. Welcome to american archtop guitars, unger electric guitars and nazareth guitar institute where the father and son duo, dale and tyler unger, build custom guitars and teach others how to do the same. Its all there in high definition video with easy to follow instructions. It is that of an archtop guitar, which as you can see, i have modeled the top surface. Variable thickness, on an archtop guitar, impossible.

For me, for comfort, the lower bout size matters more than the thickness, up to a point. In the following article, well take a closer look at. It can be often seen in music genres such as jazz or blues. Jazz guitars for sale jazz guitar online welcome to. The plan is to build an archtop guitar and a guitar shaped octave mandolin gom side by side. Specific top thickness in the guitar ervin somogyi. Does anyone here know the exact thickness of modern l5s or other gibson archtops. High quality caliper is designed specifically for luthiers, with a deep 9 228mm reach to accommodate an archtop guitar, mandolin, violin or viola inch or metric models for archtop carving. Jazz guitars for sale jazz guitar online welcome to the. With a custom hand built guitar the luthier can select and test his bracing material and the top is often hand tuned by shaving the braces once the guitar is assembled. A caliper is a guitar tech 101 tool that even parttime techs like me that either dont build or build a limited range of instruments use almost daily. Seven string floating paf available in either 2 14 57mm or 2 38 60mm string spacing. This excellent instrument is built in the traditional archtop model, pairing a hand carved, solid spruce top with a hand carved flame maple back.

The upright pine piece that is resting in one of the double row of holes is a. Begin with a mandatory coffee break to visualize the arch and get settled clearly on what i am about to create. Making the top part 1 most guitar builders are clear that the top is the heart and soul of the guitar. As respectfully as i can possibly word this how can a luthier build any guitar much less an archtop if he doesnt know how to measure top thickness. Although violins and cellos are considered to be more specific instruments, the same aspects apply to the guitar and are therefore just as important. The archtop was born an acoustic guitar with an arched front and rear face hence the name, fholes, sides carved from a single block of wood, and a completely hollow body. And speaking of these, sloanes and overholtzers recommendations of uniformly thick classicguitartop measurements, previously cited, actually come out of the steel string guitar making tradition in which the top is the same thickness. But this could happen when a top is sanded to 2,8 mm thickness ending with 2,5 mm in the end.

I discuss the range of appropriate thickness for bending guitar sides. The archtop guitar is often credited to orville gibson, whose innovative designs led to the formation of the gibson mandolinguitar mfg. An archtop guitar is a hollow steelstringed acoustic or semiacoustic guitar with a full body and a distinctive arched top, whose sound is particularly popular with jazz, blues, and rockabilly players. This top of the line and hard to find model is made of aaaa spruce with maple back and sides. The top is milled to a very uniform thickness, and the pressing mold is going to be generally more accurate than automated carving in creating a uniform top. If its too thin, i could see it being brittle and not as strong acoustically. May 07, 2012 when you sit an archtop guitar next to a normal flattop guitar, there are obvious visual differences. Armstrong pickups krivo ultraslim pickups soundboard pickups vintage pickups and cables controls and wiring pickguards vintage style hardware hardshell cases repair and restorations appraisals and research consignments.