Tim Lerch with a Fibertone CF archtop (and it sounds great)

**Jim Soloway** · 09-19-2020, 10:36 AM

**kris** · 09-19-2020, 11:41 AM

Very clean interesting sound.
Best
Kris

**kevmoga** · 09-19-2020, 12:56 PM

Wonder how it sounds in the hands of a mere mortal........he always sounds great whatever he plays. Would like to try one of these some day, I find the stability thing appealing.

**marcwhy** · 09-19-2020, 01:20 PM

Right -- Tim always sounds great!

Fibertone page on Reverb..

**ThatRhythmMan** · 09-19-2020, 02:22 PM

Well, how cool is that for a travel guitar?

Fibertone DRC hollow body 2019 unidirectional natural carbon | Reverb

**Herbie** · 09-19-2020, 04:17 PM

Wow! Perfect guitar! Except the price. Maybe this would take the wear and use of two or three ’normal’ archtops, so not bad in that way.

And the colour. Black is a bit... black! Darth Vader would like this shiny gem!

Oh, I could choose from these:
RAL Color Chart | www.RALcolor.com

’Rouge Tomate’ for me, please!

**rlrhett** · 09-19-2020, 04:39 PM

I've been playing carbon fiber arch tops for almost ten years now. You guys have seen the pictures. I love them. I've made about a dozen and kept three. I have a thin line, one with an oval hole and nylon strings, and a traditional full depth arch top. Mine are very light, about the same as a traditionally made classical. Otherwise, much the same concept (although foolishly I was selling them for MUCH less! :-( ) I gave up on making them for others. Too much of a hassle. But for $10K who knows what I would have done.... Water under the bridge.

What I like about them is not that they sound like a Gibby. The opposite, actually. They are very bright, melodic, and mid-forwards. Something like an old Epi from the 30's without any of the brashness or jangle. At 4lbs, they are also very comfortable to hold and play and are very stable.

There is a technique to making these and some specialized equipment; but I hope the concept catches on more. CF guitars are increasingly popular in the flat top/Martin dred world, but not so much in arch tops. I find that odd. I really think that CF is best suited for arch tops.

**marcwhy** · 09-19-2020, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by rlrhett

I've been playing carbon fiber arch tops for almost ten years now. You guys have seen the pictures. I love them. I've made about a dozen and kept three. I have a thin line, one with an oval hole and nylon strings, and a traditional full depth arch top. Mine are very light, about the same as a traditionally made classical. Otherwise, much the same concept (although foolishly I was selling them for MUCH less! :-( ) I gave up on making them for others. Too much of a hassle. ...

I was wondering about that, since I was trying to find your web site recently, and couldn't! You had some nice demos and models! [Was the hassle, "Dealing with finicky guitarists??"]

**WavyGravy** · 09-19-2020, 05:59 PM

Wow, that does sound great.
Does anyone know what pickup is in the model that he is playing?

**rlrhett** · 09-19-2020, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by marcwhy

I was wondering about that, since I was trying to find your web site recently, and couldn't! You had some nice demos and models! [Was the hassle, "Dealing with finicky guitarists??"]

I think the real problem was people were scared to spend the money. I was charging around $3k. If I had been charging $10k maybe only people with FU money would have wanted one. At $3k, I got a lot of people who wanted a a unique new guitar, but...

I would get people who would be super excited, shoot picture and emails back and forth, come to my home-shop to play one, etc., but never send a deposit. Such a waste of time. Or they would worry endlessly about resale (hint: custom boutique guitars have NO resale value, like a custom piece of furniture). Or they insisted on customizing without knowing what they wanted. I rough carve the neck on a CNC, so generally I can match your preferred neck size and shape. Just measure a guitar you like with a contour gage at the 1st and 12th fret, trace it, send it to me. People would never send it, or send me three radically different necks. Or they wanted a 10 string fan fret guitar with a midi interface. Or they wanted me to inlay the face of their pet dog on the fretboard, but balked at an extra cost. Etc.

It was never going to be a full time business for me, but it became a hassle nonetheless. I still make them from time to time. I’ve got a double cutaway Casino type thin line planned for a friend. But I took down my website and stopped going to guitar shows. I don’t know how any one man shop pulls it off these days.

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**WillMbCdn5** · 09-19-2020, 06:43 PM

Lovely tone , sounds VERY modern - which for many would be a big plus , I could imagine Gilad Hekselman/Lage Lund etc on one of those. . The aesthetic doesn't work for me but that's subjective.

Will

**Jim Soloway** · 09-19-2020, 06:57 PM

Originally Posted by rlrhett

I think the real problem was people were scared to spend the money. I was charging around $3k. If I had been charging $10k maybe only people with FU money would have wanted one. At $3k, I got a lot of people who wanted a a unique new guitar, but...

I would get people who would be super excited, shoot picture and emails back and forth, come to my home-shop to play one, etc., but never send a deposit. Such a waste of time. Or they would worry endlessly about resale (hint: custom boutique guitars have NO resale value, like a custom piece of furniture). Or they insisted on customizing without knowing what they wanted. I rough carve the neck on a CNC, so generally I can match your preferred neck size and shape. Just measure a guitar you like with a contour gage at the 1st and 12th fret, trace it, send it to me. People would never send it, or send me three radically different necks. Or they wanted a 10 string fan fret guitar with a midi interface. Or they wanted me to inlay the face of their pet dog on the fretboard, but balked at an extra cost. Etc.

It was never going to be a full time business for me, but it became a hassle nonetheless. I still make them from time to time. I’ve got a double cutaway Casino type thin line planned for a friend. But I took down my website and stopped going to guitar shows. I don’t know how any one man shop pulls it off these days.

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Somehow I missed all of this (either that or my memory is even worse than I think). I'd love to see what you've done.

**rlrhett** · 09-20-2020, 01:29 AM

Originally Posted by Jim Soloway

Somehow I missed all of this (either that or my memory is even worse than I think). I'd love to see what you've done.

Thanks! But I don’t want to hijack this thread. I didn’t make Tim’s guitar, and certainly don’t want to take away from that luthier’s accomplishment.

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