Terra Centauri

"Take a giant step outside your mind" - Taj Mahal

FORWARD - When an idea strikes, often it's built up to be bigger than it truly is. Even if you think it's new and original, it still has an origin of reference, and a lot of the actual hard work was done collectively by a hundred or so generations of human brawn and wit. So I want to start off by saying I don't think this is a wholly new concept, just a new approach. 

The basic premise is this - how do I make an arched surface, without using laminated veneers, and reducing the amount of waste that goes into carving an archtop instrument. I don't know about other makers, but I'd feel this guilt in turning that ancient Sitka into nothing but shavings and dust. Over the years of carving, and then drinking my cup of coffee in an old wicker rocking chair, I'd think of how perhaps one method of construction (wicker) could eliminate the other (carving). Well, this is definitely not woven, but instead, the joints overlap. The construction style is half flat top, half archtop, where the face of the lower plate meets with the underside of the above plate, with the uppermost plate being the connecting point for the upper and lower sections. The result is a subtle combination of both styles of guitar, where the bass response is more reminiscent of a flat top, but with presence on the treble side that the archtop is known for. 

Terra Centauri 1