Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm happy to finally be able to show off this very recent completion..#9 for me.I wanted to have a crack at a violin inspired look - there are several lovely ones out there- and decided to make it a 7-string, which I've also wanted to try. The plates are unbound, overhang the sides violin-like and are rounded, with an inset multi-purfling line on the top. (I left the back pure and am glad I did... kinda like the look). F-holes have a traditional look and I went with a violin type saddle (tailpiece pivot, not the guitar bridge type) rather than the typical pivot mounted to tailpiece underside. (No mashing of the soft spruce top!) Bit of an "anti-burst" on the neck back (which I also left unbuffed ... sanded to 2000 only... for a nice silky feel)
as for specs
-Lutz (from Shane) over Euro maple
-ebony fittings... Gotoh tuners
-Kent Armstrong handwound "tabless" 7-string PAF
- 17" x 3 1/4" body, 24 3/4" scale & 2" nut
I left the PAF "direct drive - no onboard controls (eq. @ amp, vol. by footpedal) for ultimate tone. And the tone is opening up beautifully, very mellow both amp'd and not. Quite happy with it.
Hope you enjoy and thanks for looking.

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Dave
Milton, ON

Talk about clean and elegant!
Dave you have done it!
What is the finish?

Joe

Thanks Joe. Sorry, should have said, the finish is tinted Target Ultima over shellac.

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Dave
Milton, ON

Very nice. Gonna change your avatar now?

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

Man! That is SWEEEET.

I like the "violin" concept Dave. Just awesome!

Shane

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Canada

Thanks guys. Shane, the lutz and tuners worked out great!
Speaking of tuners, one thing I'll mention that may help someone in future....on stringing this one up, it had a rattle/buzz that for the life of me, I couldn't find .... drove me buggy!...thought it might be the trussrod!!! While early on, I made sure all the tuners were tight, it turned out that extending my tapered headstock (for 7 strings) put the top tuner hole about 1 thread too thin for the tuner! The tuner nut was indeed tight, because it had BOTTOMED, NOT because it had tightened against the washer. The washer was rattling!!!
Live & learn.

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Dave
Milton, ON

As always, your instruments are stunning.

Dave that is drop dead gorgeous, thanks for sharing.

Ed said it. Gorgeous! Really impressive.

More pictures of the tailpiece? I'm not sure what you were referring to.

Jim

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Well done!

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The member formerly known as erikbojerik....

Absolutely gorgeous! I have considered doing a violin style archtop, but haven't gotten past the considering part.... So if you don't mind, I have a couple of questions.

Do you scrape and sand the ribs prior to attaching the top and backplate? It looks like this would be a difficult area to work subsequent to assembly.

What sort of purfling cutter did you choose for the top plate purfling, and what purfling material (fiber, other) did you use?

How comfortable is the guitar to play while seated with the proud plate edges? No big deal?

Parallel braced, or X ?

And finally, who supplied the euro-maple? I'd like to know if you don,t mind sharing , or a PM if you'd rather not go public.

Once again, Absolutely gorgeous.

Gordo

Wow!

Beautiful!!!

Dave, what a stunning, guitar! Pure understated elegance, just put it in a box and send it to the Smithsonian, it deserves to be dispayed as an example of the 'art' of guitar building.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Thanks all for your very kind response, I'm very glad it appeals. (Kinda like your kids...you think they're beautiful but maybe no one else does!!)
Jim, re the tailpiece, I was trying to explain the "saddle" over which the tailgut pivots. Violins are done this way, with a raised saddle, but archtops done following Benedettos methods have a flush saddle and a "pivot" glued to the underside of the tailpiece. It really bears on the spruce (above the tailblock) and, if you ever have to shorten/lengthen the tailgut, well, you'll see the big dent it makes. The best pic I have show chopping the saddle pocket and a roughed out "high" saddle. (Note the remnents of the toothpic I drill though the purf. line into the tailblock for positioning during glueup.)
Gordo, no, you still scrape / sand after attaching plates, it's just harder .I'll say that most aspects of this edge treatment are, because it's just a pile of handwork. This pic shows the tools I used for the purfling channel...a shopmade jig for the dremmel, a shopmade gramel for the cutaway area and a shopmade 1/16" chisel to clean out the channel.
The purfling is ABS (b/w/b/w/b). Edges feel fine....not really apparent. It's X-braced and the Euro was from Stewmac.

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Dave
Milton, ON

Dave,

Your work continues to amaze. #9? Surly you jest.

Steve

Congratulation on a fine instrument! As a violinmaker I can really appreciate that one. Nice ff holes and the color is nice.

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Ken

Bravo, that is masterful, Dave, and an inspiration. So many details, but the big picture is the thing.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Dang...

What a beauty...


Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Beautiful!!!

What material did you use for the nut?

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

This guitar belongs under glass! Don't let anyone touch it! Man!

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http://www.booneguitars.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephen-Boone-guitar-builder/488208541257210

Thanks again.
Steven, I built #9 and #10 together....stay tuned.
Darryl, the nut is ebony, which probably contributes to the mellow tone. I used ebony on my first archtop 3+ years ago, and play it almost daily with no apparent deterioration. (And I have 400+ years of violins on my side.)
Stephen, it is! (...topic for a later discussion)

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Dave
Milton, ON

I think I am going back to making solidbody electrics! That guitar is just amazing! I always have high hopes for my archtops, but have yet to build one even close to this caliber. Mine seem to sound good, but fall short in the looks department. You know...she ain't good lookin' but she can cook...LOL.

I have wondered about the fiddle edges I have seen on this one and on benedetto's. What is the process for champfering the under side of the edges? I assume they are slightly rounded over on both the under-side edge and outside ledge of both the top and back. Yes?

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Joe

Thanks Joe. Yes, they're both rounded. I knew if this was to work, it would have to be that way and be uniform. I laid out the roundover on CAD, calculated and carefully marked, then filed primary (45) bevels on both the top & underside of each edge. The picture show the underside done & the topside not quite yet.
Once that was uniform, I filed secondary bevels at the peaks, then sanded. It's easy to sand the spruce too much.

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Dave
Milton, ON

Dave,
It's a real show stopper! I am usually not a fan of the "violin" style, but this is just gorgeous.
Regards,
Brad