Carved archtop project
Okay folks, here goes. I decided to build one from scratch. I've never carved a top before so I thought I'd "practice" on some pine taken from a 70's waterbed before spending $100 or more on quartersawn spruce.Bob Benedetto once made an archtop out of scraps from the garbage heap and said it came out just fine... so since I have hours upon HOURS carving it, I'm gonna USE it! It's all part of the learning curve. Other than that note, I'm going to let the photos do the talking.
As of February 2008 I had taken a year or so off from this project as I was busy with other things. More important though, I had made a couple BIG mistakes and decided to take some time off until I was ready to pick up again. First, I had made a fingerboard from scratch and cut some of the slots crooked. I don't mean a "little" crooked, I mean severely crooked. I had also joined two pieces of maple for the back and began routing like I did the top. I miscalculated and routed right through the wood. So at that point I was smart enough to back away. Click on the link for the next page to see the next phase.....