Luthiery - Need a source for pre-carved solid top & back plates.

JeffMC · #1 11-03-2010, 04:08 PM

I am interested in acquiring pre-carved (CNC) solid top & back plates. Any information on suppliers or luthiers that have this material available would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

goshawk · #2 11-03-2010, 08:34 PM

Here's a guy on eBay selling CNC sets:

CNC Carved 17" Archtop Guitar Top Back Plate Set - eBay (item 160492484893 end time Nov-10-10 17:26:37 PST)

And here's a guy selling hand-carved tops and backs (separate listing, this is just for the top):

Hand Carved Spruce Archtop Guitar Top - eBay (item 320607667414 end time Nov-22-10 14:29:04 PST)

JeffMC · #3 11-03-2010, 08:52 PM

goshawk - Thanks for the links. Those plates look very nice and are expensive (IMO). I am trying to find plates at a cheaper price. I hope to find something for about $100-150 each. The instrument I plan to make doesn't require highly figured wood. Sorry I wasn't specific about a price range. Thanks again.

goshawk · #4 11-04-2010, 07:20 AM

No problem... I had noticed those plates before and thought I'd post them, but I thought they were pretty expensive, too.

If you can use laminated plates instead of carved, you could check out acme-archtops.com.

JeffMC · #5 11-04-2010, 02:42 PM

Yes, the Acme laminates look worth looking into. Thanks again.

JohnW400 · #6 11-04-2010, 02:45 PM

How about these guys?

Luthiers Mercantile International, Inc. Guitar Builder Wood and Supplies

kenbennett · #7 11-04-2010, 04:26 PM

$550 sounds pretty good for a carved top and back set.

(I'm building a quilted maple archtop now. The back wood alone unjointed and uncarved was over $400.)

I would contact the guy and ask for a quote using plain maple and a lower grade top. A lot of the grading is for looks anyway.