I'm new here, so hi everyone. I joined up because I'm interested in
the construction aspects of the olympic. I'm a hobby musician and
instrument builder and thought I would turn my attention to a small
archtop. I have a thing for smaller-bodied guitars. My last completed
project was fixing up an old Harmony 165 with a smashed side and I'm
currently about half way though scratch building my own version of the
Norman Blake 000 (slot head, 12 fret neck, 14 fret body). I'm also a
fan of mahogany guitars in general. I much prefer them to rosewood and
maple. Anyway, I have a few questions in case anyone knows the answers:

I'm aware of David Rawlings, but do you know of any other professionals
who use small archtops? What genre(s) of music do folks generally play
on these?

Is there anyone out there currently building similar guitars (small
bodied archtop with mahogany back and sides)?

I'm going to end up doing a carve top (w/ tone bars)and carved back,
but I'm curious about the olympic. Were the top or back pressed or
carved? Was the top braced?

I see no truss rod. Was the neck reinforced in any way?

Thanks in advance.

-Brad