BYO - my first guitar!

Joshl-m

Hey all,

I haven’t posted anything in a while but I thought I would share a couple pics of my first guitar. 15” Archtop. Douglas fir top, maple back and sides. A few more coats of oil on the neck and I’m ready to make the bridge and tailpiece.

swiessler

That's lovely! very elegant looking.

Joshl-m

Thanks. I had this old German violin for years. Absolutely loved the way it looked. I always planned on fixing it up but I decided I didn’t have time. For some reason, I thought it was more reasonable to build a guitar that looked like it

bbwood_98

good job! looks like a very nice guitar - please post sounds when you have some!

ChrisMartin

Nice to see there are still people making archtops without trying to reinvent the wheel. That would do me just fine thanks. BTW, does the back have a 'German carve' or is that just a trick of the light and shade?

Joshl-m

Sorry, can you describe?

this guitar actually has a slightly shallow arch. I started with board that were not quite as thick as what is considered the 1” standard now. It was free and fair quality and this is my first

because it’s a bit shallower than something like a benedetto, I think it May turn out to be a bit on the bright side

bbwood_98

@Joshl-m and @Chris Martin - so I was going to comment on the arching as well - looks more like the top & back carve of an intact Framus or Levin then an 'modern' american arch-top. The recurve section is interestingly slim, but intense looking in the pictures. Whats the bracing? x or straight?

love the look of it - reminds me of one the very famous Bendetto's from the PA days. Also this was free carved - that's impressive!

Joshl-m

Parallel bracing.

I definitely borrowed the a F holes from benedetto. I didn’t follow his plans or templates exactly but I was constantly referring to his book and videos for guidance

Joshl-m

Here are some better photos. They should give a better idea of the top carve.

billyshakes

You've done a very elegant job creating this. I like the lighter stripe down the middle of the fretboard. Don't know that I've ever seen something like that but it is tastefully done. Did you have an inspiration for that or was it just something you decided on?

Joshl-m

Completely out of necessity! I haven’t had a lot of money to put into this. The money has gone into buying tools along the way. The guitar itself has cost lest than $100 so far.

I didn’t have the cash on hand to order a fretboard blank but I had some maple and rosewood turning blocks I had purchased to make bridges out of. None of it was quite wide enough. This was the best solution