Building an Archtop Guitar

**wwwilkie** · 11-01-2010, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by SamBooka

looking good.
Why we cant see the fret tangs at the edge of the fingerboard?

I bound the fingerboard with ebony just for that reason.

**wwwilkie** · 11-02-2010, 09:48 PM

First step is to trim excess wood on the bandsaw, cutting just outside the fingerboard.
Carving begins and for this I use an assortment of rasps. Yes, I'll admit I use a lemon zester too, it cuts great!
The next couple of photos show the blending of headstock veneers into the neck. This took quite a bit of planning positioning the veneers just right to get the desired effect.
I use the belt sander to smooth in the curve of the heel, then blend with coarse, medium and fine rasps.
Back to blending veneers, these photos show the nearly finished product.
In the last photo we have the carved neck ready to be set to the body.

**billkath** · 11-02-2010, 10:32 PM

That's just beautiful!!

**lindydanny** · 11-03-2010, 09:29 AM

Seriously, wilkie, this is amazing work.

~DB

**billkath** · 11-03-2010, 09:58 AM

Wyatt-when do you start thinking about the finish on an instrument? Is it something you keep in mind when you are selecting your very first piece of wood? Is it client-driven?

**wwwilkie** · 11-03-2010, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by billkath

Wyatt-when do you start thinking about the finish on an instrument? Is it something you keep in mind when you are selecting your very first piece of wood? Is it client-driven?

That's a great question. More and more I find myself doing natural finishes, no added colour at all which makes wood selection even more critical. For example, for this particular guitar the customer wanted just a hint of colour, for which I suggested using my UV lightbox. For those not familiar with this it is something that is used more commonly for violins. The UV light can be used to speed up the finishing process but for this purpose it is adding colour even before the finish is applied. After a week or two in the box the wood takes on a golden glow, very reminiscent of an antique violin, a very nice touch in my opinion. This is still a relatively light colour and can't hide any imperfections in the wood which would normally be covered by a darker sunburst. So for this guitar you'll notice the wood is nearly flawless, even figure, straight grain, very even colour throughout. Hey, why am I not charging him extra for this?
So to answer your question it definitely is something I consider from the very beginning, and to a certain degree is client driven. More and more I like to do violin style finishes, traditional french polish finishes as well as cooking up oil varnishes using various resins and oils. This is my preference and I will always push for something along these lines because I believe in it. That being said I am still willing to use lacquer, it's considered traditional, it's a great finish and extremely popular.

**JohnW400** · 11-03-2010, 04:59 PM

I like the head stock. A lot of builders have some ugly headstock designs and others should have have put a little more thought into theirs. (Like Heritage)

Things like headstock, tailpiece and pick guard (but not so much) are what I look at first.

**lindydanny** · 11-03-2010, 05:40 PM

You don't mind me asking what price you are selling the guitar for, do you? If you don't mind, what price are you selling the guitar for? 8-)

~DB

**wwwilkie** · 11-03-2010, 09:35 PM

Originally Posted by lindydanny

You don't mind me asking what price you are selling the guitar for, do you? If you don't mind, what price are you selling the guitar for? 8-)

~DB

I don't mind at all but I'll have to send you a personal message because I previously mentioned the name of the buyer of this guitar and would be more comfortable if I didn't make the purchase price public. Not sure what the forum rules are about that either.
Thanks for the compliments!

**wwwilkie** · 11-03-2010, 10:06 PM

I wanted to include this with the last post but it got left out somehow.
These are all the tools I use to carve necks. The first one I call "the cheese grater" and works great for getting rid of lots of wood real fast. Next I'll go to the lemon zester and with this I will shave the neck down to very near the final thickness. This is where the calipers come in. From here the shape is roughed in with coarse rasps of various sizes and shapes. The triangular rasps work really well for blending the area behind the nut into the headstock and the heel area. The shaped sanding block works well for smoothing out rasp and file marks and creates a perfectly round neck, which is then checked with my roundness guage. I need to get a holster for all these things.

**wwwilkie** · 11-04-2010, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by JohnW400

I like the head stock. A lot of builders have some ugly headstock designs and others should have have put a little more thought into theirs. (Like Heritage)

Things like headstock, tailpiece and pick guard (but not so much) are what I look at first.

Thanks John. I remember years ago I walked into a music store to sell an f-style mandolin I had built with my own special elaborate headstock design. The first thing the guy said to me was "well right away I should tell you I can't sell it because of the headstock." Since then I have been a big fan of simplicity.

**Scotto** · 11-04-2010, 01:23 PM

Coming from a design standpoint... sometimes "Less is More".

**lindydanny** · 11-04-2010, 01:24 PM

There is a reason that lutheirs of violins have kept the same basic design for hundreds of years...

~DB

**mandojester** · 11-04-2010, 09:13 PM

Fascinating! a lot of the terminology is new to me but I enjoyed seeing the process you go through making this guitar.

**blackwingchai** · 11-04-2010, 10:14 PM

i thought it was realy a cheese grater and lemon zester, lol pardon my ignorance with these tools. peace

**wwwilkie** · 11-04-2010, 10:25 PM

Originally Posted by blackwingchai

i thought it was realy a cheese grater and lemon zester, lol pardon my ignorance with these tools. peace

Well, it's not really a cheese grater but that's a real lemon zester!

**lindydanny** · 11-05-2010, 01:42 PM

Ha! I thought that looked out of place!

~DB

**wwwilkie** · 11-15-2010, 10:39 PM

For this headstock design I'm using Amboyna Burl with a touch of abalone and abalone for the logo.
All the pieces are cut out using a jeweler's saw and pieces are carefully joined together.
3rd photo shows all the inlay glued in and for this I use thin CA glue.
Next is the set-up for routing the cavity which will receive the dovetail of the neck.
The neck slips into the body perfectly and now needs to be fitted to the top. First I will scribe a pencil line with a compass to follow the curve of the top,
then using chisels and sanding sticks, take it down to the line.
Next the perfect fit is made (all the while checking for neck straightness and arriving at a pre-determined height at the bridge)
A front view after the neck has been set,
and a view from the back.
All that is needed now is a heel-cap which will be made from the same curly big-leaf maple as the rest of the guitar.

**SamBooka** · 11-16-2010, 12:13 AM

wow.. ...

**clem_gael** · 11-16-2010, 12:29 AM

wonderful work!

**billkath** · 11-16-2010, 07:24 AM

Looks fantastic!

**lindydanny** · 11-16-2010, 09:55 AM

Man, Christmas is coming but there is no way that I've been that good this year. This thing is beautiful!

**Meggy** · 11-17-2010, 04:26 PM

Beautiful indeed! I can't quite find the words in fact, but stunning! I just love the mix of precision craftsmanship combined with the artistic beauty of it.

**wwwilkie** · 11-18-2010, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by Meggy

Beautiful indeed! I can't quite find the words in fact, but stunning! I just love the mix of precision craftsmanship combined with the artistic beauty of it.

Thank you Meggy, that sounds like a great quote to use on my website.

**horel** · 11-19-2010, 12:47 AM

Dubya! I talked to our mentor Bob the other day Nicks leaving to design electric cars. How far are you from McBride I ordered some tops from there and paid about as much to ship. Sounds like your in a good place for wood. What happened to lutherie being a path to disappointment and poor health. I guess it all we know.O.K. Ill stop calling you Dubya.
James