[mhs]

I think I've known this for a long time because I've been alternating playing jazz between electrics and archtops for much of my life, but over the last year or two, I've been alternating between flattops and archtops fingerpicking and picking and have realized what technical differences that presents.

I was wondering how anyone else that does this feels about it?

This is the situation::

~2 months ago I bought an Eastman archtop, and for me, this is a great guitar. ~2 years ago, I started playing acoustics. For the last 2 years, I've only played acoustics and archtops.

I fingerpick and I use a pick as well, about 50/50. The thing I notice is that due to the construction of the archtop (and the other archtops I've had) vs. the construction of the flattops, fingerpicking and picking on the various types of guitars are almost night and day.

It's not that its difficult to pick up an archtop for awhile and play it, because it's not that. The interesting part comes in when you focus on practicing cleanly and precisely on either one for an extended period. Since I've been playing the flattops, I have been completely amazed at how "relatively" easy it is to pick and fingerpick. I also love how they sound.

Since I've gotten back into archtops, I've been kind of blown away by how difficult it is (after playing a flattop), to do very similar things. I'm not talking about real "playing", but more about practice, so clean, slow, and trying to be consistent.

I'm realizing that this has to be something about the 'angles' at which things happen, and construction in general. The strings are further off the soundboard on the archtop, and they are "planed" up at an angle that is foreign to the flattop.

When I got the archtop, I purposely set it up, from an action and strings standpoint, identically to the flattop, so for me, 12-53 strings, similar tension to the ej16's I use on flattops, same height above the frets (both play easy), and both have 1.75" nuts.

So once again:: This isn't a "bad" thing. Its more of a curious thing for me. To put a finer point on this: I can much more easily play the flattops, any of them, than I can the archtops. The only way I play the archtop is after a good long practice session if I'm trying anything remotely challenging.

Just for drill, here are some things I notice when playing the archtop after the flattop:

1) String articulation: Very difficult by comparison when fingerpicking. I "think" this is because my right hand is "way up in the air" compared to where it is on an archtop.
2) Dynamics based on where my right hand is: On a flattop, I'd have a great deal of control without paying a price by playing either very close to the bridge, or somewhere else in the span between the neck and the bridge. On an archtop, the same basic things occur, but playing by the bridge becomes extremely difficult and playing by the neck also becomes more difficult. I think there is a sweet spot on the archtop and since I practice both guitars, I just play mostly there.
3) left hand: There is no particular difference (*phew*).
4) Picking is interesting: On the flattop, picking is a breeze. The pick, without any effort on my part, remains perpendicular to the strings. On the archtop, the pick "wants" to angle up towards the nut, so I countered this with a fair amount of practice where I always aimed the pick towards the bridge. That pretty much solved that.

Anyway:: I found this stuff interesting and since this is mostly an acoustic flattop forum, I understand if no one else does, but figured I'd present it anyway to see if anyone had any comments.

By the way: I'm not looking for a solution because I don't yet see a problem. I just think it's pretty interesting and perhaps a luthier could tell me some of the subtleties that I am probably not aware of as a player about the construction of these things in the areas I mentioned.

Another by the way: Amplification isn't a factor in this comparison: I often record both acoustically. I always practice acoustically.