acoustic archtops??
 

Any body know of anyone building a nice acoustic archtop that doesn't cost a zillion dollars? Straight acoustic, no pickups except , perhaps an acoustic variety?

Eastman is making some nice carved archtop acoustics. Tacoma used to make an interesting one although it had a floating pickup installed. I think most other acoustic archtops are handmade and very expensive.

Emerald Guitars are graphite archtops.... with a regular acoustic bridge... not a floating bridge... this combination allows the guitar to have it's own sound... not nearly as much bass as regular acoustics... but huge sounding mids.... and crystal clear highs... they're strange, but cool instruments...

(on a personal note... i ordered the Emerald Opus x30 from SamAsh.... and had i been looking for the cutting sound of an archtop acoustic... i'd be keeping it.... but i want the huge acoustic sound that only a flat top can offer... so the wife has given me the ok to snag a Rainsong WS1000... sweet huh?.... oh well.. just thought i'd share that.)

Tacoma
 

I am still kicking myself for missing out on a used Tacoma arch-top, in cherry burst. Saw it in a Denver GC and played it. Wasn't sure about the listed price so decided to research it. Next day it was gone.

Surprisingly enough, the price was a very good one, which I find to be rare at GC.

Anyway, if you can find a Tacoma AJF28C, play it.

Bm7b5,

I see that Gryphon Stringed Instruments has one in their inventory. If you're still interested to buy one, you might give 'em a call.

Eastman Strings from China. Originally a cello and violin maker they've been producing guitars and mandolins for a few years now. If you're looking for an archtop with a full and rich tone as opposed to the 'chunk' sound of Gibsons lets say, these are guitars to look at. They are in the 2K range.

If my Gibson ES-150 sells, I'll be getting one.

I have just checked it out on the internet. It's a sweet looking guitar. If it sounds as good as it looks, it's something to look into.
Eric, how would you describe the sound ?

Jay Wolfe (www.wolfeguitars.com) has the ex-Gibson guys at Heritage build a small number of tap-tuned L5 and Super400 non-cutaway acoustics each year. More bucks than an Eastman but a true custom classic instrument.

Hello, One and All--On the question of acoustic archtops, here might be a surprise for you. Go to the following web address, www.gruenacousticguitars.com. I just ordered one of these guitars. It should be here next week. I'm dying to give it a whirl. It's styled as a cross between a classic archtop, a Django-style guitar, and an acoustic streel-string flat top. The one review I read was very complimentary. Paul Gruen, the designer and builder, also has impressed me in our phone conversations as a great guy, very thoughtful about design and implementation. Anyway, the guitars sure do look interesting and well-conceived. I know he has one more finished one in stock, a maple and sitka that he sent me pictures of, which was just gorgeous, and he is soon finishing up a couple more which have not yet been spoken for. As far as I know, nobody knows about Paul, yet; he's not much into advertising, and he has just moved and relocated his shop a couple of times, but this fact is sure to change within the next year or two. I think this type of guitar is a great idea; it crosses and blends many styles and many influences. Of course, the proof will be in the pudding, so to speak. As of yet, you can still snag one of these for about the price of decent Taylor or Martin. Might be worth checking out.

The thing with Eastmans is that the quality control was variable in the early days, as is the performance of the instruments. I don't know to what degree these issues have been resolved in the last year or so, but I would argue it's best not to buy without trying - which admittedly applies to guitars from any maker but is especially valid with Eastmans.

I tried out two Eastmans earlier this year and much as I tried to like them I couldn't persuade myself that they actually sounded all that special. Perhaps they would have really improved with playing in, but who knows?

All this said, there are very few factory-built acoustic archtops out there, and Eastmans are the cheapest that you'll find. It's also worth looking into instruments from Hofner. But based on my limited experience I would say none of these guitars is particularly designed for acoustic performance - while they're certainly not electrics, they're built half in the expectation that you will use the neck pickup for amplification.

Richard

Thanks, folks....the search begins.

Perhaps a bit more info would be helpful. I have a couple of "vintage" archtops and a couple of jazz boxes. what I'm lookin' for is an true acoustic "F" hole archtop that can stand alone without amlplification. Its the sound off the top that I want. I'm not opposed to buying used at all so, if you've any ideas ( I'm searching EBAY as we speak) I'm all ears.
I've put a Shatten bridge pickup on an old Orpheum archtop and, if it were not for the poor action ( a major project on this one) and some refretting and the fact that I need a cut away it'd be great. Heck, if I could play my Emporer Regent with acoustic strings it'd probably work. That help any?

I'm not sure I understand the distinction between "vintage archtop", "jazz box," and "true acoustic f-hole archtop." After all, I can think of many guitars that meet all three descriptions.

Most vintage archtops (I guess I'm talking about those from, say, the 40s and 50s) were designed for unamplified playing with a big band. As such, they cut through the mix (well, THAT mix), but I can't say the ones I've played have pleased my ear a whole lot for solo stuff.

On the other hand, most more modern archtops (including semi-hollows) with built-in pickups just don't suit the standard definition of true acoustic archtop, which in my book means "unbroken top."

Based on what I think you want, the brands mentioned earlier are pretty good lower-priced options. But there are also truly experienced, U.S.-based, custom, one-man operations out there (Campellone, Comins, etc.) that are building old-style acoustic archtops (I see no reason NOT to tack on a floating pickup) that are right around five boxes of ziti. And the many that I've played have all been more pleasing (unamplified) to my ear than a real D'Angelico. Considering the work involved in building a solid, carved archtop, I'd say that's a pretty good deal.

Oh, did I mention that I've been thinking about selling my 17" Comins Classic? Let me know if you want to see a pic. :D

Nilus

I made the distinction< i thought> for clarity...guess I missed the mark. I've looked at most of those mentioned. The Eastmans seem to offer a great deal of range size and shape wise and are in the right ball park price wise.
Some of my older archtops have terrific sound but HORRIBLE action and necksize. My Emporer Regent is a super , though VERY big bodied guitar I hesitate to use acoustic strings on it. I usually use flats (chrome).
I would be interested in talking about your Comins if you think that might be a viable option for me.I wonder about the 17" size though...but, we'll see.
Oh, yes, an "unbroken top" is exactly what I'm thinking.That, and enough volume that it doesn't HAVE to be amplified...very specific use I have in mind.

Hope I wasn't picking a nit...sorry. Guess what I was saying is that a lot of people refer to any decently big-bodied archtop (carved, laminated, built-in, floating, acoustic, etc.) as a jazz box. And most vintage archtops will be acoustic with f-holes. Thus, a D'Angelico New Yorker suits all three categories. If only it weren't for that darn $40,000 price tag. ;)

I agree with you on the playability of some of the older guitars. Even the aforementioned D'Angelico didn't please my hands as much as some of the newer models. Blasphemy? Perhaps.

Regarding size, I don't know how much more volume you get from an extra inch. Probably so many other factors involved that it's hard to calculate--how you hold it, how it's braced and constructed, etc. I'm a fairly small guy so an 18" guitar is pretty big to me. From my flattop comparisons, a Goodall Grand Concert isn't much different from a Concert Jumbo.

Anyway, I'll shoot ya a PM on my Comins just so you can see it. It's worth about 1/8 of the aforementioned D'Angelico. I'm still debating what to do with it. The wife keeps asking for more space in the apartment and I have too many guitars and too little time. I was thinking about throwing it on the classifieds forum, but I wasn't sure if anyone here would be seriously interested.

Nilus

Check out D'Aquisto guitars - made in Japan to original specs... (Picture Here )