bill67 Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 I've begin thinking about getting a acoustic arch top to have something different I have 8 flattops,Does anyone know about one that would be good for about $500,And how is the volume on them and the sound difference from a flat top.I know you don't see them much,I want no cut out are electic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubstar Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 I think your only options at that price are this or the gretsch, and I have read that the godin is superior: http://www.godinguitars.com/godin5thavenuep.htm or an old harmony or similar set up correctly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versatile Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 The Godins are very good Also Eastman make superb quality acoustic archtops V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozigor Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 What about the EMPEROR REGENT?? The pickup is a floating one so it would play like a real acoustic archtop. Have seen some really fine second hand ones in the 3 - 400 € range so I guess in the US they would be in your budget. Haven't played one but really like the look of those guitars. Has anyone out there played or own one?? ozigor http://www.epiphone.com/default.asp?ProductID=10&CollectionID=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill67 Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 What about the EMPEROR REGENT?? The pickup is a floating one so it would play like a real acoustic archtop. Have seen some really fine second hand ones in the 3 - 400 € range so I guess in the US they would be in your budget. Haven't played one but really like the look of those guitars. Has anyone out there played or own one?? ozigor http://www.epiphone.com/default.asp?ProductID=10&CollectionID=1 I order a The Loar 300 from Musicians Friends for around $400 yesterday it has a craved top.10% off day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozigor Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 WOW I just checked their website. They look like absolutely beautiful guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 I've played some of the old archtops, 30s through 50s. Frankly I don't care much for the unamplified sound from them compared to flattops of various sorts. I electrified mine. For all that, I also electrified the flat tops back in those days with soundhole pickups. They're not well suited to certain styles of playing and were designed in the first place for various sorts of flatpick strumming or - as done by Mother Maybelle - something like the Carter Family Scratch. They were designed to meet needs of the recording and radio technologies of a different era. Unamplified they're essentially rhythm instruments which is why the electric pickup was such a big deal. That said, they did make marvelous platforms to add magnetic pickups to. At least that's my opinion. Others obviously will vary. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 Yep, there's no way to compare an archtop to a flat top. Two different beasts altogether. I'm on a mission to get one. I've sung the same tale over and over, you all know it. My brain has been all over the place, from a new Godin 5th Avenue to a used Emperor (both in the $500 range), been pricing 40s L-7s in the $2-$3K range and there's a beat to crap non-cutaway '58 L-5 that would probably shut me up about archtops forever but it's $5700/OBO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozigor Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 You fellows obviously have a lot more experience than most I would imagine but what about the sheer beauty and craftmanship in the LOAR's (or other). Don't they just make you want to own one?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 I agree they're very nice pieces of work... but for performing... I'd rather they are electrified. Again, they are designed for a certain type of playing based on an old sort of recording and broadcast technology. Were I given one, I've gotta admit I'd immediately add one of those pick guard pickup rigs. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill67 Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 Roy Rogers played a archtop and Gene Autry flat top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/07/autry-center-welcomes-roy-rogers-first-guitar-to-collection.html Or... http://collectibles.about.com/od/potterycookiejars/ig/Shawnee-Pottery-Jars/Roy-Rogers-Martin-Guitar.htm That's Roy's flat tops, some of 'em, anyway... Then... http://www.gruhn.com/features/gene%20autry/aa6871.html m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozigor Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 milod have you played an emperor regent with floating pick up??? is this the type of set up you are talking about?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Oz... Never played the REgent, but yes, that's the type of thing I'm talking about. They used to make various sorts of pickups one could add rather easily to an archtop. For some info on this sort of thing, read: http://www.archtop.com/ac_access.html It's not a history, and they're selling stuff, but the page runs from the original pickup I used in the early '60s on an archtop to much better quality modern stuff to ... well, read it for yourself. <grin> m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 2 or 3 years ago I bought a '99 Emperor. It was an impulse ebay buy. It was cheap ($360). It had 12-52 round nickel on it and they did it justice. I splurged on a set of Thomastik flats, which were fantastic on a Guild X-500 I once owned. They didn't bring out the Emperor at all though. Should have stuck with the garden variety D'Addario 12s. I really didn't give it much of a chance. Sold it last year at a good profit and used the funds to help my daughter buy a laptop. The Emperor is a great buy and I would consider another one. It's not an L7-C but it's also about 15% of the price. As far as electric boxes, I've got an overweight '77 Gretsch Country