$100 Local Materials Challenge, Louie Atienza, Archtop

[Louie Atienza]

OK I'm in! I don't have a set plan for this, but it should be interesting!

I do plan on making a steel string archtop. The body will be a bit bigger than my previous guitars, but smaller than the 17" I commonly see (since I don't have long arms)

As always, I'll have some surprises, as well as feature some of the jigs I've described in other posts. And as in my last couple builds, the majority of the budget will be on tuners, since I can't stand cheap ones. So some local scrounging is in order.

[Samuel Hartpence]

You may take the term challenge to a whole new level!

[Louie Atienza]

Thanks Sam, I'm hoping so...

One of the biggest challenges so far was finding indiginous woods that will also keep me within budget. I have a chunk of spruce of unknown origin, bought locally however. Spruce does grow here in NY so I'm calling it local. I finally sourced out some maple lumber for the back/sides/neck. There's a local cabinetmaker friend here who had slabs cut from a tree he felled a long time ago, and had resawn and planed down. It's a huge hunk and I'd have enough for two guitars, so a matching set is in order! I also got my pick of the lot, but since most all boards were flatsawn I'll have to make do when it comes to carving the top.

I'll be rummaging through my pole of phenolic scrap for the fretboard, tailpiece, nut, and possibly bridge and headstock overlay. Wire will be closeout wire I purchased from StewMac a while back, I think $100 for 5 pounds or so. I guess I'll be putting the frets on the postage scale. Bracing to be determined, and undecided on binding, though it will be probably another trip to the scrap bucket...

As I've been covering for another employee the last month due to illness, I may not be starting this for at least another week. So I hope to get this going, and check in on everyone else's projects as well!