I made some huge progress on the 16″ 7 string archtop i’m building for Stan Charkey. These pictures show the progress of the build in the last week or two: Side bending, neck building, bracing, the special steps taken to construct the high access neck joint (which is a feature on all my guitars now), assembly, detailing etc etc… Theres a couple pics in there that show how i tune the plate’s final responsiveness after machine carving. Each plate is slightly different and i remove wood at the perimeter of the plate until it has a slight “give” with thumb pressure. This makes sure the top is moving like a baffle and vibrating nicely. Not too much though or the guitar will feedback. I also tap around different parts of the guitar and take a little more away where its a little stiff or too tight.
Also shown is the detailing prior to finish, as well as the staining. Last shots show the color after getting a few clear coats. Stan asked me to paint the guitar with this guitar i did a few years ago in mind (more pics here). It is a golden brown stain topped with a yellow stain. It takes its final shade after the first coats of clear hit it. The spruce has some killer figuring- it looks electric! Maple is rock’n too. Final clear coats go on tomorrow!
