Archtops

[Polera]

Who here like Archtops and why??? What is the best archtop to buy?

[Hammurabi]

I like them because they sound awesome and they're fun to play.

I can't tell you what the best one to buy is because that depends on some things like personal preference and budget.

Gretsche is a traditional and very nice sounding company, but they also can cost lots of $$. Especially the vintage ones, I saw someone selling a white Penguin Gretsche for $85,000 not too long ago. You could get a nice instrument from them for less than $1k, but the top of the line for their products is a few $k.

Ibanez makes cheap and affordable jazz guitars, but some people find them 'boxy' and generally not the best.

Cort makes a good selection of archtops. They have one basic model which sells in two variations ($550 and $700) and some signature models. The most expensive guitar they make (I think) is $1600 (Larry Coryell), but their artist instruments more often cost around $900 (such as for Jeff Beck and a budget variety of Coryell's model).

Gibson sells hollow-body guitars, I've never played one and I have no idea what kind of price range they can have, although it's pretty common to see the cheaper used ones go for the better half of three digits and the ceiling at several thousand. I've heard their lower end isn't entirely consistent, so be careful if you're buying one.

If you like botique guitars D'Angelico makes, imho, the most sexy guitars there are. They cost heap much bling-bling. Their more elegent models run around $12,600, but you can get many of archtops and their electric guitar model for a few thousand. They also make models in between, such as their practical working musicians' NYL-2 custom which goes for a 'modest' $6000. They make a seven string variety for $13,500, which I think would be a complete joy to play if I wasn't nervous about holding a guitar that expensive. Which I would be.

It's very easy to find custom and botique luthiers for archtop guitars like Schaefer (http://www.schaeferguitars.com/intro.html), but if you have an average income I would look into cort or a used gibson, if you're willing to spend more look into Gretsche. Those are just starting points, personal preferences vary.


[Edited by Hammurabi on 02-24-2004 at 03:27 AM]

[PonyOne]

I am one of the few people out there who actually owns a Gretsch, and I can tell you it is a DAMN DAMN DAMN fine guitar. If you are looking for a blues/bluesrock/jazz guitar that you will love so much you'll have it till the day you die, then my suggestion would be to start saving up and get your hands on one. If you want a traditional, pre-60's jazz style archtop then you may want to look at the Streamliner, which has a single floating neck humbucker (very old school) and comes in a really sexy wine red color w/gold hardware and art deco f-holes. They start around $800, I seem to recall, and are probably the most cost effective Gretsch archtop. If you don't have a qualm with taking the bus for the next few years or taking a second full-time job then the Brian Setzer sig model is to die for. Granted, I don't like Brian Setzer's music all that much, and I generally am loathe to play signature guitars because I don't want to pay extra bling for someone's royalties, but they are so damn sweet it hurts. There is also the Tennessee Rose, which is more cost effective, and just as pretty.

If you want to hear a Gretsch in action, well, listen to any one of a number of 50's artists, or for more modern music, Depeche Mode uses Gretsches all around and the Queens Of The Stone Age use a late-60's Gretsch Corvette. Mine can do anything from clean, clear, warm-as-an-oven chord strumming, to twangy and spanky chicken pickin' to low and angry grind, all equally well.

Gibson makes some pretty nice hollowbodies and you can pick them up used for decent prices sometimes, but, in the Les Paul tradition, for the most part they are not worth the $$$ new. In the past few years they've started making some hollowbodies and semihollows that are less expensive and in all truth have the same tone that their costlier siblings have. The "standard" Gibson semihollows/hollows are the ES335, which is probably the most recognizable and copied semi, and the ES137, which can be had for relatively cheap. The bottom end on both is not the best ever, but the midranges are nice and if you like picking and bending your high notes you'll probably like them a lot.

There are the boutique companies like D'Angelico and Benedetto, which cost a whole load of money and make other guitar players drool and twitch with envy. Truth be told a sweet Gretsch will get you the same stuff at a lower price, but they are still gorgeous guitars.

Guild makes some nice archtops, that generally run about the same price as a Gibson. IMHO, they aren't quite as pretty as Gretsches or Gibsons or even some Samicks but they play okay. Tonally they are very similar to Gibsons. Dearmond is in a similar boat, if I'm not mistaken both Guild and Dearmond are now owned by Fender. In fact, I think Fender also recently purchased Gretsch (with a pledge to leave them the hell alone). Hmm, I wonder if they're trying to corner the vintage-style, f-holed guitar market...? Fender also owns stock in and distributes nationally Benedettos. But anyway, DeArmonds are similar to Guilds, but are genrally cheaper. Their pickups are good; they made the original TV-Tron pickups for Gretsch, and they still have a certain Gretschness to them, but they tend to lack the nice little touches that make Gretsches and other higher-ends so sweet. Not to say they're ugly, they just look a little more chubby, a little less shaped than other hollowbodies. But you can pick them up for about $400-500.

Aria is a much forgotten company in the US, but they make some very very very nice hollowbodies in Japan that can run with all the domestic big boys. My '67 12-string is one such guitar. You can find them used for very cheap, and most older guitarists will tell you that they are worth looking at. They were the main recipient of a lawsuit from Fender and Gibson in the early 80's because they were making exact copies of their guitars with the Aria name on them that were better than their products but sold for 20% their cost. Ouch.

Other names to look at are Yamaha, Kramer (whose contemporary KnightRider has the distinction of being available with a Floyd Rose), and some of the newer Samicks, all three of whom are fairly cost effective companies.

http://www.gbase.com is a great resource whenever you want to find a new guitar, or just dream...