Archtop Acoustics

[mlspanther]

I've been playing archtop acoustics lately. Mainly pre-war Gibsons. I love the feel and the sound. I don't like the price, ouch!!!

 

Can anybody recommend an archtop acoustic guitar for about $1000? Does anybody have any experiences with the newer models? Like the Hohner Presidente?

 

Great forum, thanks for your help.

 

Mike.

[JasmineTea]

$1000

[JasmineTea]

$2250

[JasmineTea]

$1500

[sid langley]

Eastman do a great range of acoustic archtops at sensible prices

[mlspanther]

Thanks Jazmine Tea. This is the pre-war/pre-warish I was talking about. My local music store has the price a little bit higher, I have to go back and compare again.

I'm checking out the Eastmans right now at their site. They seem nice, price is slightly higher than what I'm looking for. I guess I can wait for a bad case of GAS

[JasmineTea]

I dig the one's with the wooden crosspiece on the tailpiece. I think they were made during the war. I looked for a pic of one but could'nt find one.

I was in the market for an L-7 not long ago...car troubles put an end to that.

Was looking for something about like this.

This one flips my lid too.

[mlspanther]

They really don't guitars like they used to, do they?? Cosmetically, modern guitars are Volvo-ish. I like the sound but these archtops really opened my mind to a new set of tones.

[JasmineTea]

Originally posted by mlspanther They really don't guitars like they used to, do they?? Cosmetically, modern guitars are Volvo-ish. I like the sound but these archtops really opened my mind to a new set of tones.

IMO, Martin's still building a lot of nice affordable guitars. I don't get to play a lot of Gibsons because the local dealer has had the same ones for a long time, but they're not bad at all.

 

If you can afford it, there's a lot of boutique guitars like Collings, Bourgeois, Goodall, SCGC. You can find them used at a fair price. I think most boutique companies also build an archtop, but they're always very expensive.

 

As for modern archtops, there's not many, if any, that I like. No doubt they are wonderful guitars, but they just don't have the same appeal as the old Gibsons, Epiphones, Strombergs etc, IMO.

[mlspanther]

I played a couple boutique guitars when I visited Pittsburgh. Guitar Works? They had Collings, high end Breedloves, I don't know about Santa Cruz... They are nice. I can't justify spending more than 2G's on a guitar.

I'm just interested in the archtop sound right now going through a jazz run. I just found a local dealer that sells Eastmans. I'll check them out.