Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa
Just curious how you broke it in, since IME archtops need a good dose of that Big Band comping to really open up the top; if you've handled a fair number of vintage examples, it's easy to tell which ones were owned by players and which were owned by dabblers - the "players" inevitably have a broader dynamic/frequency response, and the best of them can be surprisingly good fingerstyle instruments. When I was a kid I saw jazz legend Jack Wilkins - then a teenage phenom - do this on a gorgeous prewar L-5N during the course of one of my weekly lessons, as part of an explanation of what to look for in a good archtop; you'd better have a very clean, almost classical technique however, as it's impossible to use the overtones and greater sustain of a large flattop to mask less-than-perfect execution...
I'll also assume you're familiar with the "classical archtop" school that flourished roughly between 1925-1940, and upon which Mel Bay based his original method series; if you listen to some of the period recordings by Carl Kress & Dick McDonough, Harry Volpe, Tony Mottola, et al. I think you'll find their tone to be anything but thin - as much of which is attributable to the parallel-braced "advanced" instruments being used by the late-30's (if you're going to be playing in the cello register you need a similarly-sized guitar to produce the lower notes with any authority) as the orchestral-string-derived right-hand technique required to bring out the best in a good archtop (what the old-timers used to call "coaxing the velvet out"). I'm familiar with the Eastman line - had my eye on one of those for a while now - and while they're wonderful instruments in their own right they're coming from a very different place than a Big Band-era Gibson L-5 or Epiphone Deluxe both tonally and structurally, since it's assumed that they'll be used almost exclusively as amplified jazzboxes (as you do); that said, while you'll never match the woof and thump of an HD-35, IMO with some hard playing you can loosen up the top enough over time to provide a rich, creamy "tone-you-can-eat-with-a-spoon" for laid-back acoustic chord soloing - or the perfect accompaniment to your favorite, smoky-voiced chanteuse...   |
Hi Steve,
It's entirely possible that I have never played a really good, well broken in archtop. I probably haven't. So your knowledge on this subject is very likely well beyond mine.
On the other hand I heard Martin Taylor playing what he considered a classic Epiphone archtop, no pickup, just acoustically. I still thought the sound was thin. It sounded good with Martin Taylor playing it, but I find that I like his amplified sound much better. More depth.
But that's just me. We each like what we like and sometimes there is no explaining it.
Take care out there Steve!
- Glenn
PS: I did play a really old Gibson L5 once when I was in England. I still thought it sounded thin, but less thin than my Eastman.