Official Luthiers Forum!

A little over a year ago we did a "show us your tops" thread that was very well received and many folks said that it was very helpful to them. So in the spirit of the just held Miami show..... I thought that a Luthiers Gone Wild - Show Us Your Tops thread might be fun to do.

Besides I just finished this one this evening.........







Now for those of you who care to share lets see your tops please?

Sitka OM. Should be done in a week or so!

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

Very nice and clean bracing Hesh .
This is the L-00 I'm working on...

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Looking great Mike and I dig that flying buttresses too!!!

Very cool L-OO top Dave - is that a MMTB (Mario's magic tone bar) that I see?

Thanks, Hesh. I can't wait to get it strung up and see how it sounds.

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

Mike it looks like it will sound excellent.

I wanted to ask you what the notch is on the top of the tail block?

I reinforced the center seam on the back with carbon fiber, ala Rick Turner. It got let into and epoxied into the notches.

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

Got it - that looks like a very good idea!

This is from the 00 headed for my brother. Its probably still a bit overbraced, but the closed box is very resonant right now.



EDIT: You can see the piano hammer in the X-Acto handle that I use for tapping in the upper right.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Cheers to Rick!

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

Thanks Hesh! .... Yup

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

Very nice flying buttress.

Great looking and clean work gentlemen so much so I reluctantly post this picture. This is my first attempt at a flattop (so many more braces than an archtop).

Here is the top of a guitar I am building for long time friend and band mate, Micheal Dado.
Ladder braced grand concert with a K&K Trinity system installed.

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

thats my latest steel string top.
its curly redwood braced Larrivee style.
the guitar is based on Larrivee's P model.
the differences are that, with the counter-intuitive comments of my good friend, and one hell of a luthier, Boaz Elkayam, that have been sitting at the back of my head for a long time, i left things a a bit more massive than i'd normally do, aspecially for a parlor.
top is NOW 0.120" thick, braces are all(except for the upper transverse) 0.30" thick(i use metric system but thats close enough).
the X is a perfect 90deg and none of the braces are tucked under the linings or even touch them.
they all stop 1mm before they reach the linings.


unlike anything i did before, but hey, its a keeper so why not experiment?

Udi.

Here's mine











It's an Adi SJ , yeah, yeah, I know, I tried to stick to the plan I really did, but it was just too difficult for me to resist trying out what I've had on my mind for a while now and besides, IMO that is the whole point of building your own, I only have me to please so no real issue if it turns to crap, I'll just tell everyone I got it from Hesh

Cheers

Kim

Kim, did you look at a contraption similar to the one below (currently pimping it up / clean+voiceing) when you've dreamed that scheme?

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Build log

Jim, AZ, Kim, John, Udi, and Alex I see some great looking work!!!!

What is very interesting about this is that no two are braced alike, at least so far. This should give the impression that there are truly many ways to go at this.

Here's a couple. First one's mine (A 00 from sometime last year). Second one is an early 30's Martin.

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Jimmy Caldwell
http://www.caldwellguitars.com

It appears that at least a couple of those tops stop the X brace short of the kerfing. It is hard to tell from the pics. If this is the case, I would be interested in hearing the thought process from those that are doing this. (If you care to share)

Hi Jimmy, what type of wood is your bridge plate?

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Same ol', same ol'.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Arnt,

It's maple. The photo makes it look kind of pink, but it's not.

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Jimmy Caldwell
http://www.caldwellguitars.com

Hey Kim;
I've been itching to do a similar pattern on my next SJ style guitar & I'd be really interested in hearing how this works for you.
Looks very cool!

Waddy, that is the first german top right? I recognize the wide dark grain lines on the wings. Not fair. Put a new one up fast

Mine is Lutz. The neck is done and today I am side bending I hope i'll string her up in the next 2 weeks. Perfect weather, 45% nailed for most of the day.

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Build log

Don't have a new one done. Just finished trashing my new V-Joint neck on Sunday. I'll be starting that one over when I get back in the shop this weekend.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars