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  #46  
Old 03-24-2014, 09:16 AM
Archtop Guy Archtop Guy is offline
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I never tire of looking at that Collings of yours, BackDrifter!
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  #47  
Old 03-24-2014, 09:40 AM
backdrifter backdrifter is offline
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Thanks much! Your Treniers are drop dead gorgeous too. I'm especially drawn to your non-cut Magnolia, and LOVE watching you play it in your videos. Any up close photos of that one? I'd love to see all of the beautiful subtle details!

By the way, this Trenier haunted me for months until it sold. In fact, it still haunts me when I look at these photos! Perfection, I tell ya!

http://www.myjazzhome.com/07_Trenier_16.shtml
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  #48  
Old 03-24-2014, 01:18 PM
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iim7V7IM7 iim7V7IM7 is offline
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Default Nice Guitar!

Bill started out with many of Bob’s construction methods over two-decades ago and his approaches have developed into his own style. He has some very different views on certain aspects of construction. No different than Bill Collings starting with the designs of Lloyd Loar and developing his own take. Bill’s guitars are not all the same. For example, my Carpathian Spruce top was tuned to be much lighter and more responsive because I play mostly unamplified or solo amplified at lower volumes. My guitar will feedback at higher volumes. Also, my guitar like yours is a 16” guitar and it is x-braced for richer tones but will cut through less. Is yours parallel braced so it cuts through the mix better? It is a beautiful guitar BTW (as you know:-)

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Originally Posted by backdrifter View Post
Sure, I'll vote for my Collings AT16 whole heartedly!

I agree 100% with iim7V7IM7. At this level there is no "better", only different, and better suited to your tastes, style, and needs. Leaving the AT17 out of the discussion, I will also say that Collings' AT16 and Bill Comins guitars are so completely different, and built for different reasons, that I doubt anyone looking for one of these two would even consider the other. It's a horses for courses kind of thing.

iim7V7IM7 - I agree with most everything you said. However, Bill Collings' archtops are a one-man operation just like Bill Comins' are. The flat tops are mass-produced, the archtops are not. There is some speculation as to who is now making them. Up until a few years ago, at least, Bill was still making each and every archtop 100% on his own. The rumor is that he has passed the torch to one of his very skilled luthiers now, but it is still a one-man operation. I've read that Bill Collings built his first archtop somewhere in the late 70's or early 80's, so he has been building archtops for more than 30 years. Last I knew, there were approximately 76 AT16's in existence, the majority made by Bill. I don't know how many AT17's and AT18's he's made, but if you add them all up, I'm sure the sum is a quite respectable number of archtops that Bill has made. It's important to differentiate the Collings archtops from the other Collings instruments, as they are handled quite differently at the factory.

Comins guitars are beautiful. He has a great sense for detail, and his guitars are very fairly priced compared to some of his contemporaries. However, his guitars don't fit my needs or desires. In my opinion, he builds more in the modernistic style of Benedetto. Both make instruments that are nice sounding acoustically, but are ultimately designed to be amplified. 17" archtops with cutaways are completely different animals than 16" non-cut archtops. I want an archtop that is a copy of a 30's instrument. One that was designed with one purpose and one purpose only - producing acoustic volume and cut that was required to compete with horns, percussion, and other stringed instruments in the big bands of the day without the aid of amplification. I have not played a Comins, but I have owned three Benedettos. They have been wonderful, but none of them were built for outright acoustic performance, so ultimately, none of them were for me and they have all moved on to better homes.

I have played a handful of 30's L-5's and similar instruments from that Golden Era period, and I owned a wonderful 1933 L-7 for a while. The AT16 is the best modern interpretation of the instruments from that period that I have come across. All of the bark, volume, cut, and attitude, without the deteriorating pickguard and binding and none of the tuning issues!

I would love to see Bill Comins tackle a 16" 30's L-5 style acoustic archtop. I'm sure it would be wonderful, and I would be one of the first in line to try it. But, I sleep soundly each night knowing that I have the best archtop available *for me*. I love it and nothing else that I've played has come close yet.

