What accoustic archtops in range of 3000 - 4000 $

[Von Beerhofen]

Looking to renew my interest in this area and having played Gibsons mainly, what current options are there at present in the afore mentioned pricerange.
I'd apreciate links to videos of these if possible.

Ludwig

[Von Beerhofen]

Dang, not many jazz guitarists here or? Forget about the videos then, I'd be happy with a few good brandnames besides Gibson.
I noticed Godin makes em but are they any good or is a vintage d'Angelico a better choice? Maybe it's just a stupid question but I haven't kept pace with new guitar devellopments ever since I acquired what I wanted some 30 years ago, times are a changing though.

Ludwig

[mr. beaumont]

If I had that money, I'd have Steve Holst make me a box, without question.

You might also look at Victor Baker; Mark Campellone, even Heritage...I play a lowly Heritage 575 and it'll give any Gibson a run for it's money, their higher end stuff is still quite reasonable and really gorgeous, and great sounding.

If you play with some volume and want a laminate, Sadowskys are excellent.

Vintage, go Epiphone. The bang for the buck is ridiculous. A higher end vintage Epi rivals anything.

[jpbat]

Excellent choices by mr. beaumont.

I choose Eastman, they are mainly in the 1000-2000 range.
You can have two of them with your budget.

I don't like the Godin myself. But then you can have between 4 to 8 of them.

[mr. beaumont]

Eastman makes fine guitars, but If I'm going to spend 2k I'm always tempted to see what I can get used...that's how I ended up with my 575, which would have been out of my budget new...instead I got it for less an a new Eastman...

[Von Beerhofen]

I'm not looking for a laminate and the price indication is just there so people know it's about high end guitars.
I may well end up with only spending 2000 or 2500 but I'd like to know about the differences with the more expensive models so I can rule out the things which aren't important to me.
I've seen the Heritages but the other names are not known to me and I didn't know Eastman also made archtops, Godin may be a bit below par but I just happened to run into it during investigations, it's a good start, thx.
Epiphones are nice but I wouln't know which ones to search for.

Ludwig

[Dr. Jazz]

The differences are about the carving and experience. All the best Archtop makers have a number of years under there belts and most start at around $5K.
There is a younger new builder on Vancouver Island who carved for Bob Benedetto for several years before moving to Canada. I know his Dad very well and Wyatt is a fine maker <http://wilkiestringedinstruments.com>
but I know his starter instruments are well above your maximum.

At the $3K mark you should be looking at Epiphone Triumphs or Gibson L7s. If it's a new one, then an Eastman 905 is probably your best choice. The 900 series Eastman is a really quite credible entry into the better carved guitars. I'd change out the tailpiece, pick-up and possibly the bridge, and eventually the tuners. But, for the money it's a very nice box.