I'm personally partial to the Big Band-style 17-18" comp boxes, but that's one of the nicest 16" archtops I've heard in a long time; reminds me a bit of some L-00's I've heard but with the forward projection, midrange punch, and string-to-string separation/definition that lets you know immediately you're dealing with an archtop, and it's an excellent complement to her combination strumming/crosspicking technique...

Dear THart—Two and a half years ago Carter Vintage had a lovely archtop for sale by Lawrence Smart. It had a pheasantwood finger rest, if I recall. I contacted him around that time and his fully appointed archtop then was $7500, so even if the price has gone up it may well be comfortably under 12K. It certainly looks and sounds like one of life’s great bargains!