My archtop on several different style songs

[Howard Emerson]

I noticed the thread about making an archtop your main guitar, and I didn't bother to comment for many reasons. Most of the points I'd make were voiced over the course of the thread, so it's redundant.

The main thing is this: Less expensive archtops, and many expensive ones for that matter, do NOT have the tonality needed to express much of the typical fingerstyle canon. They're too terse, too bright, too in-your-face, but they do what they do really well in the hands of someone who's paying attention to what the guitar is saying.

That said.....I'm incredibly fortunate to own a freakish old Gibson L-5 that was originally built as a tenor. Whether or not they built it more lightly because of that, who knows? All I know is that I've played a couple of dozen 1920-30's 16" L-5's including Loars, and none of them is voiced like the one I'm blessed to own.

Ironically it may be that it would be terrible for a jazz player of that era, but that's not how I play: I play fingerstyle and bottleneck, and though I normally do those things on a flat top guitar, this L-5 does a nice job of expressing the tonality my music asks of it. Here's a few videos for those who've not been seeing my other posts.
Dust Mop in open D capo 2, taking advantage of the quick response.


Wake Up Mary in open G w/low C, a much more legato composition, but still enough sustain to carry through the slower phrases.



An unfinished piece, strummed, in open G w/low C.



It really does several things really well, and I'm lucky to the caretaker.

Best regards,
Howard Emerson

[Livingston]

Beautiful, masterful playing! Thank you for posting these videos. Thoroughly enjoyed.

[Bluemonk]

Very nice!

I have some contemporary archtops that I find to be quite versatile and, at least for my touch, work for fingerstyle techniques normally associated with flattop guitars. I'm not so sure they wouldn't be too brash with fingerpicks, however.

[Richard Mott]

Howard, posting these videos does a real public service, makes a great case for archtops as all-rounders capable of a wide range of music beyond the jazz standards. Really nice and what a sonic outlier that Gibson must be!

[Sage Runner]

Love the Clarity of a great A Top. Nice arrangements Howard. They reveal the Sweetness of that Early 16” L-5.

[Dave Richard]

Originally Posted by Howard Emerson

The main thing is this: Less expensive archtops, and many expensive ones for that matter, do NOT have the tonality needed to express much of the typical fingerstyle canon. They're too terse, too bright, too in-your-face, but they do what they do really well in the hands of someone who's paying attention to what the guitar is saying.

So, so true! Much as I love my various archtops, sometimes I just have to reach for a flattop. I'll probably be searching, til the end of my days, for an archtop that 'covers all the bases'.

Wonderful playing, Howard!

[H165]

This performance of Dust Mop is in now my bookmarks - great!

Interested to see those picks where they are (and where they aren't).

I have an old archtop that might be able to handle fingerpicking - going to try it out

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by Bluemonk

Very nice!

I have some contemporary archtops that I find to be quite versatile and, at least for my touch, work for fingerstyle techniques normally associated with flattop guitars. I'm not so sure they wouldn't be too brash with fingerpicks, however.

The key to mine not sounding brittle or metallic is the particular pick & the way I fit them to my fingers. I actually get a far smoother sound with the metal picks than my index finger nail is able to get.

The main point, for me, is flat-angle of attack, and when it comes to the Pro-Pik Fingertone picks they're very easy to adjust, and there's only a loop of metal to deal with:




With my existing index finger nail I can only file the contact area a bit shorter, but I have no control over the angle of attack, and I'm NOT going to change my hand position after all these years trying to negate a little string-scrape. It's easier to just glue on a plastic tip if it meant so much to me. THEY are capable of sounding like medium-heavy flat picks with a ton of fundamental tone & little cross-winding scraping, while my real index nail is like a stiff thin pick.

I suppose a set of nylon tape strings would accomplish the same thing, to a point......Anyway it's a cheap experiment if you're willing to buy a set of them and a few rudimentary tools,

Glad you enjoyed it in any case!

Howard

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by H165

This performance of Dust Mop is in now my bookmarks - great!

Interested to see those picks where they are (and where they aren't).

I have an old archtop that might be able to handle fingerpicking - going to try it out

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

See the pictures in my reply to Bluemonk.

HE

[Robin, Wales]

Hi Howard, I really enjoyed watching your videos (including the flying pick LOL!). You are a wonderful musician and bring out some real magic from that old archtop. Just wonderful.

[Howard Emerson]

Originally Posted by H165

This performance of Dust Mop is in now my bookmarks - great!

Interested to see those picks where they are (and where they aren't).

I have an old archtop that might be able to handle fingerpicking - going to try it out

I've been working on Dust Mop, and decided to put on a thumb pick for the first time in decades. It's something that I always did with 12 string, but eschewed on 6 string.......but with a tight fitting National tortoise model with a shortened tip I'm liking what I hear when it comes to Dust Mop. I'm not sure if I'll make it a constant thing......So here is a sloppy version, with a better feel for my taste, with the thumb pick. Don't mind our screaming cat.....



HE

[jricc]

Originally Posted by Howard Emerson

I've been working on Dust Mop, and decided to put on a thumb pick for the first time in decades. It's something that I always did with 12 string, but eschewed on 6 string.......but with a tight fitting National tortoise model with a shortened tip I'm liking what I hear when it comes to Dust Mop. I'm not sure if I'll make it a constant thing......So here is a sloppy version, with a better feel for my taste, with the thumb pick. Don't mind our screaming cat.....



HE

Sounding real good Howard! Really enjoyed this, thanks for sharing.

[leew3]

Wonderful playing and thank you as always for your generosity with your playing and wisdom. The finger pick tips you've shared encourage me to try finger picks again as I also play bass which takes out my first two fingernails! Like you, I'm too far in to relearn my bass technique so perhaps revisiting finger picks is a good option. Thank you again for sharing with us!