# Guitar Archtop Help

**URL:** <https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/guitar-archtop-help/12229>\
**Category:** Modeling Questions\
**Created:** [April 8, 2021, 4:51pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/guitar-archtop-help/12229 "2021-04-08T16:51:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![greekjgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@greekjgg](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/greekjgg)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 4:51pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/guitar-archtop-help/12229/1 "2021-04-08T16:51:17Z")

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I saw in another topic that using sweep is a way to do this, but if you see my attachment, the contour changes on each line as it goes around the body. I have to believe there is a simpler way to do this? If you click on the third image after clicking the link you’ll see the lines going around the body that show where it changes height, and then it outlines to the right what those contours look like. I’d attach a pic but “I’m new” and can’t.

[https://genone-luthier-supply.com/products/solid-body-electric-guitar-plan-11](https://genone-luthier-supply.com/products/solid-body-electric-guitar-plan-11)

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**Author:** ![KPeter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/kpeter/32/7644_2.png) [@KPeter](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/KPeter)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 5:13pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/guitar-archtop-help/12229/2 "2021-04-08T17:13:12Z")

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Hi, you can project sketches onto surfaces. These projections will be _Edges_ and can be grabbed and moved with the Move/Rotate tool to create a freeform-like shape. It will easily end up in complex surfaces that can be hard to work with - like the example in the video, where the Fillet tool cannot be applied over a specific radius:

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**Author:** ![greekjgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@greekjgg](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/greekjgg)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2021, 6:14pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/guitar-archtop-help/12229/3 "2021-04-08T18:14:58Z")

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Ok, this seems more doable!! Appreciate the response. A tutorial on maybe a Les Paul Archtop style guitar would be cool to see.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![greekjgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@greekjgg](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/greekjgg)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 12:00pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/guitar-archtop-help/12229/4 "2021-04-09T12:00:34Z")

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So I’ve been trying to do this since you posted it. Hard to keep up cause your fast. But, if I have 4 different heights I need to tweak, does that require 4 different construction planes? I feel like this would be easier if you were able to highlight an area and use the up/down to manipulate it. The solution in the video feels like a “workaround” for a limitation to the software. I’m not knocking it, but most of the designs are fairly cut and dry where this requires some “finesse”.

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**Author:** ![KPeter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/kpeter/32/7644_2.png) [@KPeter](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/KPeter)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 12:52pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/guitar-archtop-help/12229/5 "2021-04-09T12:52:11Z")

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One construction plane should be enough if you create more curves on it then project them onto the top surface. With the move rotate tool not just edges, but faces can also be manipulated.

Well, I would not say it is not a workaround. For these kinds of forms, a Curve Network surface, or a Patch surface would be - and will be - very useful in the future 😉

Until the release of these features, please take a look at another possible way to create the top surface of the guitar:

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![greekjgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@greekjgg](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/greekjgg)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/guitar-archtop-help/12229/6 "2021-04-09T13:18:37Z")

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[https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0081/4261/8677/products/03\_EVHCustom\_3\_2048x.png?v=1561470485](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0081/4261/8677/products/03_EVHCustom_3_2048x.png?v=1561470485)

So with this other option, I could re-create the contour sections in the link I posted and then connect them all together like you did by recreating the opposite of the contoured sections in the photo?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KPeter](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/kpeter/32/7644_2.png) [@KPeter](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/KPeter)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2021, 3:31pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/guitar-archtop-help/12229/7 "2021-04-09T15:31:40Z")

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Exactly! The only tricky part will be the fin between Section 1 and 2, and the part below section 6. I think you have to guess them as they cannot be defined accurately with this method.