Archtop for Fingerstyle?

[cpeehler7]

Hey, just curious if anyone else out there prefers an archtop for playing fingerstyle. I'm by no means much more than a beginner at playing fingerstyle, but I do strongly prefer playing it on an archtop. I like to be able to rest my palm on the bridge of the guitar, which makes the guitar sound very tinny with a standard flattop. It also seems you need to use less strength picking to play a clean note, on my flattops I always seem to have to put a lot more power into the notes. Also another thing that drives me nuts is, when I play normal (for me that is) with my palm down on the bridge you can really hear a difference in tone/projection. Seems like you really need to pick over the sound hole to get a clean sound on flattops. (I have tried the pinky finger on the pickguard for stability, just prefer palm on the bridge instead)

Anyone else out there like to play archtops for fingerstyle? Or anyone go through something similar and have suggestions or tips? Any comments appreciated!
Christian.

[jazzalta2]

I prefer to play my instrumental stuff on an archtop. I have a Martin to accompany me when I play folk, but my jazzy arrangements just don't cut it on the D-28. My nails are paper thin so playing with bare fingers sounds a lot cleaner on the archtop.

[Jeff Scott]

I loved the sound of my former 1961 Gretsch 6117 when I played it fingerstyle unplugged. It was not very loud but the tone was very nice and balanced. Actually I think I preferred the tone of it that way than when I did play it through an amp, although it's plugged in sound was excellent, too, with the HiLoTron pickups it had.

[JCave]

Funny you should ask. I was playing this Godin last night as fingerstyle as I get, totally enjoying.... Just so smooth...

[jazzalta2]

JCave, how do you like the Godin?

[jpbat]

I play mainly on an archtop these days, and I suppose my stuff can be called fingerstyle.
I like the snap, short sustain and dry sound. I can separate the three parts of my playing (bass, rhythm and melody) more easily.

Now, I'm using a magnetic pick-up to achieve a sorta jazz tone (I find the acoustic sound too thin for what I want).

BTW it's impressive how the sound outputted by a mag PU can be drastically different depending of the guitar it is put on. I have mag PU on any of my guitars, flattops, resonators and archtop. I love mag PU's.

[JCave]

Originally Posted by jazzalta2

JCave, how do you like the Godin?

I'm very happy with the Godin and think everybody should have one.. Well made and they're nice to play.



Jerry

[Dulope]

Jean Paul - That is terrific playing and a cool guitar collection ...... Deuxième Dérive is a nice arrangement - You have a great style of playing

I also prefer the sound of a magnetic pick up - I use a DeArmond pick up with Pyramid flat wound strings on a 1960 Martin 0018e, through an AER amp - May I ask what kind of magnetic pick up / samp do you favor?

[jpbat]

Dulope,
thanks for the appreciation. When I came back to guitar 6 years ago, I was not expecting this gift of life.

I use all sot of magnetic pick-ups, the usual suspect Baggs M1 and Fishman Rare Earth on some flattops and the macaferri copy (and on the carbon Brunner), the National model made by Lace for the resonators (I grabbed two of them used, great PU's), there is also a custom Haussel on the wooden Brunner because the strings width is larger than usual.
On the Eastman, I replaced the stock one (noisy) by a Kent Armstrong, which I found noisy too, although it has great tone, and, as I wanted to remove the pickguard that comes in the way of my fingers, I tried a no name cheapo (neck mounted), just to test the idea, figuring that at 30$ I had nothing to lose, and I'm (ahem...) very satisfied with it. Go figure.
While I love generally the sound of magnetic PU's, I find fascinating the way they reproduce the differences between guitars. All my guitars are acoustic, but if I move the same PU from one to another, the sound is very different. Which make sense, since the PU reproduce accurately the way the string is moving. We tend to see a magnetic PU as a generic sound maker, that's not true. (and even the cheap ones, unless I'm really lucky...)

I also tried all sort of piezos along the years, *none* of them satisfied me. I just gave up with piezos.

[815C]

I like using both - it just depends on the song. I tend to use my archtop for jazzier stuff and my dreadnaught for more folk/pop songs.

[Archtop Guy]

Jean-Paul, I would listen to any advice you have on fingerpicking archtops. Great videos!

[JoeCharter]

Depends what fingerstyle we're talking about.

If you're going to play like Howard Emerson, maybe.

If you're going to play like Pierre Bensusan, probably not.

[Tony Burns]

Christian , their are no set in stone rules when you play the guitar . most classical players have set rules they must follow when they learn, but the rest of us slackers don't . I cant tell you how many times ive heard Dreads are for strumming and OM's are for fingerstyle -i use my dread and any other guitar i want to for fingerstyle .I have an old hurting gibson ES125 3/4 I fingerstyle on every now and then -i love the sound of that little arch top .Ive had over the years a couple of ES125's ( They attract to me like a magnet ) they were fun to play -so dont follow the rules -make your own !!! Playing the guitar is sopose to be fun

[jpbat]

Originally Posted by Archtop Guy

Jean-Paul, I would listen to any advice you have on fingerpicking archtops. Great videos!

Well, ahem... thanks a lot.
I don't really have any advice because I do it my way, so...
First, I play bare fingers.
The thumb plays the bass notes on the two bass strings, I want the sound very round, reminiscent of a double bass. No highs at all.
The thumb plays also a "brush" on several strings, that can go from a slap to an almost arpeggio on two, three or four strings. There I need highs because the friction sound of the thumb's edge is important.
And then there is the melody notes, played with the fingers, very short nails if any. Must be sonically very different from the rest. Lots of medium.

I find that an amplified arch top is a functional tool for what I want to achieve. But I do it also on resonators, or flat tops. But I don't need lot of sustain, nor lot of harmonics, that comes in the way.

[Jeff Scott]

I am watching some of your videos now, Jean-Paul, superb!