Archtop to Reso

[resotonic]

Any of you crafty fellows modified an archtop guitar to accept a 9 1/2" cone to create a resonator guitar?

[pete1951]

Yes, I have.
Pete

[linkous]

Not me. But I once built an all-aluminum archtop. Sounds a bit like a reso.

[pete1951]

First, if the arch top is a working guitar, I would not do the conversation. There are plenty of damaged guitars in the world to play around with. If you have a broken guitar you want to convert post some pictures. The string/ tailpiece angle will most likely be too large ,as will the neck angle. If you intend to use a standard cover plate it will need to be flexible enough to take the shape of the top.
There are other things that you will have to do.
Pete
Cutting a large hole in a guitar not designed to have one means it will distort over time, so a neck-stick that goes from neckblock to endblock will probably be needed.

There are other things that might need to be done/thought about, but I would need some pics of the donor guitar.

[Deleted]

I've converted a few beaten up egmonds.
The top flattens a bit, and the coverplate bends a bit too, so it is doable.
TT

[pete1951]

Here’s one under the knife at the moment
.

To overcome the problems of the cover plate not fitting and the tailpiece angle too steep, I have put on a ‘full metal jacket’
Pete

[bonzo]

Mine when it's finished I hope Pete! 😎🎸👍

[resotonic]

Your Washburn is a nice way to beat the f-holes. I was looking for a small body Framus or Egmond in beat up condition to fool with. Framus neck is too thin tho', & it's difficult to get a seller to understand what you mean by 'distance between f-holes' for cutting out for coverplate. Something will come up locally I'm sure that will work for a reso.

[Brad Bechtel]

“Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.”

— Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

[pete1951]

There are a lot of pigs out there, but the temptation to try to make a “silk purse out of a sow’s ear “ is often too great!

Pete