Making an Archtop Guitar [Paperback]

I've purchased this book after reading and re-reading Cumpiano & Natelson's great book, Guitarmaking: Tradition and Technology, since I was interested in broadening my knowledge and learning about the intricacies of making an archtop guitar.

If you are a small time builder or a hobbyist like me however, be forewarned: this book is an elementary starting point; it is thin in its instructional content. In this book Bob Benedetto seems to gloss over many crucial steps in the practice of archtop guitar building, such as the techniques of top and back plate carving and tap tuning which are arguably the most CRUCIAL skills in making archtop guitars. I suppose that this is fine for people who have experience carving violins or mandolins, but for enthused DIY-ers it is a bit of a bummer. With a lot of trial and error you can figure out the techniques for yourself, (which is probably a good thing - if you have the time and patience) but basically you'd do well to amass practical knowledge about building carved-top string instruments and guitars in general BEFORE reading this book.

For instance, many steps outlined in the book such as installing and dressing frets are incredibly anemic, and presuppose that the reader already has the knowledge and skill to complete the steps without guidance. Fair enough, however good judgement is needed as some steps seem to defy commonsense, such as quickly radiusing the fingerboard on a belt sander. Traditionally this step is done with great care, by slowly planing the surface of the fingerboard with the aid of straightedges and radius-guages. I can imagine a belt sander quickly mucking-up a piece of expensive rosewood or ebony if it isn't set-up properly or if it is used without the utmost attention... So again, what you get out of this book truly depends on what your own commonsense dictates, and what you know about guitar building beforehand.

In all, it would be great if later editions of this book expanded the discussion by thoroughly explaining the proper top and back carving, planing and scraping techniques along with better explaining the subjective process of tap-tuning the top and back plates of the guitar body. (Is one plate supposed to be higher pitched than the other? Should they be "tuned" in a way that they somehow harmonize together, or complement the tuning of the guitar?) I find that the problem with this book is that Mr. Benedetto piques your interest, but then suddenly the discussion is over almost as quickly as it starts.

So far this book is the only one of its kind on the subject of archtop guitars and Robert Benedetto is definitely one of the most reputed authorities on archtop guitar building; so it would be really grand if he would share more of his insight into the craft in later editions. For people who are simply keen on seeing how guitars are built, this is a great book with wonderful illustrations, and as a reference for builders the included full-size templates are superb. Overall though the book could be a bit more thorough with regards to the quintessential archtop guitar building practices of carving and tuning the body.

What a let down! In the guitar making category this is the only book I've found devoted to archtop construction-and it stinks. The pictures are the only concellation.

If you're an experienced guitar builder, you will be able backward engineer your way into designing the necessary fixtures and jigs to make a decent instrument; but, if your're new to the craft this book will only frustrate you. One photo, for instance, has a caption beneath it to tell you the eight bridges pictured are in various "stages of construction". Most of the book is organized this way. The author also approaches the construction process as it relates to his specific shop tooling. When he does allude to another method of performing a task, he fails to offer any of that information, which will leave a beginner combing through other books to discover how to approach his work.

Another gripe I have is that the text is overly large for the content. It comes accross as "padding" the content to make up for a lack of substance.

The author is, by all accounts, a gifted luthier. It's a shame so much effort was put into selecting quality paper and great photos, only to let sparse writing detract from the book. At best, this is a overview of archtop construction.

Save your money folks!

Is this a book of self promotion? Or is the author genuinely interested in sharing his knowledge of archtop construction?

I enjoyed the book, but have many questions left unanswered. The author spends too much time settling issues that are of little interest or scientific value (such as the effect of the tail piece on string tension), but seems to gloss over areas where the inexperienced luthier needs most help (the theory and practice of tap tuning). I find it surprising that this book actively promotes itself as a guide to tap tuning when the info on this subject is barely touched on. He also offers very little on neck angle, bracing patterns, headstock angle, etc.

The archtop guitar is a very 'young' instrument (only about 100 years old) created based on the theories behind violin construction. I was interested in this author since he is also a violin maker, and expected him to take the trove of knowleged behind violin construction that's been developed over centuries of tradition and apply it to this new instrument. He failed to do that completely.

This book disappointed me. But I did enjoy the pictures. No one can argue that Benedetto makes beautiful guitars, and numerous pix testify to this fact.

On the plus side I am glad to finally see in print someone argueing against the use of the typical screw adjustable saddle and bridge. I've always thought that to be weakest feature of the archtop design.

This book is NOT for someone who wishes to seriously study archtop guitar design and construction. Although if you have built guitars before then this book has enough for you to make an archtop.