New Archtop Build

[nomey]

Hi,

A luthier in little old New Zealand called Peter Madill is carving me an archtop and I thought I would share some progress shots. The neck joint is particularly interesting as he does his archtops with a violin style. The backplate covers the heel. Has anyone else seen something like this on an archtop?

Still a bit of work to go but it's got a lovely curve on it and hopefully that maple comes up real pretty. Apologies for the picture size I can't figure how how to make them a bit smaller!

[Al Mojo]

Wow! Lovely archtop from a legendary builder! Thanks for posting.

[Sam Sherry]

Originally Posted by nomey

The neck joint is particularly interesting as he does his archtops with a violin style. The backplate covers the heel. Has anyone else seen something like this on an archtop?

Looks lovely -- here's hoping that it sounds inspiring too!

The "violin" heelcap is a pull from Gibson's presentation archtop, the Citation. Here's a 1994 build currently on Reverb (no affiliation, just showing the pic):



And the front, just because we love looking at pics of archtops:





. . . and check out the Collings City Limits ("CL") Jazz:

[nomey]

Woah thanks for those pics! Really cool to see it done on other archtops. It might make neck resets a bit more work but I really like the idea of it. The neck block probably stops much resonating up there but it seems a more robust way of doing the neck joint.

[Mandobart]

Most mandolin builders also incorporate the back plate "button" as well. Real nice looking build there!

[nomey]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

Most mandolin builders also incorporate the back plate "button" as well. Real nice looking build there!

Peter madill also makes really good mandolins and violins so that makes sense!