making an archtop

[nestron3030]

approaching a new project and decided i want to do an archtop les paul any tips on how to approach that i wanna make it from a blank

 

[baskruit]

The best tip is going to be letting Warmoth do it for you.

Dude, what kind of advice is that? That's saying to a five year old: No, don't tie your shoes yourself because an adult can do it better than you. That way he's never gonna learn.   ???

nestron3030, I can't give you any tips since I'm only building my first flat top body myself (which Warmoth can surely do much better than me but that won't stop me) but I admire your ambition.  :icon_thumright:

 

[Timv]

StewMac and others sell top wood thats beveled higher on one side so when glued it's thicker in the middle, then you have to shape it to develop the contours. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to do that!

 

[djf67]

Read the Crimson guitars diary - he makes loads of LP 'inspired' guitars. Lots of pictures, etc.
www.crimsonguitars.com

Follow some builds on project guitar forum
http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/

Try google.  :icon_jokercolor: - seriously, lots of build blogs/threads/pages out there.

 

[bpmorton777]

you'll have to have a band saw and router at minimum for power tools.

try these guys for routing templates.
http://www.guitarbuildingtemplates.com/

they also have some pics of how a guy made a carved top PRS
http://www.guitarbuildingtemplates.com/Carvingamapletop.htm

Brian

 

[rockskate4x]

The blanks used to make the Warmoth carved top les pauls, have an angled neck pocket and a thicker top. This is generally how they do carved tops, the exception being their carved top telecasters. on these guitars, they simply carve it out of a normal blank. This does not seem very difficult except that, as a result, the sides are much thinner, and I think that rear control cavity has to be more shallow so that it doesn't go all the way through this thinner body style. So you have two main options I can think of....

Order a body blank with an angled neck pocket. This would give you enough room under where the strings will be to put a carved maple (or whatever you want) cap on top, like one of those stew mac top woods. This is much closer to the way W does their LPs...

or you can order a body blank that is completely standard except that it has NO REAR CAVITY. This way you can carve the sides of the top carved-top-tele-style and then you can measure the sides to see how drill the rear cavity to the appropriate depth.

If you little to no woodworking experience and have never built a warmoth, I would certainly not recommend going through with this project. However, if you have built a warmoth, you may be ready for a simpler DIY, like a flat top made from a standard body blank. This requires you only to shape the sides, but would still be a good introduction to some more serious woodworking.

No matter what you do, I agree with bpmorton's and djf67's tips...

 

[dNA]

i guess a good starting place would be to ask what you've built before.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Bob Benedetto has a book on building Archtop acoustics.  While I understand you are after a solid body, the part about shaping the top (or back in the archtop acoustic's case) would probably be very similar.  In any case, it is quite a process.  Good luck.
Patrick

 

[hannaugh]

You can get the top piece here: http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?CategoryName=++Tops+%2D+Tonewood&NameProdHeader=Archtop+Guitar+Tops

Back and sides here: http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?CategoryName=+Backs+and+Sides&NameProdHeader=Archtop+Guitar+Back+%26+Side+Sets

or just look here if you want the back to be flat, you'll have more options of wood type: http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/Secondproducthead.asp?CategoryName=+Backs+and+Sides

Or look here for all that stuff: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bodies,_necks,_wood/Archtop_guitar:_Back,_top,_and_sides.html

And you can get kerfing here: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bodies,_necks,_wood/Archtop_guitar:_Kerfed_lining_strips.html

 

[dNA]

PS
I think it's misleading to say "archtop" because that traditionally refers to the jazzbox style acoustic or electrics. Just to save yourself the trouble, you're probably better off saying "carved top"

 

[kdownes]

You may also want to check out these videos: [youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/user/ruokangasguitars#p/c/355F8E553DDA235A/16/TnM-P0vKWsc[/youtube].  Juha Ruokangas goes through all of the steps of designing and building a new guitar, including carving the top (it's a Les Paul copy).  You may need to invest in some small planers and scrapers -- that's how Ruokangas does it in these videos.  It's a lot of material to absorb but very cool.

 

[DesmoDog]

The book "Make Your Own Electric Guitar" by Melvin Hiscock talks about carving a top in one ot the examples.

 

[nestron3030]

well i haven't eveen started on the CARVED top (thanks for tip) but i would like it to be my next build.... first i would like to learn the skill and maybe just practice on some spare wood i have lying around before i attempt the les pusl build