Making an Archtop Guitar
by Robert Benedetto

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Book Summary Information

• Published by Centerstream Publications 279 Pages
• by Robert Benedetto
• Author: Robert Benedetto

Book Reviews of Making an Archtop Guitar

Book Review: A construction overview by a master Luthier
Summary: 5 Stars

Being written by a master luthier there are any number of things that the writer does not explore in much depth; presumably because those things are so second nature to the author that he does not realize that readers might want to read about them. So the book is not enough to be only-source that a would-be builder would need. Many of these omisions are in the books favor; the book remains a managable size and does not need to broken out in to several volumes. However I would have liked a bit more commentary about why one should do things in the sequence that he outlines. Some of the questions I was left with are listed here.
*. Why are the recurves carved after the body is assembled?
*. When and how does one determine the angle of the neck set?
*. How much plate tuning will typically be done before and after assembling the body?
*. How does one build curve into a truss rod so that neck relief can be influenced by truss rod tension?
Much of this information is available from other sources but is not detailed in this book. The balance between brevity and detailing is subjective; for myself he got the balance pretty close.

I particularly like the books formatting and font selection. The font types and sizes are easy on the eyes and lend them selves to being reviewed without having to get too close. I greatly appreciate that I can look over sections of the book while the book is resting on the work bench. Too many of the books on instrument making are published in a format that is simply too small. With this book I can see details in the photographs and understand what is being illustrated.

I particularly appreciated the authors making a point of explaining that (and why) fancier looking woods can be accoustically inferior to the less exotic looking woods and stating that some wood choices are driven by visual asthetics instead of by accoustical superiority. He illustrates this point with a guitar that he built out of slab-cut pine and maple. With this instrument the author makes it clear that a makers intimate familiarity with any and every piece of wood makes far more difference than what it looks like.

Summary of Making an Archtop Guitar

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