New small body archtop from Northfield

[THart]

I thought this was interesting, Northfield is expanding its line with a new 6 string archtop guitar. Small body, short scale. Think there's a market for this? I already have a Weber (15") and a '24 Gibson L-2 so I don't think I'll be jumping on this but I might if I didn't. I like my small body archtops and Northfield has a good reputation for their mandolins, though I've never played one.
https://www.northfieldinstruments.com/therival

[FrankHudson]

Price is "above my raisin.'" I don't know enough about that above 5K market.

Sounds very nice as played in the clips though.

[Richard Mott]

I thought these were both fabulous instruments. Especially the purely acoustic. I yearned for a bit more in the mids. There is so much in working with mandolin top plates that crosses into archtops, these instruments really make that case. Well done, Northfield!

[lat18]

Just played one at Greyfox before I saw this thread. Didn't know it was so expensive or I'd have been more careful with it. Very loud & bright on the high strings, less so on the bass side as you'd expect. Small body, short scale. Wasn't to my taste as I mostly play rhythm, but for a lead player it should cut through the mix nicely.

[L50EF15]

Very nice. Pricey, but I don’t know that production costs will let them go much lower.

Of course, they allude to the Martin R and C series guitars with the reference to the 000 bodied archtops of the 1930s. This raises an interesting question: Could Martin, given the economies of scale that goes with their size and sales, cost effectively reintroduce something like the R series?

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by L50EF15

Very nice. Pricey, but I don’t know that production costs will let them go much lower.

Of course, they allude to the Martin R and C series guitars with the reference to the 000 bodied archtops of the 1930s. This raises an interesting question: could Martin, given the economies of scale that goes with their size and sales, cost effectively reintroduce something like the R series?

Given that a luthier-built-to-order-in-the-USA instrument can be had from Stephen Holst or Mark Campellone for about the same money - or a similarly-appointed all-solid/all-carved MIC Eastman AR805 16-incher for about half that (and a Loar LH-700 for even less) - I personally think they're seriously overplaying their hand for a Chinese-built guitar, but to each his own...

As to the Martin question, you may recall that in the early-2K's they dabbled a bit in the archtop market with the CF-1 - a joint effort with Dale Unger that never really caught on with either the hardcore Martin fans or the jazzers to whom it was presumably intended to appeal. That said, there have been some ongoing rumblings about shifting lower-line production to non-USA sources for a while now (see the comments on the new D-15E on the General Acoustic subforum); given the fact that there hasn't been a family tradition of hands-on lutherie for the last century, I wouldn't put it past the current powers-that-be in Nazareth to have a high-quality archtop or two built by one of the Chinese violin houses to R- or C-Series specs, and marketed under the Martin name - hopefully at a price competitive with its erstwhile competitors from Loar and Eastman...

[Bohunk]

Appears similar in concept (and price) to the Collings Waterloo WL-AT small body archtops. It is ironic in that they are echos of depression-era folk instruments facing the reality of modern construction costs.

[cgm440]

I have a 14" archtop made by Paul Lestock, It has walnut back and sides, a spruce top, and a cutaway. All solid and carved of course. The nut is 1.75 and the scale 25 inches and it has a floating pickup. Beautiful work. I have it strung with Martin Retros and the tone is gorgeous and bigger than you'd expect. The size makes it extremely comfortable. I spoke with Paul not too long ago and the price was 5k and the wait about 6 months. Anyone interested in a parlor size archtop should consider one of these. Tony Marcus has one. I'll try to upload a photo. If it doesn't work you can go to Paul's Facebook page.

[jricc]

That's a beautiful archtop! Congrats

[rockabilly69]

Although they look like nice nice arch-tops, I agree with Steve, these guitars are entirely built in China, and that's quite a lot of money considering that! I would go with a USA built guitar.

[eyesore]

I can dream about owning one ...

[curiousdave84]

I have one on deposit. I actually think it will be ready in the not very distant future. Admittedly, I also am fond of their mandolins, which led me to this archtop as I am a much better guitar player than mandolin player (not that I am really good at either one). I have the utmost respect for how they are operating their business and the Northfield team is real easy to get along with which makes getting on board even easier.

I can see how people get stuck on their building process, but I think their approach is definitely unique in what they are doing. I can tell you, on their mandolin side at the price point their various models are, they definitely compete with other builders.

I went with an all acoustic version in the amber/blonde color.

[Silly Moustache]

Looks sweet. Didn't find the specs so dunno whether it is a 16" or smaller. All their video examples were plugged which makes them 'lectric guitars to me, so not that interested.
I've got three archtops , which my playing skills don;'t deserve so ....

[curiousdave84]

Here is one of my favorite video demos they have posted. Just a mic and no pickup

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H72suBnhzU&t=5s

Any of their videos with the amber/blonde color are the full acoustic and without a pickup. The sunburst ones do have a pickup.

This one is also real good too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2gZr6KHaMw


Spec/Dimensions are on their website. This will be closer to a 14" archtop and reasonably smaller that a 16"