EIRW archtop

[56nortondomy]

I've just finished my first archtop. It was a real learning experience, and was a lot more difficult than I was expecting, I'm pretty happy with the result but there's room for improvement that's for sure.
B/S EIRW
Top Lutz
Birds eye maple neck. By far the hardest timber I've used on a neck.
Ebony f/b
African b/wood bridge
Curly koa bindings
Ebony head plate on the front and African b/w on the back
Schaller tuners
Kent Armstrong p/up
Wayne

[kiwigeo]

Great work there Wayne......what's the finish?

[ozziebluesman]

Great job Wayne.
A credit to you, congratulations.
Cheers
Al

[56nortondomy]

Thanks Alan, Martin, the finish is Miritone lacquer.
Wayne

[Nick]

Excellent job Wayne for a 'firsty', what style of bracing did you go with (X or parallel) and have you achieved the tone you were after?
What is the brand of tailpiece? I know Benedetto used one in a talk he gave and did name it I think but it's been some years since I watched the DVD.

[56nortondomy]

Thanks Nick, it's x braced. Tone is pretty much what I was after but I really haven't had much to do with archtops. The guy who ordered it supplied the tailpiece, I don't know the maker, it's German made, but it came from Allparts. Wayne
https://www.allparts.com/TP-5475-002-AB ... _4289.html

[Hank]

She looks a honey!
only ever played with birds eye maple veneer, solid would be something else
Shaping the neck would of been tough going!
lots of file work?

polish looks great

Hank

[Mark McLean]

Nice job Wayne. The neck looks especially awesome

Mark

[martintaylor]

Looks great Wayne! What was the hardest part (apart from the neck!)

[soulman]

Good job Wayne. Well done
Ross

[56nortondomy]

Thanks everyone for the nice comments.
Martin, I think apart from carving the neck, fitting the neck was also a real challenge for me, I've never done a dovetail before and I cut this one by hand. I have another one to do for the same customer ( parallel braced this time ) so I'm going to make a router template to do the dovetail this time ( any info on the sizes for the template would be welcome ). Wayne

[needsmorecowbel]

Nice One Wayne!

Stu

[56nortondomy]

Thanks Stu, looking forward to seeing something from you in the not too distant future.
Wayne

[needsmorecowbel]

It might be a table/ bookshelf before a guitar at this rate haha

Stu

[Jehu]

Nicely done! Hand cutting and fitting that dovetail is probably the trickiest part of an archtop build.

[rocket]

Bloody nice job there Wayne, blown away by the maple neck, awesome figure, how was the rosewood to carve? lovely combination, the subtle contrast of the rosewood/maple,lutz. Beautiful axe,,,

Cheers

Rod.

[56nortondomy]

Thanks rod, the rosewood was good to carve, it was easier than I expected. The maple was tough though, and I have 2 more necks to make with it. Wayne

[seeaxe]

Beautiful wood combination Wayne. That neck is something else.
Would look even better leaning up against a 56 Norton Dominator, of course

Cheers
Richard

[56nortondomy]

If only I still had one to lean it against Richard, it'd be a dream come true
Wayne

[56nortondomy]

The owner of this guitar has finally done a demo if anyone wants a listen.
Wayne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x54-jdm6Z5g