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#31
06-23-2013, 12:28 PM
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Martin 000-28EC '71 Harmony Buck Owens American Epiphone Inspired by Gibson J-45 Gold Tone PBR-D Paul Beard Signature Model resonator "Lean your body forward slightly to support the guitar against your chest, for the poetry of the music should resound in your heart." -Andrés Segovia 
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#32
06-29-2013, 05:25 AM
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#33
06-30-2013, 12:15 AM
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGl-tbg13HQ
George Van Eps, pre-seven string; no overdubs here. and Carl Kress also gives a great sample of the chordal archtop style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJD-jdU6DTw with this performance a good ripping duo performance with Tony Mottola http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oogT4IGvDR0 Archtops are great. If you can find an old Harmony or Kay, those are good introductions to the sound, if they're in good shape. Best bet? Find an old L50 or Epi Triumph.
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#34
06-30-2013, 12:56 AM
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I played an 18" Yunzhi archtop (carved top and back, solid spruce, solid maple) for the first time at an open mic tonight. I didn't know we would be playing outside. The guitar does not have a pickup. While my voice couldn't keep up (a bit hoarse as I type this), the guitar was in its element. Clear and powerful. Even the single note fills rang like a bell and were clearly heard. Driving acoustic rock, blues, and even accompanied a nice lady singing some Joni Mitchell. Not sure I'll ever go back to flat tops.
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Spook Southern Oregon Last edited by Spook; 06-30-2013 at 02:10 AM.
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#35
06-30-2013, 05:07 AM
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I am really loving my recently-acquired '50's Gibson L-7c. Went to Justin Sandercoe's site, made a donation
 , and used his clip on Miles Davis' tune So What off Kind of Blue. Been playing that a lot - slowing down and playing melodic lead fills in the D Dorian mode called for by the song - I am playing in modes! Who knew?! What has been cool is that as I have slowed down my playing, my lead fills have gotten tastier. Bends matter less on an archtop because of the reduced sustain, but doing those little slide-ups - where you start at the fret below the note you want and slide into it - add a great nuance to notes along with vibrato. Yesterday, as I was building off the Miles groove, I stumbled into a lick that sounds like Grant Green. Grant Green is my favorite jazz guitar player - hearing a GG lick come out of my guitar was a mind-blower... ...man, once you get into archtops...
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An old Gibson and a couple of old Martins; a couple of homebrew Tele's
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#36
07-01-2013, 08:46 AM
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While we're showing acoustic archtop clips....the great Homer Haynes (and he chews gum while playing):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eYIa9ZTCLQ
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Avian Skylark Pono 0000-30 Gardiner Parlor Kremona Kiano Ramsay Hauser Cordoba C10 Chris Walsh Archtop Gardiner Concert Taylor Leo Kottke Gretsch 6120 Pavan TP30 Aria A19c Hsienmo MJ Ukuleles: Cocobolo 5 string Tenor Kanilea K3 Koa Kanilea K1 Walnut Tenor Kala Super Tenor Rebel Super Concert Nehemiah Covey Tenor Mainland Mahogany Tenor Mainland Cedar/Rosewood Tenor
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#37
08-23-2013, 04:19 PM
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#38
08-23-2013, 07:13 PM
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Hey Steve.. nobody carries these and you have to deal with the factory. I have purchased several (I'm waiting on my fifth) and there is nothing better in the price range for my skill level. They run less than $1300 or so for a hand made, solid wood, built to your specification instrument. That being said, you can expect poor hardware (sometimes) and manufacturing defects. The QA is not as good as Eastman. On the other hand, mine sound as good or better than any Eastman I've played and none of the defects has been anything but cosmetic. Still, they are always there. For instance, you can expect to have to replace any electronics. And, significantly, there is no warranty. Whatever you get, you fix and/or live with.
In general they make Benedetto knock off's like Eastman. However, I'm pretty sure they have been guilty of putting 'Gibson' and 'Fender' on solid body headstocks. Also, some are bothered by them making copies of custom makers guitars like the Monteleone Grand Artist (ref pics, original would be north of $90K, copy: less than $1500 and yes, that's hand carved). While these do not say 'Monteleone' on the headstock, some find these corporate and cultural behaviors to be a deal breaker. There is a lot more discussion about Yunzhi over on the jazz guitar forum. I'm also happy to answer with whatever I know here.  
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Spook Southern Oregon
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#39
08-23-2013, 07:42 PM
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that's a nice looking box Spook
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#40
08-23-2013, 08:36 PM
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#41
08-23-2013, 10:17 PM
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I think Raines has been bringing them in under his own headstock for awhile. I don't know what arrangements he made with the factory or if he provides the warranty himself. Others have brought them in too. Certainly if you want the factory to warrant their product like Heritage or Gibson, this isn't the way to go. For me, I'm willing to assume the guitar will be functional, will have a reasonable lifespan, and at 1/2 the price of anything else, I'll come out ahead. So far, so good. Guess I'll know for sure in 20 years.
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Spook Southern Oregon
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#42
08-23-2013, 10:18 PM
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Spook Southern Oregon
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#43
08-23-2013, 10:31 PM
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#44
08-24-2013, 11:47 PM
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Second, if you're thinking in terms of a carved-top instrument they take a long time - sometimes decades - to "break in" and reach their full tonal potential; unlike a typical flattop (and for reasons still not completely clear to me) it's easy to "play in," for better or worse, a very specific tonality - and near-impossible to get rid of it once it's there.
Assuming I read you correctly, this is a concept I've never heard before. I understand that a fretboard can be gouged where you don't want it to be. But, are you suggesting that a guitar's body can be broken in "wrong?" If so, please elaborate.
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#45
08-25-2013, 04:48 PM
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I wouldn't use the word "wrong"; what I will say is that archtops inherently tend to follow your lead as a player, becoming what you want (or don't want) them to be to a far greater extent than flattops - and taking a far longer time to do it. If you're located within reasonable distance of a good vintage store, go in and play all the acoustic archtops in stock (makes for a fun afternoon, BTW) - and bring a friend when you do, so you can have him/her play while you listen from across the room (handy thing: I've been married to my favorite guitar tester for the last 23 years, and she feels the same way
 ). It'll quickly become obvious (aside from cosmetics) which ones saw serious bandstand time and which were owned by casual players, and the differences will be far more glaring than with vintage flattops; pick up a few old D-28's and you know exactly what to expect, pick up some old L-5's or Epiphone Deluxes and it's an adventure every time. Depending on your preferred style, this is not always a bad thing: MandoBros sold Sister Rosetta Tharpe's '39 L-5 (your classic Big Band rhythm machine) a few years ago; having been played rather lightly for over six decades it made an ideal guitar for a fingerstylist, but fell flat as a comp box. The classic woody "thump" that drove many a horn section back in the day just wasn't there, period; similarly, many of the "cannons" that you could hear from the back rows of Radio City don't fare too well in the fingerstyle department, needing a pick (even on softer, chord-melody material) to "coax the velvet out." My thoughts: if you're breaking in a new archtop play as many different styles as you can, in as many different keys as you can, at as many different dynamic levels as you can, for as many weeks/months/years as you can - you'll find it well worth the time and effort invested...
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