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#32
02-21-2014, 10:08 AM
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The one I own is my favorite archtop. it's such an odd one.
I guess I'll have to get another made like it. The problem with these guitars is you should choose between electric & acoustic strings. Mine has HUGE acoustic sound. But I record it plugged in. So I keep electric strings on it. I guess I need another one I can put P/B's on.
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Ceci n'est pas une pipe bebe. Youtube France (Film Musique & Fantomas) --- Guitars: (2007) big Vietnamese archtop; (1997) Guild F65ce, (1988) Guild D60, (1972) Guild D25, two other Vietnamese flat-tops and one classical. 
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#34
02-21-2014, 05:33 PM
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A Triggs Master 400 that MandoBros had for $7100 a few years ago - finest-sounding archtop I ever played, bar none - and a very early (might have even been the first one) all-acoustic Heritage Super Eagle with one of those SG-style 1-5/8" flat-C necks that was the finest-playing (and a very close second tonally to the Triggs). Should've pulled the trigger on that one at $4K...
Then again, there was Wes' original L-5CES at $125K... 
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#35
02-21-2014, 07:54 PM
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Comins Classic
This my 16" x 3", "Classic" archtop made for me by Pennsylvania luthier Bill Comins. It has a Carpathian Spruce top and Western Bigleaf Maple back and sides. It has a 25" Johnny Smith scale, a Kent Armstrong adjustable pole piece floater and hidden volume and tone pots on the a Chuck Wayne styled ebony finger rest. Bill tuned the top to be responsive and light. It is best suited for a player with a light touch in acoustic and lower volume amplified situations. The top is too acoustically active for high volume play.
It is by far the finest archtop that I have ever played. No surprise here, it was built to my specs!     
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings…
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#38
03-08-2014, 06:00 PM
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This is a fun guitar to stare at...
Quote:
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#39
03-08-2014, 07:45 PM
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Quote:
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings…
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#40
03-09-2014, 05:13 AM
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I spent an afternoon with Bill at a guitar show in New Jersey a couple of years ago. I got to play about 10 of his guitars and pick his brain on anything under the sun. He is a very skilled luthier has great people skills and is absolutely free with his time and knowledge.
I'm not sure this completely qualifies but he is my favorite archtop builder... ;-)
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#41
03-09-2014, 06:32 AM
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Quote:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h2lv6j82WX0
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings…
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#43
03-24-2014, 02:32 AM
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Collings and Comins
Quote:
Like Dana Bourgeois (Pantheon) and Richard Hover (Santa Cruz), Bill Collings is a very well respected small shop builder who builds guitars with a small team of builders. They manufacture thousands of guitars a year at this point. Most of them are flat tops, next comes their electrics/semi-hollows and finally archtops (in small numbers). So they are a boutique, small shop builder. I have no direct experience with their archtops. I have played many of their flat tops which are very well constructed and finished (I found their timbre to be bright). I am sure that someone with direct Collings archtop experience will chime in. In contrast, Bill Comins is a solo luthier who primarily builds archtop guitars (a few other styles as well). Bill studied jazz guitar in college which gives him a "player's" perspective. He started in instrument repair first, followed by studying archtop guitar making with Bob Benedetto who is considered to be one of the "masters" of the archtop. Bill builds 12-14 instruments a year, most of which are custom commissions with a few standard model instruments going to a few shops. He has been building archtops for 20-25 years now. Like any artisan/craftsman, his work has evolved and improved over the years. Today, I consider him to be one of USA's great Archtop luthiers. His work is on a par with the best luthiers out there. My $.02
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings…
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#44
03-24-2014, 08:51 AM
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Quote:
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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Life is good! Last edited by backdrifter; 03-24-2014 at 09:15 AM.
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#45
03-24-2014, 08:58 AM
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I almost always go with small builders. Cutting out the middle man (dealer) often saves a good chunk of change. Bigger operations advertise and have endorsement deals. This also adds to the cost of the instrument. None of these are necessary for me.
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Ridiculously overlooked guitars.
