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You are here: Home / Building A Monarch / Building a Monarch: Top and Back

Building a Monarch: Top and Back

The building of any guitar begins with selecting the woods to be used. A bookmatched set of Spruce or Cedar is selected for the top, and a back and side set is chosen for the body. Standard woods for the latter are Rosewood, Mahogany, or Maple. Many other woods can be used, and the choice is primarily one of personal taste.

The top and back sets are carefully laid out for best use of grain and figure, glued up, and thicknessed. The shapes are cut out using templates and the braces are glued into place. In a standard build, the braces are carved and shaped at this time. If the builder voices and tunes the top and back, this is done as part of the boxing process… see Part Two of this blog. The photos in the gallery below show the steps involved to make and brace the back and top of a Monarch guitar.

dogwoodguitars_blog_mahogany_01_plates dogwoodguitars_blog_mahogany_02_plates dogwoodguitars_blog_mahogany_03_plates dogwoodguitars_blog_mahogany_04_rosette dogwoodguitars_blog_mahogany_05_rosette dogwoodguitars_blog_mahogany_06_braces dogwoodguitars_blog_mahogany_07_braces dogwoodguitars_blog_mahogany_08_braces dogwoodguitars_blog_mahogany_09_braces dogwoodguitars_blog_mahogany_10_braces dogwoodguitars_blog_mahogany_11_braces dogwoodguitars_blog_mahogany_13_braces dogwoodguitars_blog_mahogany_12_braces dogwoodguitars_blog_mahogany_14_braces dogwoodguitars_blog_mahogany_15_braces dogwoodguitars_blog_mahogany_16_braces dogwoodguitars_blog_mahogany_17_braces
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