I also had a negative experience upon the first playing of the Masterbilt Century Deluxe.
A good friend of mine bought the guitar, swayed by the $650 price. He put baritone strings on the low strings and mediums on the treble strings. I believe he adjusted the neck relief. He uses a stiff pick. I think he recently added a floating pickup for more authenticity of sound with his band.
Anyway, I heard him play it with his jazz band and was impressed by how it sounded, clear and cutting through nicely. I played it acoustically and thought it sounded pretty good for a new archtop (keep in mind I have a 30's Gibson).
Some archtop builders purposely don't brace and build their guitars to sound like a 1930's archtop, preferring a more "modern" sound.
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