[rpguitar]

When discussing archtops on this forum, we should only be talking about solid wood instruments designed to be acoustic guitars. (Not 6120s or ES-335s!)

Steve's "stroke vs. strum" and "glide vs. pick" descriptions are as good as it gets. But of course you can strum and pick as well; the main point is that your old flattop techniques don't all translate precisely to playing the archtop.

As for single note playing, dig up some Eddie Lang recordings from the late 1920s up until his death in 1933. He played a 16" Gibson L-5 with a fantastic and (to me) never truly duplicated style of chords, percussive single note rhythmic patterns, and virtuosic melody/lead playing. His tone showcases the instrument in its essence: bright, cutting, but also sweet and rich. This is important because it occurred before acoustic archtop players started trying to sound "jazzy" (which meant like an electric archtop in many cases). It literally all changed with Charlie Christian and that blessed/cursed pickup! The acoustic archtop became suddenly and prematurely obsolete to generations of guitarists...

I'm lucky to own a few great vintage Gibson archtops as well as a couple of modern luthier built customs. In the past I've very much enjoyed Eastman archtops such as the 604, 805, and 904 models. For the money, the 600 series Eastman models dedicated to Jim Fisch are among the best to me. The AR-605 is a non-cutaway acoustic archtop with mahogany back and sides for a warmer, smoother tone than the traditional maple.