Official Luthiers Forum!

Here you go mon ami! Here's one I completed a couple of years ago.









Anthony Z38862.7926388889

Ah! A guitar model!! Way to advertise, Anthony! Was carving all that maple a lotta work or a lotta fun?

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Very, very beautiful, Anthony!
And the archtop is nice too.
Nelson

I was going to, Nelson, but I just didn't have the nerve!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

Nice!!!

Al

Anthony! That is superb! Very very nice indeed... That maple is very stunning. I also like the natural colored finish. Not much tint, if any... Very tasteful.

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

What type of pickup is that, Anthony?

Thanks Dude, you're a man of your word! Man i can't wait to know more about building them great axes!

Elegant is the word for your lady and awesome is the other for your guitar!

Are you gonna bring this archtop at BobC?

Cheers my friend!!!!

Serge

Very nice work, Anthony!

That headstock backstrap looks very elegant, it it burl? How about a few close ups?

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Helloooo Nurse!!!
NEEOOOWWW!! NEEOOOWWW!! NEEOOOWWW!!

Nice guitar too!

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Whoa .. HOT THANG !!!!   

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Archtops get all the pretty girls! Nice work, Anthony! Thanks for posting. Is the bracing parallel or "X"?

Hi guys and thanks for the comments and polite references to the model (I probably shouldn't have posted that pic).

I picked up this maple from guitarwood.ca and it was actually his lowest grade of figured maple.

Larry - carving the maple wasn't too bad as I use an angle grinder with a Lancelot blade followed by IBEX plane, scrappers

Arnt -- I'll try to get a photo of the backstrapping hopefully before this thread goes off the board. The backstrapping is B veneer/sycamore/B veneer/Maple burl

Nelson - the Pick-up is a floating Atilla Zoeller (I cut off the neck extension, laminated on a piece of aluminum with epoxy and then epoxied with a piece of carbon fibre cloth over top. I am not crazy about this pick-up in terms of sound. (BTW: You are an imp )

Alain - the tint is provided by blonde shellac from Lee Valley. It actually darkened the top more than you'd think as its Engelmann Spruce.

Carlton -- it is X braced

Serge - you are welcome buddy!

Tony's Hot Thang reference is a bit of an inside joke. We ski with the Tony the rest of the Karol family, with Tony enjoying ribbing my wife from time to time. I finally convinced Tricia to get a pair of new skis on account of hers being unsafe. I took her to a ski shop and told her we wouldn't leave till she picked out a new pair. Following the advise of the sales persons she picked out a nice pair of Head Intelligence skis...that unbenownst to her... have "Hot Thang" boldly down each of the boards. Tricia is bracing herself for the 2006/07 ski season and seeing Tony on the slopes.

Ah Archtops -- they take easily twice as long to build, don't have the dynamic range of a good flattop, use three times as much top and back wood. On the plus side -- they are plenty loud, each string sings individually and more clearly than a flattop and dang they are pretty!Anthony Z38863.7953009259

Anthony, just curious about the weight of them guitars, do most Archtop builders take that into consideration as some do in Acoustic building? Braces, bridges etc, is there an optimal weight that you guys aim at?

Man, i'd really love to see you building one, did you take pics of the build process?

Thanks again

Serge

nice!! An archtop is on my list of things to build.

Beautiful Archtop Anthony, It's on my list of things to do also,butt at my pace it will be in 2025!
DaveAndy38864.3592824074

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Beautiful!

Mike
White Oak, Texas

[QUOTE=Anthony Z] Archtops -- they take easily twice as long to build (...) [/QUOTE]

Twice? Man you're a rocket...
Gg

I am not rocket...believe me! I suspect they probably take about 3 times as long..

Serge buddy, sorry I missed your question.

Archtops I think are no different than flattops -- try to build them as light as you can. One thing that would really lighten up an Archtop would be to use mahogany for the neck. Maple necks sure are heavy (and figured maple can be a bear to carve).

I use willow for the neck and tail block in the tradition of violin builders. It's light and pretty strong.

Thanks Anthony, Maple always looks good on an Archtop but does it mean you guys are always using that wood for your plates or you can derive from tradition and use let's say white or black ash, sycamore or whatever light colored hardwoods there is out there?

Thanks in advance bud! [:D]

Serge

Serge, figured maple is the traditional back/side wood with a spruce top. Historically euro maple and spruce was used. Given current availability and cost considerations most folks now use western Big Leaf Maple for sides/backs and Sitka or Englemann for the tops.

There is no reason why you couldn't use alternate woods for backs and sides. I've seen Archtops made from:
- Koa
- Black Acacia
- Walnut
- Mahogany
- Yellow Birch

You could use Sycamore. I am not familiar with white or black ash as a tonewood. My suspicion is that it would be difficult to find it in sufficient width to build a two piece backed Archtop with a 16", 17" or 18" lower bout.

In group Tim/Shane Black Acacia purchase -- I've got some heading my way that I plan to use for an Archtop.

Very nice guitar Anthony. I built an archtop about 10 years ago and did an early waterbased finish on it that sort of platicized to tone. I someday hope to strip it off and redo it. Now it just sits in the case and ages.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Thank you vey much Anthony, Black Acacia will sure have a WOW effect, can't wait to see that on an Archtop!

Serge