Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi There -

This is my first post.

I am 6'6" with giant hands and long fingers to match. I'm new to guitar, but not music: saxophone since Watergate; keys since Woodstock. I'm a Jazz musician.

A standard size Jazzbox neck is too narrow for me, as are things like standard flutes and clarinets. So, I'm looking for an archtop that fits my large hands / long fingers. I don't have a problem with scale and don't need a baritone scale instrument. In fact, a Gibson 24.75" scale is probably better since I'm doing Jazz voicings and, as a guitar newbie, my fingers don't stretch sideways like a seasoned guitarist's do.

The problem is the width. of the neck. The strings are too close together for me on a standard size instrument.

I was able to find an "electric classical" Strat converted from an 8 string to a 6 string. It has a 54 mm nut and a whopping 72 mm E to E @ the bridge. This thing is huge! The edges of the neck are scalloped. 25.5" scale. It fits me great! Photo attached. Whether it would fit even better with a 24.75" Gibson scale is an open question, but Jazzboxes usually have that scale, apparently.

Being a Jazz player, I'd like to get a Jazzbox (Gibson 175 clone) or thinline (Gibson 335 clone). My "Giant Strat" actually sounds pretty good for straight ahead Jazz, but having a true archtop or at least a thinline would be cool.

The largest production "donor instrument" that I can source is a 7 string archtop. Most are really expensive and above my budget, but the Eastman AR810CE-7 is about 2.5K. It's nut is 2.125" (54 mm); perfect. But its E to E @ the bridge is only 2.38189" (60.5 mm). One seller (Guitars & Stuff in NJ) says they can convert at a reasonable price; $400. so, roughly $3000 out the door.

Now, that MIGHT be enough @ the bridge. But it's smaller than my "Giant Strat."

So...

As I can see it, these are my options if I want larger @ the bridge than the Eastman, etc. 7 string:

1. Luthier custom. Price and time are problematic. I'd like to avoid 5K+ and a one year wait.

2. The Chinese custom builders (Wu, etc.) About $1700 and a 3 month or so wait. Essentially a custom Eastman, apparently. So far, my best option, but the electronics are sub-par and it would need those replaced a complete set-up; adding to the cost and time of the project.

3. I have Cort Joe Beck archtop. I really like the sound of it and at my present level of guitar playing, it's enough archtop for me. However, its nut is only 1.69" (49.926 mm). This one isn't mine, but it's identical:

https://reverb.com/item/40408783-cort-j ... shell-case

Could it be a "donor guitar," either by:

A. Replacing the neck with a wider one ... and of course replacing the bridge and pickups, etc., as with the Eastman 7 string conversion, or...

B. Widening the existing neck, ditto regarding bridge / pickups, etc.?

Are either "A" or "B" possible, feasible, economical and doable in a reasonable time frame? After all, it's a $500 guitar. It doesn't make too much sense to spend a crazy amount of money to widen it.

If not, is thee anybody here who could build me a custom archtop @ my budget ($3000) in a few months at most?

I'm presently in Woodstock New York.

Thank you!

- Jeff Newton

How about having a new neck and bridge made for your existing guitar?

That's Option "B" above. I'm hopeful somebody on this forum is interested and it's possible.

It is hard to attach a wider neck to a guitar with a cutaway, as the cutaway is flush along one side for a couple of inches. You can cheat the whole neck to the left, but then it is no longer centered and the pickups won't line up. As it is, sting spacing over the pickup poles is hard to maintain with non-standard neck widths. Of course, you can get excellent blade pickups like the Biltoff CC style pickup. The other issue for an electric guitar is the saddle and bridge. I made myself a Tele and wanted wider string spacing (also a jazz finger style player). I had to opt for individual saddles. That metal saddle on your existing guitar is a limiting factor.

You could try to find a non-cutaway arch top and fit it with a wood saddle, but replacing the neck on an arch top is also MAJOR work. The necks are usually glued in, not screwed like a Fender Strat. You would have a hard time not damaging the finish and neck block trying to get it out. Not impossible, but hard. Hard usually means expensive.

By the time you find a donor, say for $1K or so, and paid someone competent to fit a new neck, another $1K or so, and paid to ship the guitar back and forth it might be easier to order a Wu. Just order it without hardware, electronics or frets and have a local luthier complete the guitar for you. Three months would be a bit tight, but you would have it all by Christmas and have spent less than $3k. If time is a factor, you could probably have someone make you a custom tele for half the cost in that time. It's not the same (I know, I LOVE arch tops) but if a Tele was good enough for Ted Greene, or Tim Lerch, or Julian Lage, it will probably do in a pinch.