You can't just play any kind of music on an archtop, can you!

[GuitarPhan]

I bought a mid-quality archtop to help diversify my sound, adding to steel and nylon string stuff I play (amplified). I'm having a hard time, though, nailing down what kind of stuff sounds 'right" played on an archtop. It obviously has less sustain than a steel-string, and that can work for you or against you, I'd think, depending on what kind of stuff you're trying to play. Anyone have some insight here, or gone down this road before?

[Mooh]

Swing, blues, jazz, and any combination of those. Plus anything else that sounds new or refreshed by it. Fiddle tunes sound pretty cool on an archtop to my ears. Songwriting with it can lead a writer down new paths too. Fingerpicking works, even classical, particularly baroque pieces.

[Archtop Guy]

I think any kind of music can work, but you might still need to attack the instrument differently. I bet you don't use the same left and right hand techniques on your dreadnought and your classical either.

Try different picks, different right hand pick speed, different left hand squeeze strength. It all makes a difference. Every new instrument requires something a little bit different to bring out it's strengths. However finding an instrument's strengths takes a little more time than finding it's weaknesses, so be patient.

Hey and if all that doesn't work, now you have a reason to work on jazz!

[iim7V7IM7]

1) The term archtop covers a broad array of instruments in terms of materials, types of bracing, body size/depth and scale length just like flattops (e.g. A 00-12 will be different than a D-28, right?).

2) Just like flattops, types of strings matter, flatwounds, round wounds or bronze strings will all alter the acoustic properties of your instrument.

3) the timbre of an archtop will be more fundamental focused and less overtone focused. Where many flattops excel at presenting bass rumble and treble shimmer, archtops excel at presenting beautiful mids in my opinion.

Beacause of the purity of mids and fundamental focused they are fantastic at convey complex chords played arpegginated or strummed and fast single line stuff. If the notes sustained too much the fast runs would be awash with prior notes being played.

I enjoy playing flattops, gypsy guitars and archtops. The same piece will sound quite different on each type of guitar.

[Daddyo]

I've heard jazz, swing, blues, gypsy swing, bossa nova, rock, rockabilly, pop, country, western swing, new wave, punk, alternate, and hard rock on an "archtop."
Almost everything except metal. And I'm sure there is some Youtube of someone shreddding metal on an archtop.

[mwcarr]

I had 40 years of flattop and electric guitar behind me before I arrived at an archtop. I think anything can be played on this type of guitar. What I've learned for myself is that I've had to work at finding the sweet spot. The archtop I have is much less forgiving as to precise picking or fingering. I've been at it now for almost 6 months and find myself going to the archtop more often than my flattop ( a good one at that, a Collings OM-3). Stay with it awhile, the range of music will grow as you develop the touch necessary. I actually bought the Collings because I found it had an articulation that an acoustic archtop has in spades.

[GuitarPhan]

Thanks, folks, very good points. I didn't so much mean that some music "can't" be played as opposed to some music just doesn't sound as good on an archtop. But as many of you have suggested, I have some technique and more exploration and experimentation to work on. I know a few tunes I've played live just sounded "like the rest of the band was missing" according to one friend. I think that's because the resonance and sustain of my usual six-string acoustic was gone, as a few of you have also noted. I think maybe a fair amount of reverb is almost an essential with this type of tone, too, although some of you may not agree, and I'll keep that in mind too. I'll keep chugging along...

[StuartDay]

Originally Posted by GuitarPhan

I bought a mid-quality archtop to help diversify my sound, adding to steel and nylon string stuff I play (amplified). I'm having a hard time, though, nailing down what kind of stuff sounds 'right" played on an archtop. It obviously has less sustain than a steel-string, and that can work for you or against you, I'd think, depending on what kind of stuff you're trying to play. Anyone have some insight here, or gone down this road before?

Well traditionally arch-top guitars have been used for jazz, big band, swing, blues, and any combination of those.

However, modern arch-tops have become more versatile, unless the builders are trying to maintain a traditional tone.

It really all depends on the type of arch-top though… its a pretty big arena of instruments.

I'm a luthier and fairly limited in my playing. Though my clients that i've talked to about this have all indicated that if transitioning to arch-top from flat-top there is a learning curve when it comes to finding it's "sweet spot". the attack is a little different and the articulation is different… but once you become comfortable with that I believe the arch-top offers some very subtle and nuanced tonal characteristics which you can't find in flat-tops (and vice versa of course) and that can expand your range as a player.

here is a link to a video of a young musician demoing my latest arch-top. He is not a jazz player, and this was his first sit down with the instrument (never played a real acoustic archtop before). I think this demonstrates quite well that archtops can be used for much more than Jazz and it may give you some ideas to play around with.

most importantly… enjoy the new axe!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyB6P4VGc70

[bohemian]

Nicely done on a very attractive, well balanced guitar.

[louparte]

Jazz, Swing, Blues, even Surf & Spaghetti Western plugged in
Duane Eddy plays an archtop.

[Daddyo]

Also
We use the term archtop for any guitar with an arched top. So that could be an all solid wood acoustic X braced archtop from Benedetto to an all laminated guitar with dual humbuckers like an ES 175 to a Gretsch White Falcon. So much difference in construction and tone it really isn't a fair comparison.

[pb+j]

Acoustic archtops* were invented, pretty much by Lloyd Loar, to get more volume out of the guitar. They were invented in the 1920s, at the same time as the resonator guitar, more or less, which was invented for the same reason--to get more volume out of the guitar. You would have found every kind of music available being played on acoustic archtops.

Maybelle Carter played a Gibson L-5.




Chuck Berry played an acoustic archtop and devised his signature style on one.


The James Bond theme was played on an archtop:

http://youtu.be/eeuhXwvb3V8


Steve Howe played a Gibson ES-175 with Yes



Malcolm young and ACDC:




Ted Nugent played archtops for most of his career



Martin Taylor plays fingerstyle jazz on an archtop

That's a pretty good range of music--it's more than the cliche jazzbo

*By "Archtop" I mean an acoustic instrument with a carved or formed soundboard--not a less paul or an es-335.

[Daddyo]

Can a laminate archtop with 2 pickups actually be called an acoustic archtop? Could you not plug into an amp and record the sound of it using a microphone and get any kind of usable tone? No. My point is the archtop is too broad a term. Most hollow body archtops today are really electric guitars so they have a wide palette of tones. An actual acoustic archtop even with a floating pickup is more limited. By the OP's broad term "archtop," the musical genres covered are broad. But if you narrow it down, there are limitations.

[FloridaGull]

The Godin 5th Avenue - http://www.godinguitars.com/godin5thaveseriesp.htm - is, first and foremost, a true hollowbody acoustic archtop. Offered in acoustic-only form:



As well as many varieties with humbuckers and P90's:





All-laminate wild cherry...

[kayakman]

Is that there Godin laminated??Looks like cherry wood.