The Acoustic Guitar Forum

The Acoustic Guitar Forum (https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/index.php)
-   Custom Shop (https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=38)
-   -   Brown - Archtops (https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=499704)

Tad Brown 02-10-2018 01:18 PM

Brown - Archtops
 
A few photos from some of my latest builds. This one is a 17" acoustic archtop, sugar maple, african blackwood, adirondack.

https://brown.guitars/wp-content/upl...8/DSC_0482.jpg
https://brown.guitars/wp-content/upl...9/DSC_0915.jpg
https://brown.guitars/wp-content/upl...9/DSC_0924.jpg
https://brown.guitars/wp-content/upl...9/DSC_0927.jpg
https://brown.guitars/wp-content/upl...9/DSC_0991.jpg
https://brown.guitars/wp-content/upl...8/DSC_1409.jpg
https://brown.guitars/wp-content/upl...8/DSC_1441.jpg
https://brown.guitars/wp-content/upl...DSC_1485-1.jpg
https://brown.guitars/wp-content/upl...8/DSC_1470.jpg
https://brown.guitars/wp-content/upl...8/DSC_1488.jpg

Harmonically tuned string afterlengths
12 gram all rosewood bridge & saddle
Stainless steel frets
Armstrong Floating P90 with Ultratonic soundboard transducers
25.4″ scale, 1 3/4″ nut
Bold rich acoustic tone, lightweight and highly responsive, just over 5 lbs

nacluth 02-10-2018 01:35 PM

Good looking stuff Tad! Look forward to seeing you at LaConner.

Bluemonk 02-10-2018 02:09 PM

Beautiful. I like the burst and the rounded edges on the back of the headstock. Actually, I like pretty much everything about the way it looks.

Halcyon/Tinker 02-10-2018 02:48 PM

Nice!

.....

LouieAtienza 02-10-2018 03:11 PM

Sweet! Love the unique sound holes!

Tad Brown 02-10-2018 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nacluth (Post 5634522)
Good looking stuff Tad! Look forward to seeing you at LaConner.

Thanks Ryan, really looking forward to checking out what you guys are building too. See you at the show.

Tad Brown 02-10-2018 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluemonk (Post 5634564)
Beautiful. I like the burst and the rounded edges on the back of the headstock. Actually, I like pretty much everything about the way it looks.

Thanks man, I spend a lot of time hand sanding and contouring all edges and corners. Spraying the color coat is also one of the most exciting stages. Lotta masking and detailing.

Tad Brown 02-10-2018 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halcyon/Tinker (Post 5634622)
Nice!

.....

Thank you.

Tad Brown 02-10-2018 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LouieAtienza (Post 5634650)
Sweet! Love the unique sound holes!

Thanks so much Louie

Tenzin 02-10-2018 06:41 PM

Absolutely a work of art. How hours does it take? How do you choose the type of wood and then choose the specific piece of wood that will become a Brown? (I'm not very smartly with these things... can you tell by the looking at the grain? Do you use any high tech equipment?

I'm sorry if I'm a pain. It's just so beautiful

BrunoBlack 02-10-2018 07:00 PM

Very handsome guitar Tad. Beautiful work.

Tad Brown 02-11-2018 03:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tenzin (Post 5634898)
Absolutely a work of art. How hours does it take? How do you choose the type of wood and then choose the specific piece of wood that will become a Brown? (I'm not very smartly with these things... can you tell by the looking at the grain? Do you use any high tech equipment?

I'm sorry if I'm a pain. It's just so beautiful

No problem, I like highly figured woods, dry, seasoned, well quartered with minimal runout.

Luckily maple is still readily available, unlike many of the exotic woods.

European is nice to carve, bigleaf can be challenging, but spectacularly flamey. They all sound good when carved light enough.

Adirondack spruce is particularly stiff and can be thinned way down, super light weight and strong, responsive like a canon.

I try to strip away any unnecessary mass in the top, back, heel, and especially bridge, which is brazilian rosewood, for the best tone transfer imo.

There are a lot of possible wood choice combos, which can all work, with thoughtful consideration.

Yeah handling the wood, flexing, tapping, looking at the end grain, can give you a pretty good idea.

As far as hours go, archtops are really intensive. For awhile I was chainsaw carving tops and backs, but have since switched to roughing by cnc.

There's still a ton of handwork though, carefully working the plates down to final dimension by hand with a plane and scraper. Usually about 6-8 weeks start to finish.

Thanks,

Tad

Tad Brown 02-11-2018 03:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haasome (Post 5634915)
Very handsome guitar Tad. Beautiful work.

Thanks Paul

JSDenvir 02-11-2018 06:51 AM

Nice stuff. Don’t you love that Carruth scraper?

Steve

iim7V7IM7 02-11-2018 08:58 AM

Tad it is nice to see an archtop luthier posting in the AGF custom shop...:). Red Maple being native to Michigan was a favorite of Gibson in Kalamazoo. We see way more Bigleaf Maple, Sycamore maple and Sugar Maple (typically flatsawn to show birdseye figure) these days.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:13 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum

vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=