Basically, what is an archtop guitar?

[Blue Monk]

Just looking for a good definition of an archtop guitar and examples,
just getting a little confused.

[rob...@nospam.com]

On 24 Feb 2002 13:46:12 -0800, monkh...@yahoo.com (Blue Monk) wrote:

>Just looking for a good definition of an archtop guitar and examples,
>just getting a little confused.

A good place to start is this groups FAQ.
http://www.wpi.edu/~kgh/rmmgjFAQ.html

r/rob

[dunlop212]

> >Just looking for a good definition of an archtop guitar and examples,
> >just getting a little confused.
>

archtops are guitars with rounded tops like a violin, and usually have f
holes (as opposed to round sound holes).

A "carved top" arch top has a solid piece of wood on top, usually spruce,
carved like a violin. These sound very good acoustically, and tend to be
expensive. Examples would be acoustic Gibson L5's L7's, etc., or old
epiphones.

Sometimes carved top arch tops have pickups routed into the top. The leading
example would be a Gibson L5 CES.

Because of the excellent acoustic quality of carved top guitars, they tend
to feed back a bit. They are also expensive to manufacture. A satisfactory
amplified tone, with less feedback, can be obtained by using plywood for the
top. The leading example is the Gibson ES-175.

In order to minimize feedback, and increase sustain, some guitars have a
solid center block of wood inside. These are very poor sounding acoustic
guitars, but a bit louder than a solid guitar. The leading example is the
Gibson ES-335.

Finally, there are solid guitars with an arched top; the arched top has no
real function except looks. The leading example is the Gibon Les Paul.

Some manufacturers have used pressing machines to create the arch with a
solid piece of spruce. This generally results in a guitar that sounds worse
acoustically than a carved top, but a bit better than plywood. If a
manufacturer says "solid top" in their ad descriptions, it's almost
certainly pressed. The korean epiphone emperor regent is an example.

A new carved top arch top guitar starts at about $1700 at the low end, and
can easily cost many times that much. The cheapest used ones I know of are
high end kays, harmonys, etc., like the Harmony Patrician, which can
sometimes be found for less than $300. My current favorite carved top
bargain guitar is the post war Gibson L-50; much fancier than the pre-war
(dot inlay) model, but available in the $800-1000 range (I recently picked
up a structurally sound but dinged up one for $600). Some folks are keen on
old epiphones; it kind of depends on the kind of neck you like.