Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

I've just finished my first archtop. It was a real learning experience, and was a lot more difficult than I was expecting, I'm pretty happy with the result but there's room for improvement that's for sure.
B/S EIRW
Top Lutz
Birds eye maple neck. By far the hardest timber I've used on a neck.
Ebony f/b
African b/wood bridge
Curly koa bindings
Ebony head plate on the front and African b/w on the back
Schaller tuners
Kent Armstrong p/up
Wayne

Great work there Wayne......what's the finish?

Great job Wayne.
A credit to you, congratulations.
Cheers
Al

Thanks Alan, Martin, the finish is Miritone lacquer.
Wayne

Excellent job Wayne for a 'firsty', what style of bracing did you go with (X or parallel) and have you achieved the tone you were after?
What is the brand of tailpiece? I know Benedetto used one in a talk he gave and did name it I think but it's been some years since I watched the DVD.

Thanks Nick, it's x braced. Tone is pretty much what I was after but I really haven't had much to do with archtops. The guy who ordered it supplied the tailpiece, I don't know the maker, it's German made, but it came from Allparts. Wayne
https://www.allparts.com/TP-5475-002-AB ... _4289.html

She looks a honey!
only ever played with birds eye maple veneer, solid would be something else
Shaping the neck would of been tough going!
lots of file work?

polish looks great

Hank

Nice job Wayne. The neck looks especially awesome

Mark

Looks great Wayne! What was the hardest part (apart from the neck!)

Good job Wayne. Well done
Ross

Thanks everyone for the nice comments.
Martin, I think apart from carving the neck, fitting the neck was also a real challenge for me, I've never done a dovetail before and I cut this one by hand. I have another one to do for the same customer ( parallel braced this time ) so I'm going to make a router template to do the dovetail this time ( any info on the sizes for the template would be welcome ). Wayne

Nice One Wayne!

Stu

Thanks Stu, looking forward to seeing something from you in the not too distant future.
Wayne

It might be a table/ bookshelf before a guitar at this rate haha

Stu

Nicely done! Hand cutting and fitting that dovetail is probably the trickiest part of an archtop build.

Bloody nice job there Wayne, blown away by the maple neck, awesome figure, how was the rosewood to carve? lovely combination, the subtle contrast of the rosewood/maple,lutz. Beautiful axe,,,

Cheers

Rod.

Thanks rod, the rosewood was good to carve, it was easier than I expected. The maple was tough though, and I have 2 more necks to make with it. Wayne

Beautiful wood combination Wayne. That neck is something else.
Would look even better leaning up against a 56 Norton Dominator, of course

Cheers
Richard

If only I still had one to lean it against Richard, it'd be a dream come true
Wayne

The owner of this guitar has finally done a demo if anyone wants a listen.
Wayne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x54-jdm6Z5g