Can anyone ID this "ACE" acoustic / piezo archtop?

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Hi new here - I picked this up off ebay several years ago, no clue where it came from any more (lost the emails). I can find no serial number or maker's mark of any sort other than the ACE headstock logo with the diamonds. Does anyone recognize it? I've been unable to anything related to "ACE" or A.C.E. archtops that looks at all related (I'm no google ninja, but pretty good, and there's nothing out there that matches).

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102 views and no replies. Hmmm, guessing then it's not some super valuable instrument I shouldn't modify - thinking of adding a floating neck humbucker and routing wires internally, to add more of a jazzy sound along with the acoustic sound.

[Mr. Scott]

That looks like a nice guitar, what is its acoustic sound like? Is there any way of telling whether it has a carved top?
Although, as you might have guessed by now, I know nothing of that maker but it looks like a quality piece so I would not do anything radical to it. having said that, I don't think adding a floating pickup would be out of place, in fact I think it's a good idea.
I'll watch this posting with interest, someone is bound to know something...

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Thanks, yeah, it's quite nice, especially the abalone binding and the rose inlay at the 12th fret. Definitely a carved top (unless it's maybe pressed ply with veneer, but I don't think so), while flamed maple may seem an odd choice, I do recall Stradivarius thought it was good enough for his violins. The acoustic sound is quite nice, I've got light strings on it now, I'm sure it'd be much louder acoustically with medium / heavy on it (thinking like .13 - .56 maybe?)

I just wan't to make sure I won't ruin it by drilling one teensy hidden hole. (Not that I'm all that concerned about resale value, not planning on selling it any time soon.)

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It's got this (still current, apparently) preamp in it, so I don't think it can be all that old or high-end:

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Originally Posted by Mr. Scott

...
Is there any way of telling whether it has a carved top?
...

I checked the inside / underside of the top with a dental mirror and flashlight, the grain on the underside runs horizontally rather than vertically like the top, so yeah, must be a press-formed laminated top with flame maple veneer. Well, still looks and sounds nice, and now I'm less worried about potentially ruining a nice carved top, at least!

[guitararmy]

Yamaha used to make something like that. And you're right about that preamp. I've only seen it in low end guitars.

I think a humbucker would be great! The Yamaha model had one if I recall.

[mr. beaumont]

Chinese made, late 90's to mid 2000's. Branded a lot of different things, I remember seeing them as Carlo Robelli's--house brand at Sam Ash music.

I remember 'em because they look nice and a piezo bridge in an archtop is actually pretty uncommon.

Enjoy it!

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Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Chinese made, late 90's to mid 2000's. Branded a lot of different things, I remember seeing them as Carlo Robelli's--house brand at Sam Ash music.

I remember 'em because they look nice and a piezo bridge in an archtop is actually pretty uncommon.

Enjoy it!

Thanks! That's enough confirmation to make me feel even less bad about drilling into it!

[mr. beaumont]

Drill baby drill!

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And just for the record, I do have a couple of real carved jazz boxes, this '57 ES175 pearler and a DeVoe 17"er:



Can't play any of them well enough yet to do them justice, but hey, I'm workin' on it!

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I slapped a temporary mag pickup onto it (Lace Sensor thinline) with double stick foam tape just to get an idea, the richness it adds having both is really very nice. Playing through two amps in stereo is pretty kewl too.

[zombywoof]

Originally Posted by bholder

And just for the record, I do have a couple of real carved jazz boxes, this '57 ES175 pearler and a DeVoe 17"er:

I believe the Gibson ES175 was a pressed top guitar.

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Originally Posted by zombywoof

I believe the Gibson ES175 was a pressed top guitar.

Could be, thanks, thought it was carved, but I'll check. I know the DeVoe is carved. I have an older Epiphone acoustic archtop too that I'm sure is pressed laminate (can see it on the unbound edges of the F holes).

I just got a new (to me, very old) Gibson archtop I'm quite sure is carved, but this beast is in a different category alltogether:



She looks and sounds better at 104 years old than I will I'm sure!

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Originally Posted by zombywoof

I believe the Gibson ES175 was a pressed top guitar.

Looked it up, you're right of course. I assumed that the older ones were carved, but nope.