Play what you love, love what you play, and play LOTS!

Mine:













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Last edited by iim7V7IM7; 03-24-2014 at 01:37 PM.
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  #49  
Old 03-25-2014, 09:59 PM
scottishrogue scottishrogue is offline
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Cool My Favorite Archtop

I have 2 archtop guitars, a Gibson SG-347 TD, and the iconic D'Angelico "New Yorker" reissue by Vestax. The latter is my favorite, in pristine condition, and the tri-color burst is breathtaking. It plays like butter.

Glen

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  #50  
Old 04-21-2014, 05:04 AM
Cincy2 Cincy2 is offline
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Default My Favorite

Here is a pic of my Benedetto Bravo. I chose it for the size, pedigree and the lack of Bling. Coming from a classical music background, I appreciated the understated elegance. Solid spruce top, flamed maple back and sides

Cincy



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  #51  
Old 04-21-2014, 06:10 AM
kayakman kayakman is offline
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Does Bill Collings build these AT16 by himself????
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  #52  
Old 04-22-2014, 06:31 PM
tbeltrans tbeltrans is offline
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My favorite archtop is my 1974 Gibson Johnny Smith. I have always wanted one and finally got it in the winter of 2013. I am somewhat surprised these haven't been mentioned yet in this thread. Nobody else has one? I don't mean to imply these are any better than other archtops, I really don't think that way, but I always thought of the Johnny Smith as one of the "classics", though I have no idea how many were made. Since these are Gibson, I would guess thousands of them would be floating around somewhere.

Tony
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  #53  
Old 04-25-2014, 08:56 AM
Archtop Guy Archtop Guy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tbeltrans View Post
My favorite archtop is my 1974 Gibson Johnny Smith. I have always wanted one and finally got it in the winter of 2013. I am somewhat surprised these haven't been mentioned yet in this thread. Nobody else has one? I don't mean to imply these are any better than other archtops, I really don't think that way, but I always thought of the Johnny Smith as one of the "classics", though I have no idea how many were made. Since these are Gibson, I would guess thousands of them would be floating around somewhere.
I have always loved the Gibson Johnny Smith. I've played a bunch of them, all great, but haven't owned one yet. I agree that they are classics. And compared to L-5's they are relatively rare.

My '77 L-5C with a Lollar JS PU gets close from one direction, and one of my Treniers, closely modeled on the guitars D'Angelico made for Johnny in the 50's, gets close in another direction. Johnny Smith himself is a classic and I'm always trying to get that sound and feel!

You should post pictures!
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  #54  
Old 04-26-2014, 08:08 AM
IndianaGeo IndianaGeo is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 70sSanO View Post
It has to be my first "real" guitar... a 1964 Guild M-65 I got for a combined birthday/Christmas gift.

When in dire straits a number of years ago I had my brother sell it because I needed money. I found out years later that the buyer was my mom, so I still have my original Guild today.



John
Just read this...Wow! You've got an amazing Mom. Absolutely touching.

IG
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  #55  
Old 04-27-2014, 02:59 PM
tbeltrans tbeltrans is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Archtop Guy View Post
I have always loved the Gibson Johnny Smith. I've played a bunch of them, all great, but haven't owned one yet. I agree that they are classics. And compared to L-5's they are relatively rare.

My '77 L-5C with a Lollar JS PU gets close from one direction, and one of my Treniers, closely modeled on the guitars D'Angelico made for Johnny in the 50's, gets close in another direction. Johnny Smith himself is a classic and I'm always trying to get that sound and feel!

You should post pictures!
Thanks for the kind comments Archtop Guy... One of these days, I will get a camera of some kind. My Johnny Smith is sunburst and has the two pickups. It does look pretty much a typical Johnny Smith. I don't mean to diminish these instruments, I always wanted one, however they do pretty much look very similar to each other. Mine is all original, including the case. Though my Johnny Smith represents "archtop" to me, I think all this class of Gibson archtops are really nice instruments, including L5, Super 400, ES175, etc.

Tony
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