Club that can jazz it up with the best of them. That proverbial base is covered. I've been listening to a lot of early (pre-Comets) Bill Haley lately and I need that runk-chunk runk-chunk rhythm in my arsenal. I built an archtop from scratch in 2008 but I'm not the least bit happy with the way I shaped the neck so it stays in the case. I didn't put enough taper in the neck width so it doesn't feel 'normal' and the string spacing at the bridge is more narrow than it should be. Feels weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 KS... Your archtop is gorgeous as I recall - and the pix prove it. Can you mess with the basic "reeeeeally nice" and get it where you want it? m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Well, I'm toying with the idea. The nut is about 1.8" wide so if I were to narrow the nut end of the neck I should be able to make the bridge spacing wider (think of the 12th fret as a pivot point). If I were to do that, I would just make a new fingerboard altogether. I could gain a little width at the body end by not rolling the edge of the binding so much (it's rolled a lot). I did a few quick measurements before I left for work this morning and I believe I can comfortably make a new board with a 1.40" string spacing at the nut (it's currently 1.55"), make the body end of the board a little wider by keeping the binding more square, and I should be able to make the string spacing at the bridge about .150" wider.... maybe more, depending on how much I want to crowd the edge of the board in the upper registers. Seems like a lot of work for little gain BUT if you notice, I screwed up the inlays, putting one at the 10th fret instead of the 9th. No idea what was in my head that day. I didn't even notice it until the whole cursed thing was done. I've thought about re-doing that inlay but if I made a new board I could fix both issues (maybe). Unreal how a few thousandths of an inch can make the difference between something comfortable or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill67 Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 Maybe I shouldn't have ordered that guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Maybe I shouldn't have ordered that guitar. you sure didn't shop long for it...lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Bill... I don't think it's an error at all, but it's an instrument that's pretty specialized and that's why few are made as such for today's world. As an acoustic, it's basically a rhythm guitar. As an electric? Probably best as a jazz type guitar. If you gave it to me <grin>, The first thing I'd do is go over that page I referenced above about pickups. Then I'd consider whether I'd want a full floating pickup or one attached to the fingerboard. The concept of putting all the electrical stuff on the pick guard keeps you from irrevocably changing the guitar you bought, and I guess I'd go full-floating. (You may want some of those little felt things that ladies used to put on figurines so they wouldn't scratch shelves. That could separate the pickup from the top, but not "damage" anything either.) m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 333 Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 I built an archtop from scratch in 2008... Lovely. Red 333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Red... If you ask me, lovely is an understatement. If KS shipped it out to me right now, I'd probably not do much to it. I like a wide string placement at the nut. Maybe a little wider at the bridge but I wouldn't know until I played the thing. I'd also probably have my 9-42 Elixirs on it for fingerstyle playing and adjust the bridge for that if necessary. Then add a floating pickup, volume and tone control hidden under the pick guard. Maybe... something at the 9th fret but I doubt it. It's too pretty as it is. I don't really know what KS means by the taper on the neck. Too much? Too little? Taper on the fingerboard itself or fingerboard to the back of the neck? m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 The fingerboard should have been wider at the body end. It's not really a problem for the left hand, although it's a bit alien. The right hand is cramped though. Reminds me of an old Fender acoustic. It bugs me so it doesn't get used. I may go shopping for a raw slab of rosewood. I made a new bone nut for my J200 a couple days after I got it. I bet I didn't change the string spacing any more than .100" overall but it made the difference between uncomfortable and comfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Yeah, I know what you mean. Ditto. But... as an old classical player... <grin> I kinda like a wider nut generally. The proportions of the guitar body also can change one's perception of width at the nut, depending on how one sits. If the left arm has to reach a bit, the nut seems wider since the hand probably has a bit more angle on it. I discovered that when I got the Dot after playing the 175 body so long. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill67 Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 Bill... I don't think it's an error at all, but it's an instrument that's pretty specialized and that's why few are made as such for today's world. As an acoustic, it's basically a rhythm guitar. As an electric? Probably best as a jazz type guitar. If you gave it to me <grin>, The first thing I'd do is go over that page I referenced above about pickups. Then I'd consider whether I'd want a full floating pickup or one attached to the fingerboard. The concept of putting all the electrical stuff on the pick guard keeps you from irrevocably changing the guitar you bought, and I guess I'd go full-floating. (You may want some of those little felt things that ladies used to put on figurines so they wouldn't scratch shelves. That could separate the pickup from the top, but not "damage" anything either.) m If I do put a pick up in it it would be a K and K pure archtop,But I'am not thinking about a pickup right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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