First Guitar as done as it's going to be.

[Eric Knapp]

Well, since I'm working on guitars 3 and 4 I thought I'd do a followup on number 1. I have the intonation as good as I can get it with this fretboard and bridge. It's not bad and I'll never be satisfied anyway. The top is western red cedar from a piece of siding. The back, sides, and neck are walnut.

Seven strings! What was I thinking?

My first rosette, too. It's walnut burl figure with maple and ebony highlights.

Rosewood binding, that was an ordeal. It was a lot easier on guitar number 2.

Pretty plain walnut back and sides. I didn't want to use fancy woods on my first build.

It will always be my first and I'm very happy with it. It has a lot of rookie flaws but that's ok, I learned so much making it. It was quite the rush playing it for the first time. On to the next builds.

Thanks for all the help and encouragement.

-Eric

[Bob Gramann]

Congratulations. Looks good.

[Bryan Bear]

Looks great; nice work. Hearing the first one is always something special!

I really like the vibe of the walnut and cedar together. It is nice and understated looking but not at all in a boring way.

[Eric Knapp]

Congratulations. Looks good.

Thanks, Bob.

-Eric

[Eric Knapp]

Looks great; nice work. Hearing the first one is always something special!

Thanks, it was a very nice moment. I only wish I could play better.

I really like the vibe of the walnut and cedar together. It is nice and understated looking but not at all in a boring way.

I was surprised when the WRC turned to almost the same color as the walnut when finished. They weren't like that before the shellac. I do like the look now. I think I have one more top from that board.

-Eric

[Karl Wicklund]

I like it, Eric. Can’t wait to see it in person!

[Eric Knapp]

I like it, Eric. Can’t wait to see it in person!

Thanks, Karl. Anytime!

-Eric

[Eric Crawford]

I like it. The woods look really good together and the rosette is beautiful.
Hopefully it plays as good as it looks!

[Eric Knapp]

I like it. The woods look really good together and the rosette is beautiful.
Hopefully it plays as good as it looks!

Thank you! Um, well, er, I hope so too. I'm not a great player so I can't judge. I had to do a lot of adjustments including removing the fretboard and moving it slightly. Getting consistent intonation on an acoustic guitar is a challenge for me still. Guitar number 2 was better and I'm hoping the next one is better still. Step by step, eh?

-Eric

[Eric Crawford]

Yep
Although I may have found a way to stop that cycle.
My current odd attempt at an unusual design is fretless.
Any intonation issues will be easily explained by my lack of playing ability so I can still think I built it well.
We will see. I should probably finish this summer if I don’t get too sidetracked.

[Eric Knapp]

Yep
Although I may have found a way to stop that cycle.
My current odd attempt at an unusual design is fretless.
Any intonation issues will be easily explained by my lack of playing ability so I can still think I built it well.
We will see. I should probably finish this summer if I don’t get too sidetracked.

I'm looking forward to seeing that one!

-Eric

[Matthew Lau]

It looks fantastic.

You should be proud of how it turned out

[Eric Knapp]

It looks fantastic.

You should be proud of how it turned out

Thank you, Matthew.

That's nice of you to say. I am proud of it, worts and all.

-Eric

[Clay Schaeffer]

Very nice looking guitar. What made you decide to go with 7 strings?

[Eric Knapp]

Very nice looking guitar. What made you decide to go with 7 strings?

Thank you, Clay. Back when I was a player I was in several jazz bands. My teacher played a 7-string archtop and was a student of George Van Eps. Those kind of guitars were not common in the 80s and I've always wanted one. Now I have one and will probably make a 7-string archtop at some point. I like the possibilities. I also think a 7-string multi-scale guitar might work better for that low note so I might do that too.

-Eric

[Bob Ionta]

+1 for the idea of a multi scale 7-string. I built a 7 string, short-scale (24.75"), archtop guitar and I'm still playing around with string gauges, trying to get a low B that sounds good acoustically. Plugged in (Seymour Duncan "Benedetto" floating pickup) it sounds quite good with a .062 flat-wound string borrowed from a short scale Gibson bass but that string doesn't speak particularly well acoustically on my guitar. I'm going to try a .070 flat wound D'Addarrio chrome next. I would not use that (single) scale length for a 7-string again but the rest of the strings sound good to me (TI GB112 strings are my favorite so far) so multi-scale would probably be great.

--Bob

[Barry Daniels]

A few years ago I rebuilt a Gretsch Van Eps 7-string. The truss rod was frozen and had to be replace which ended up requiring a new fretboard. Also replaced the pickups and wiring harness. It was a big job but turned out to be a good playing guitar. Here is a link to the thread.

Gretsch 7-string

[Eric Knapp]

A few years ago I rebuilt a Gretsch Van Eps 7-string. The truss rod was frozen and had to be replace which ended up requiring a new fretboard. Also replaced the pickups and wiring harness. It was a big job but turned out to be a good playing guitar. Here is a link to the thread.

Gretsch 7-string

That's a great thread! I can't remember if I read it when you posted it, I wasn't retired yet then. My teacher knew a lot about those guitars. He didn't have one as he played left-handed. He had a local guy make him a 7-string archtop and was a wonderful player. Memories!

-Eric

[Eric Knapp]

+1 for the idea of a multi scale 7-string. I built a 7 string, short-scale (24.75"), archtop guitar and I'm still playing around with string gauges, trying to get a low B that sounds good acoustically. Plugged in (Seymour Duncan "Benedetto" floating pickup) it sounds quite good with a .062 flat-wound string borrowed from a short scale Gibson bass but that string doesn't speak particularly well acoustically on my guitar. I'm going to try a .070 flat wound D'Addarrio chrome next. I would not use that (single) scale length for a 7-string again but the rest of the strings sound good to me (TI GB112 strings are my favorite so far) so multi-scale would probably be great.

--Bob

Do you have a photos of that guitar? I hope to be able to make archtops some day. A 7-string, multi-scale archtop might just be the thing to get me back playing.

-Eric

[Bob Ionta]

It's my first archtop and my second build so please be gentle. :^) I built it as an experimental platform and tinkered with it for a couple of years. At one point I removed the top and shaved braces (they're parallel). The acoustic sound got better. People often fret (pun intended) about carving an archtop but I found that fun and pretty easy. I spent waaaaayyy more hours designing, making and breaking tailpieces than I did carving. The arches are curate cycloid (worth investigating) and I used R.M. Mottola's web-based calculator to draw the curves, print them and make templates. Anyway, I could talk your ears off about it but you didn't ask for all that so here are a couple of crappy cell phone snapshots I just took.