Given the significant investment of time and effort involved in crafting an archtop guitar, there's an argument for using the very best materials I can find. An equally valid point of view is that, for my first attempt at an archtop, there are likely to be mistakes along the way and that it's good policy to choose raw materials of a lesser quality to match my modest expectations.
For this guitar, I've taken the latter approach to the extreme. A Douglas fir coffee table has languished, unused and propped up in a corner of the workshop, for years. In fact, I've had visions of adding it to the pile of tree branches accumulating in a corner of our little property as they await dry weather and a match. However, after stewing over the reality that a decent spruce top could set me back hundreds of dollars and be destined for mediocrity, I contemplated how best to repurpose the old coffee table.
As the table top was comprised of several adjacent lengths of fir, with grain oriented randomly, I separated the sections with a circular saw and selected the pieces whose grain was closest to quarter-sawn. As you can see, the composite soundboard in its raw state would be a firm favourite in an ugly contest, but I'm reasonably confident that I can transform it into something resembling a guitar. Despite their humble origins, there's a sense of excitement and anticipation when I contemplate making use of sub-optimal materials that may ultimately make beautiful noises.
More to come.
Cheers, Pete.
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