The Archtop has strings. It sounds more like an acoustic archtop than I had hoped, since it was designed to be a hollowbody electric, so I am pretty thrilled. No finish on it except a wash coat of shellac - must wait for the humidity to drop a bit before the finish goes on. Love the feel of a big jazz guitar, raised fretboard, maple neck, ebony fretboard. So thrilled. Now it must come apart for finishing, pick up and volume knob, and a set up.
6 comments:
Can't wait to hear this one, being a hollowbody electric person meself. I still bump into people who say "oh they're OK for SOME things" but I find them OK for MOST things.
You are so right about that. I think that they are very musical and capable of more dimensions and subtlety, since you are relying on more than just the electronics...
Something about there being a volume of atmosphere inside the guitar gives hollowbody electrics something indefinably great; the general tone and feel, great opportunities for playing with feedback, other subtle things like a certain "singy" quality, "plunky-ness", and other qualities for which I'd have to make up new words in order to attempt to describe.
That is absolutely my feeling/finding as well. It seems to me that almost all solid body electrics behave like the body only contributes a defined amount of mass - what the mass is doesn't really seem to matter much.
On the other hand, one solid body electric instrument I will never tire of is my Rickenbacker 4001 bass, the one I bought in 1974. That's a fine sounding instrument and a joy to play. I swear you can hear the wood in the tone, especially when I pluck the strings with the ball of my thumb.
I remember when you bought that instrument. I am certainly glad you still have it. I have regrets that I ever sold a couple of Fender guitars that I owned. Something about the low-power pickups that allowed the subtleties of the instrument come through. Some guitars, for sure, have more magic than others. Yours is one of those, I think.
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