#1
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Archtop Necks
Coming from a person with small hands. Looking at older, 40's-50's-60's archtops, do they all have baseball bat type necks? Is there a brand-and/or model I should be concentrating on?
Hoping to keep it under $1100 to the door.. Exceptions could be made.
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Larrivee LV-03 Blackwood 1981 Fender Bullet S-2 Sunburst 1965 Silvertone H604 Tiger's Eye Burst 2001 Vox Cambridge 30 Reverb Twin |
#2
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Most of them indeed have larger necks - considered a necessity when a 14-60 or 15-62 set (often with a wound B) was factory issue, even after the adoption of adjustable truss rods - and the few vintage examples that don't (some '37-39 Epiphones, late F-Series Martins) are well out of your price range; that said, you might be able to find a late-production (mid/late-60's) player-grade Gibson L-48, Guild A-50, or Gretsch New Yorker in the $1K+/- range if you're patient and willing to look around...
If you're OK with a 1-3/4" neck the Eastman archtops have a modern profile: the AR605 - a no-frills, all-solid/all-carved 16" non-cutaway - can be had used for under $1K (again, patience is the key here), the 1920's Gibson L-4 clone AR400 for $600-700 used; finally, if you're just looking to get your feet wet until you have the funds to step up to a full-bore 17" jazzbox, the recently-discontinued Godin 5th Avenue acoustic - an all-laminated 16-incher in the mold of the Harmony/Kay student instruments of the '50s/60s - can be had for around $300 ($450-500 if you can find a new-old-stock example), and if you've ever played a Seagull mini-jumbo you'll find a lot to like in the 5th Avenue...
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
#3
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My 1946 Epiphone has a very modern Vee neck, not overly big at all, and a fairly narrow nut - around 1 11/16" or a tad less.
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Brian Evans Around 15 archtops, electrics, resonators, a lap steel, a uke, a mandolin, some I made, some I bought, some kinda showed up and wouldn't leave. Tatamagouche Nova Scotia. |
#4
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All of the Gibson archtop offshoots I've played (Kalamazoo, Cromwell, Recording King, etc...) have fairly substantial necks. I think it's more common for necks without truss rods to be chunky.
In that price and age range it might be worth investigating Gretsch. There are Gibson L-48s and L-50s that might fit that bill too. The ones I've encountered vary pretty wildly, so I'd caution getting anything sight unseen. Also possible one of the Chicago brands (Kay, Harmony, Silvertone) might have something that fits your hand well too, and should certainly be within that price range. Epiphones are worth checking out too, my '41 has a very comfortable C shape. |
#5
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I don't any vintage archtop really worth having will come in under $1100, unless it needs $$$ worth of repairs. You'll get a lot more guitar for your money if you go with newer construction, less likely to need neck reset, refret, bracing issues etc. Eastman's are great guitars albeit with 1&3/4" nut width. I think to "go vintage" you're going to have to tend towards the higher end. An inexpensive student model from 1935-1955 will be beaten to death by most offering you'll come across built in the last 40 years, especially the last twenty.
If you buy a vintage guitar in this price range, I think you'll be paying more for "vintage" than "guitar". Folks seem to love Godin too. |
#6
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Guess I was fooling myself looking at archtops in that price range. I don't want a wall hanger, I want a player...
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Larrivee LV-03 Blackwood 1981 Fender Bullet S-2 Sunburst 1965 Silvertone H604 Tiger's Eye Burst 2001 Vox Cambridge 30 Reverb Twin |
#7
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Quote:
https://reverb.com/item/33684061-gibson-l-48-1946-1957 https://reverb.com/item/34341773-gib...wnish-sunburst https://reverb.com/item/33105348-gre...brown-sunburst https://reverb.com/item/33637377-gre...ar-brooklyn-ny https://reverb.com/item/33690723-epi...ard-shell-case
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
#8
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I’m smitten with the idea of owning an archtop and love Guilds, so I keep looking at this:
https://reverb.com/item/34285273-gui...ri-ca-100-1962 It’s more than I can spend right now but only a bit above your budget. Neck sounds about right? |
#9
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Quote:
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
#10
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Quote:
They had a substantial footprint in the archtop arena, and a bunch of different models. Here's a reverb.com link where the parameters are $1000-1500 Guild, you'll see a couple of possibilities. The sellers often take 'offers', so check it out. https://reverb.com/marketplace?make=...price_min=1000 You may find that 'baseball' type necks not only vary a whole lot, but often times larger necks are far easier to play than smaller narrow necks. Do NOT allow your "logic" to override what your hands have to say. In other words: Play them, take notes, observe. Happy hunting! Howard Emerson
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#11
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Quote:
__________________
Larrivee LV-03 Blackwood 1981 Fender Bullet S-2 Sunburst 1965 Silvertone H604 Tiger's Eye Burst 2001 Vox Cambridge 30 Reverb Twin |
#12
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The thinnest neck archtops I've played are the Ibanez archtop guitars. They are players with fast necks. My recently sold Gretsch 6120 had a thin neck too.
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#13
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I have a 1961 ES-175D whose neck is significantly slimmer than the 1958 model that I had some years ago......
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#14
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I have recently played several different archtops and ended up with Collings i30 with their 60s slim profile neck.
They offer that neck on all of their electrics so it is one option if you are looking for something slimmer. |
#15
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Somehow this post got off track, I'm looking at (Acoustic archtops). Sorry for the confusion.
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Larrivee LV-03 Blackwood 1981 Fender Bullet S-2 Sunburst 1965 Silvertone H604 Tiger's Eye Burst 2001 Vox Cambridge 30 Reverb Twin |