Archtops
Below are pictures and some audio clips of our guitars. If you are using Safari you may need to download the audio file to play it. Again for Safari users, we are in the process of providing alternate links to Soundcloud addresses - below the guitar pictures.
Red2 messing around.mp3
Bang Bang.mp3
G6 Buddy
listen - 7:22:20, 9.20 AM.mp3
G3 Sophie & stand
I've just seen a face (nat. stereo).mp3
G9 top and back. Extensive CNC-machining was used (Fir top with internal X-braces, Bubinga back, fingerboard with fret slots and inlays, bridge, tailpiece, finger rest, headstock overlay with inlays, truss rod cover with inlays).
Update 18 March 2022: G9 is now "electric". Samples below.
fools paradise.mp3heartbeat.mp3
G9 (acoustic) upper and G10 (acoustic-electric) lower. G9 is shown with a f-stop: This reduces the lowest body-mode frequency. G10 is very similar to G9, except that it has a floating Kent Armstrong humbucker pickup mounted off the finger rest. The tailpiece underside incorporates a copper inset, wires and tape that connect the ground of the tailpin / socket to the strings. It is hum-less. The recording below is of the first time it was played, in the garage at 7 am (to avoid ear ache). A home-made cigarbox amp was used, and recording was by iPhone. I.e. we can do better.
pancreas street.mp3======================================================================================================
Below are audio clips stored on Soundcloud. This is one way of solving the access problems associated with using the Safari browser.
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What are we trying to do here? If you want to build an archtop guitar, you should buy the book and watch the film by Robert Benedetto. We do have some ideas on tools and techniques to add: see the section “Tools and techniques”. We now use a CNC router for smaller parts, especially engraving them. See the section “The CNC Router” and follow the links, in particular “ CNC-luthiery”. There we have details of how we use the CNC router, including making archtop guitar plates and a banjo pot. There are .stl files to download of an archtop guitar top and back plate, ready for import into Vectric Aspire and subsequent machining.
So again: What are we trying to do here? This section has two objectives.
The first purpose is to document information on the geometry of our guitars, that can be used, or modified, to help make your own guitar. We also use this data for the second purpose:
The second purpose is to document the response of our guitars, and try and understand that response in term of measureable parameters. This is turning out to be even harder than we imagined. There is a lot of published information, both theoretical and experimental, on the response of violins and the violin family in general. Specifically the resonances that exist are understood, and attempts are made to relate these to how the sound is perceived. This is also true for and flat top guitars, both classical and folk. However as of June 2020 we only know of one article, experimental, on the response of archtop guitars.
