Archtop Guitars

The first decision that you have to make when you buy an archtop is whether you are going to use it primarily as an acoustic or an electric instrument.

Generally the acoustic archtop employs an X brace, ebony tailpiece, and a large bridge base that makes precise contact with the soundboard across the entire footprint of the bridge. The top and back plates are meticulously graduated to achieve optimal tone and responsiveness. The tonewoods chosen for acoustic guitars are selected for their acoustic properties as well as their physical characteristics and their appearance.

Electric archtops usually have parallel braces, metal tailpieces, and smaller footed bridge base.  Electric archtops can be made with either laminated or carved tops and backs.  When taking the carved approach,  the final thicknesses are kept greater than on the acoustic archtop and the graduation of the plates is changed to reduce feedback problems when the instrument is amplified. The tonewoods chosen for electric guitars are selected for their physical characteristics and their appearance.

Acoustic archtops typically have floating pickup while the electrics have the pickups and controls mounted on the soundboard.

These are the starting points for my archtop guitars, but through the years people have asked for many variations and combinations of the features above.

(Click on any of the thumbnails below to see the full-size photos.)

17" Archtop 25 1⁄2" scale Curly European maple back and sides European spruce top Ebony fretboard, bridge, tailpiece, and pickguard Maple binding Armstrong pickup Depth at the edges:  3 1⁄8"

18" Archtop 25 1⁄2" scale Quilted Bigleaf maple back and sides Adirondak red spruce top Ebony fretboard, bridge, tailpiece, and pickguard Maple binding Abalone inlays Armstrong pickup Depth at the edges:  3 1⁄8"

14 1⁄2", 7 string Archtop 25" scale Honduran mahogany back, sides, and neck Sitka spruce top Ebony fretboard, bridge, tailpiece, and pickguard Indian rosewood binding Planet Wave tuners Depth at the edges:  2 1⁄4"

15" Archtop 25 1⁄2" scale Flamed Bigleaf maple back and sides Engelmann spruce top Ebony fretboard, bridge, tailpiece, and pickguard Maple binding Armstrong pickup Depth at the edges:  2 1⁄4"

Laminated Archtop 25 1⁄2" scale 5 ply flamed maple top and back Ebony fretboard, bridge, tailpiece, and pickguard Armstrong pickup Width of lower bout:  17" Depth at the edges:  3 1⁄8"

17" Archtop 25 1⁄2" scale Flamed Bigleaf maple back and sides Sitka spruce soundboard Maple binding Schaller tuning machines Width of lower bout:  17" Depth at the edges:  3 1⁄8"

Electric Archtop 25" scale Flamed red maple back and sides Sitka spruce top Ebony fretboard, bridge and pickguard 5-ply plastic binding Bartolini pickup Depth at the edges:  2 7⁄8"

Back to Home