My arch top seems harder to play than my other guitars

[psychojohn]

Watched GS's Sessions last night with Peter Framptom who I consider an excellent guitar player/virtuoso. He was playing a Gibson arch top rather than his signature les paul and seemed to struggle a little bit to keep it clean and smooth, which surprised me. I own an Epiphone Swingster Royale and even after a luthier set up (which improved playability 100%) I continue to feel like it's more difficult to play than any of my other acoustic or electric guitars. Thought it was just me before I saw Pete last night and began to wonder if there is anything about the design of these guitars that make them a little more of a challenge to play. Specifically, it feels harder to push down strings and my left hand/fingers fatigue easier. My swingster has a bigsby on it.

John

[psychojohn]

Some lookers but no takers on an opinion. Just looking for opinions/thoughts/other's experiences here. It's probably just me, but thought I'd ask. Don't be afraid !! I won't bite.

[rpguitar]

In my experience, there is nothing unique to the archtop design that alters playability for the worse as a general rule. In fact if anything, height-adjustable archtop bridges make action easier to tweak than flattop saddles, making better playability more accessible to the average player.

The Epi Swingster that you mention is an electric guitar in any event.

[charles Tauber]

There is nothing inherent in an archtop guitar that makes fretting it more difficult than other guitars. The usual factors come into play, including amount of neck relief, string height at the nut and bridge (saddle), string gage and string type, scale length and neck contour. In theory, an archtop can be set to play as "slinky" as any electric: unless you have a very light touch when plucking/strumming it, it'll probably buzz at that height/string combination.

[upsidedown]

Originally Posted by rpguitar

The Epi Swingster that you mention is an electric guitar in any event.

So is the 335 that Frampton's playing in the GC sessions.

[mr. beaumont]

A 335 is not an archtop.

I imagine it's familiarity and setup. My Heritage archtop is my easiest playing guitar. I've played other archies that were brutal...every guitar is different.

what are your other guitars? Maybe the size of the swingster gets to you...or that abominable balance ruiner the Bigsby

[Steve DeRosa]

I'll ditto Charles and Jeff on all counts, and add the variable of fret width/height - if you're accustomed to Fender/Martin-style "vintage" frets, those medium-jumbos and jumbos that have become ubiquitous in the electric world can take more than a bit of getting used to...

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

A 335 is not an archtop.

Ah, a 335. No, that isn't an arch top. The one I had I sold 30+ years ago and bought a bandsaw with the proceedes. I still have the bandsaw.

[Jabberwocky]

Fatter strings on his archtop, perhaps? Or a longer scale? Or size of the archtop which makes playing it standing up a little of a stretch? Peter Frampton has been playing his Les Paul Custom for the longest time. It is just the lack of familiarity with the archtop.

Just guessing.

Embracing my big fat Super 300 after a spell with a plank like a Telecaster takes some getting used to.

Even Peter Frampton has his off-days so..........

[mhs]

Originally Posted by psychojohn

Watched GS's Sessions last night with Peter Framptom who I consider an excellent guitar player/virtuoso. He was playing a Gibson arch top rather than his signature les paul and seemed to struggle a little bit to keep it clean and smooth, which surprised me. I own an Epiphone Swingster Royale and even after a luthier set up (which improved playability 100%) I continue to feel like it's more difficult to play than any of my other acoustic or electric guitars. Thought it was just me before I saw Pete last night and began to wonder if there is anything about the design of these guitars that make them a little more of a challenge to play. Specifically, it feels harder to push down strings and my left hand/fingers fatigue easier. My swingster has a bigsby on it.

John

The strings can be made to be comfortable, but as a long-time archtop jazz player, I do think that archtops are a little harder to play for me because of the slightly different angles of the design. I'm not sure I can put it into words, but the way your right hand meets the strings causes a number of near-subliminal adjustments to have to take place.

To me: Flattops are the easiest to play. Electrics are too easy, not enough resistance to get a decent feel and sound (for me), and archtops are well worth the little effort to get used to them.

Good luck.

[Richard Mott]

I play only an acoustic archtop and Yes, it is "harder" to play than many other guitars. Part of that is the great note separation created by a bridge that pushes down on the top of the guitar (instead of pulls or pivots). It's cleaner than flat-tops whose strings create more sympathetic cross-string vibrations, but also less forgiving when you make mistakes or try to string a line of notes and chords together smoohtly. One factor with archtops, of any scale length, string gauge, or action, is the "break angle" where the strings emerge from the tailpiece to go cross the bridge. If I understand the physics (and I don't very well), the sharper the break angle, the more tension the strings are under and thus the harder to fret a note for any given action. But to my ears, when you put in the playing time, an archtop can reward the effort in ways other guitars don't. --Richard