[MC5C]

I have a couple of laminate top archtops, and I find that they have a dramatically different sound than does a good carved top guitar. Not a bad sound necessarily, just really different. I was struck by this when I played a Godin - great player, did not like the sound at all. My recommendation - if you are playing acoustically, get an archtop without a pickup and controls mounted in the top. Makes a big difference in sound. Try to get to a shop where you can play a proper acoustic carved top archtop - like a vintage gibson carved top fully acoustic, or a boutique luthier made instrument - just so you can educate your ears on what such a guitar can sound like. That will inform your search. I find that most entry level (under $1K) archtops I play in stores are heavily biased towards being electric guitars and have a poor acoustic tone.