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  #46  
Old 12-27-2013, 06:01 AM
dkwvt dkwvt is offline
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From a builder's perspective a true archtop would have a carved and graduated thickness soundboard and back engineered for a pretty specific tone quality and projection. Manufactured archtops devolved from there to different quality solid and laminated and pressed tops and backs. Add pickup systems to suit, soundblocks to control feedback and you have created an entirely different category.

I have no beef with any of the above and own/build several varieties, they all serve their purpose and sound but for my 2c carved is king.
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  #47  
Old 12-27-2013, 09:12 PM
bohemian bohemian is offline
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Many "production" guitars from the 30's, 40's and 50's had carved tops.
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  #48  
Old 12-27-2013, 09:33 PM
uburoibob uburoibob is offline
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Originally Posted by bohemian View Post
Many "production" guitars from the 30's, 40's and 50's had carved tops.
Yep, they did. And carved backs. More from the 30s and less from the 50s, though. Those are acoustic archtops. At one point, most of these were hand made in a production environment. No doubt about it. And all of these are very different from press-wood, laminated archtops designed as electric guitars...

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  #49  
Old 12-28-2013, 01:53 PM
louparte louparte is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bohemian View Post
Many "production" guitars from the 30's, 40's and 50's had carved tops.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dkwvt View Post
From a builder's perspective a true archtop would have a carved and graduated thickness soundboard and back engineered for a pretty specific tone quality and projection. Manufactured archtops devolved from there to different quality solid and laminated and pressed tops and backs. Add pickup systems to suit, soundblocks to control feedback and you have created an entirely different category.

I have no beef with any of the above and own/build several varieties, they all serve their purpose and sound but for my 2c carved is king.
I think the thin body electrics are still archtops. They just have diferent qualities. A lot of those qualities could be more meaningfully
discussed in a hollow body electric forum - but not all of them. They're still archtops with tailpieces, bridges, intionation issues, neck
issues and even tone wood issues.

There is a real slippery slope to exclude one model over another. For example, my big archtop - made in 2006 - has a pickup. Some
of the old Harmonies don't. I have a solid carved top and back. No lam. A Godin Fifth Avenue is a fine guitar. But it has lam and no
pickup. An ES335 has two pickups and lam plus a thin body.

Mine is deeper, wider and likely louder acoustically, given the same set of strings than either the Godin or the ES335.
Who gets excluded first?

If it's the Gibson, would I get excluded if I put a second pickup on mine?
Or would the size of my guitar keep it qualified?

If we go by size - then it gets very complicated as there are varying depths and widths to consider.
To disqualify one that is only marginally smaller than another seems arbitrary.

I think they're all archtops. IMO, there are electric archtops, acoustic archtops and acoustic-electric archtops.
Mine's the latter. But I record it mostly plugged in.
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  #50  
Old 12-28-2013, 03:38 PM
zizala zizala is offline
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Default Hello and 2 cents.....

Hello Archtopians....

Its my first post on this forum...though I've been seen at times on the jazz guitar forum, guild forum and UMGF, usually posting about archtop guitars of many sorts.
I haven't visited the AGF in years and was pleasantly surprised to see an archtop section!

I wanted to comment in favor of a free interpretation of "archtops" including those that are carved or pressed, solid or laminated, designed to be acoustics, electrics or some combination thereof....

We can all feel free to ignore those topics that don't interest us or seek out those that do.....each post or thread will sort all that out and I'm sure some intermingling will help inform those that would like to know about how and why the differences exist.

Z

Last edited by zizala; 12-28-2013 at 09:11 PM.
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  #51  
Old 12-28-2013, 08:48 PM
dkwvt dkwvt is offline
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Agreed... They all serve different functions and are uniquely different from solid body electrics. I have a little hollow body laminate washburn archtop with a neck mount p/u but I mic it because of it's unusual acoustic sound. Kind of an early English beat [boxy] rhythm voice. It is a sound I am trying to replicate. Love the pre war Epis too.

