Benedetto Archtop Guitar Templates
Make an archtop just like the master
We've teamed up with world-class luthier and archtop artisan Bob Bendetto to help you craft your own archtop guitar.
Taken directly from Benedetto's Making an Archtop Guitar, these templates take the mystery out of top and back carving. Using these full-scale templates you'll accurately lay out the neck, top, and back of your archtop for precise carving of all curves and contours. These templates are based on Benedetto's 17" acoustic archtop, a premier jazz instrument.
Carve the perfect top and back
Hand-carving an archtop is one of the most rewarding challenges in luthiery. Each template is precisely machined from high-quality clear acrylic, and shaped to the exact dimensions as used by Benedetto. Once you carve the top and back to your liking, you can use a thickness caliper
to carve the interior.
"The templates have been faithfully reproduced by StewMac and will serve as a time saver while tooling and preparing to make your own guitar."—Bob Benedetto
These templates are the next best thing to having Bob in your shop!
Get the full set or just the templates you need:
2357 Full set: Includes body template, neck template, top and back arch sets2250 Body Template: includes full sized 17" wide archtop template
2242 Top arch set: includes 5 piece top template set
2243 Back arch set: includes 5 piece back template set
2320 Neck template: includes full size neck template
- Thickness: 1/4" (6.35mm)
- Body template outer dimension: 20.75" x 17" (527mm x 431mm)
- Clear acrylic
- Laser etched centerlines, brace locations, and corresponding locations used in Benedetto's book and plans.
Create precision cuts every time
We recommend using Double-stick Tape to keep the body and neck templates in place. Align the body template's centerlines with those drawn on your wood and tape in place. The Bosch Colt Router and Ball-bearing Router Bit make it easy to get clean and precise cuts.