Archtop Weissenborn Build

[Bert Graham]

This is an acoustic archtop Weissenborm I am building. The body is Ambrosia Maple. The fretboard, tailpiece, and bridge (not shown) are walnut. I would appreciate any comments.

[K Maul]

Beautiful look! An under saddle and/or K&K type sound board pickup would be best options for this design I’d think. Maybe a Krivo suface mount would fit at the end of the neck. Looking forward to seeing it stained and finished.

[Bert Graham]

Thank you, Kevin. I plan to keep it as an acoustic with a natural finish. The oil-based finish I use will give it a beautiful gloss amber look.

[Greg Forsyth]

Hi Bert,
Cool design on your Weisseborn build. I like the originality of your design and your work looks very professional. Have you built other stringed instruments?

Also, I received your PM. Thanks!

[Bert Graham]

Greg,

I have built and sold a dulcimer and a baritone ukulele. The archtop Weissenborn is my third Weissenborn build. The first two were a Walnut Type 1 and a Curly Maple and Padauk Teardrop. See photos.

[Greg Forsyth]

Beautiful guitars Bert. Thanks for posting the photos. It's apparent you worked hard to make them quality instruments.
A couple of questions.

Did you make molds to bend the sides?

Do you resaw the parts yourself?

[Bert Graham]

Greg,

I steamed the sides in a steam box and quickly put them in a mold.

I resawed the wood on a small benchtop bandsaw with a resaw capacity of only 3 5/8". The tops and bottoms consist of four pieces, each is book-matched to the adjoining piece.

The photo is the back of the Teardrop before it was finished.

Bert

[Tim Toberer]

Cool Projects! Thanks for posting. It makes me want to go back to simpler guitars. I have had a square neck project sitting in the mold for a couple years because I caught the pedal steel bug.

I resawed the wood on a small benchtop bandsaw with a resaw capacity of only 3 5/8"

The little bandsaw that could!

[Greg Forsyth]

Thanks for the answers and photos, Bert. The bookmatch looks great. I'm interested to see and hear about your archtop build.

[Bert Graham]

The finishing of the F-Hole Weissenborn has begun. Please note that I am now referring to this instrument as the "F-hole Weissenborn" After I had glued on the top and back, there was a nice arch in the top and a smaller arch in the back. Several weeks later, as I began the final sanding, I discovered the top was now quite flat and the back was slightly concave.

The photos show the top before and after the first coat of finish was applied, and a close-up of the back to highlight the multiple bookmatchings.

[Tim Toberer]

The finishing of the F-Hole Weissenborn has begun. Please note that I am now referring to this instrument as the "F-hole Weissenborn" After I had glued on the top and back, there was a nice arch in the top and a smaller arch in the back. Several weeks later, as I began the final sanding, I discovered the top was now quite flat and the back was slightly concave.

Were you intending to have an arched top? What happened?

I have been looking into maybe trying something like an archtop steel guitar, but I am unsure how to create the arch.

I found basically 3 methods, obvious is carving out of a solid piece of wood. 2nd is gluing up thin veneer in a mold and press, 3rd would be start with a flat top and mold its in a vacuum form. For a slight archtop like a regular acoustic guitar you can glue the top to arched braces, but this wouldn't be much of an arch. Of all these I like the idea of gluing up veneer, but it would takes some tooling. I have an old laminate old Kay archtop I love the sound of. Carving sounds way too involved. I also thought about trying to form some thin plywood, but I think this may be a waste of time.

[Greg Forsyth]

Thanks for the before and after photos. Finish made the grain jump out. Not sure what caused the movement of the top and bottom. What type of glue did you use? If it was water based maybe the moisture caused the movement but I think I read somewhere you use tung oil.
Are the top and back still moving?

[John Hyland]

It is my theory that weisenborn guitars get their sound because of the lightness in which they are built. Hence a lot of originals haven’t survived. Possibly your attempt to built it light has contributed to the arch form to change.

[Bert Graham]

I finished the F-Hole Archtop today. I am very pleased with the look. It has more bass than I expected, and the volume is ample. Like any guitar, it will sound better as it is played.

I've been playing flattops for years but I am new to slide guitars. I'm looking forward to a whole new experience.

[Greg Forsyth]

Fine looking instrument, Bert. I noticed it has a different shape from your earlier build. Also the tailpiece is different than the others. Nicely made!

[Bert Graham]

Thank you, Greg. My goal was to make a cross between a Type 1 Weissenborn and an archtop guitar. I am very pleased with the look of the F-Holes and the figure of the multiple book-matched Ambrosia Maple. I wanted the tailpiece to be made of wood rather than a metal trapeze tailpiece. Unfortunately, I didn't succeed in achieving much of an arch.

When I tuned up the strings, I discovered the floating bridge had pushed the top down and flattened out what little arch I had. I got it back by inserting a post inside under each foot of the bridge. Problem solved.

Bert

[Jack Stepick]

What bracing design did you use

[Bert Graham]

Jack,

I used a modified X bracing design. I say "modified" because I had to move or leave out a brace or two because of the F-holes. I put an arch on the back of the braces with a radius sanding dish to help create the arch. I also scalloped the top of the braces, but if I ever built another archtop I would not scallop the tops.

As to the sound before and after I put the posts in, I really can't say I noticed a difference.

[Jack Stepick]

The one I'm working on has arched parallel bracing along with an arched lateral brace under the bridge area connecting the two parallel braces. I expect some downward deflection from the string tension , but next time I will use taller bracing and have the arched lateral brace extend across the entire top.

[Bert Graham]

I looked inside my Gretsch New Yorker archtop, something I should have done before I started my build. It had two parallel braces running top to bottom about 3" apart, with two smaller braces connecting them about 4" from each end. The braces were, I guessing, about 5/8" high in the middle and were tapered a little towards the ends. Does that sound like the bracing pattern your are using? By the way, what kind of archtop guitar are you building?

[Jack Stepick]

It is an archtop weissenborn style guitar. The parallel bracing is positioned under the feet of the bridge.

[Bert Graham]

I would be very interested in seeing a photograph when it is finished.

[Jack Stepick]

Will do.