Happy to see an Archtop section at all...
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  #52  
Old 12-29-2013, 07:03 AM
Howard Emerson Howard Emerson is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zizala View Post
Hello Archtopians....

Its my first post on this forum...though I've been seen at times on the jazz guitar forum, guild forum and UMGF, usually posting about archtop guitars of many sorts.
I haven't visited the AGF in years and was pleasantly surprised to see an archtop section!

I wanted to comment in favor of a free interpretation of "archtops" including those that are carved or pressed, solid or laminated, designed to be acoustics, electrics or some combination thereof....

We can all feel free to ignore those topics that don't interest us or seek out those that do.....each post or thread will sort all that out and I'm sure some intermingling will help inform those that would like to know about how and why the differences exist.

Z
Oh boy………look who's slumming…….

Hope all is well with you, Ziz, and please have a very happy & healthy New Year!

Regards,
Howard

PS- Ziz has one of the deepest collections of oddball guitars that don't have flat tops, so listen carefully when she speaks!
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  #53  
Old 12-29-2013, 10:29 AM
JoeCharter JoeCharter is offline
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Let's face it, there simply aren't that many acoustic archtop players out there.

Everytime I check the forum there's hundreds of people in the General section -- and between 0 and 2 people in the Archtop section. I think any thoughts about getting rid of pickup lovers might be a bit premature at best.
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  #54  
Old 12-29-2013, 11:38 AM
s2y s2y is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeCharter View Post
Let's face it, there simply aren't that many acoustic archtop players out there.

Everytime I check the forum there's hundreds of people in the General section -- and between 0 and 2 people in the Archtop section. I think any thoughts about getting rid of pickup lovers might be a bit premature at best.
Perhaps the anti pickup lovers and Martin players against truss rods can unite?

Other than pawn shop specials, I have never seen anyone in my area using acoustic archtops without a magnetic pickup.
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  #55  
Old 12-29-2013, 11:59 AM
JoeCharter JoeCharter is offline
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Originally Posted by s2y View Post
Perhaps the anti pickup lovers and Martin players against truss rods can unite?

Other than pawn shop specials, I have never seen anyone in my area using acoustic archtops without a magnetic pickup.
Throw in the hide glue guys, too...

IMHO, acoustic archtops are the most beautiful guitars -- period. However, I don't know of a lot musicians who can actually afford one. That was true decades ago when Gibson decided to introduce the ES series -- and is still true today.
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  #56  
Old 12-29-2013, 03:09 PM
s2y s2y is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeCharter View Post
Throw in the hide glue guys, too...

IMHO, acoustic archtops are the most beautiful guitars -- period. However, I don't know of a lot musicians who can actually afford one. That was true decades ago when Gibson decided to introduce the ES series -- and is still true today.
I think a huge part of the problem is that these guitars are basically forgotten in modern music, which may include guitar magazines. I used to have a collection of magazines and acoustic archtops might have been mentioned once or twice. Meanwhile, there have been dozens of history of the Strat, Tele, Les Paul, etc.
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  #57  
Old 12-29-2013, 06:07 PM
jimmybcool jimmybcool is offline
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Not that I care much but really, this forum has a total of exactly 2 threads that have had been active in the last WEEK. I had to search back over a MONTH to find a thread not meant for this forum.

I mean really, is it worth a thread to complain about something like this? It's the internet. it is imperfect. Life is too short to get irked by something this minor.
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  #58  
Old 01-15-2014, 08:31 PM
peterbright peterbright is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmybcool View Post
Not that I care much but really, this forum has a total of exactly 2 threads that have had been active in the last WEEK. I had to search back over a MONTH to find a thread not meant for this forum.

I mean really, is it worth a thread to complain about something like this? It's the internet. it is imperfect. Life is too short to get irked by something this minor.
Amen! And some of us have some of each.
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