Do new archtop instruments...

**...and Master of None** · Mar-17-2010, 9:35pm

...with solid tops always open up noticeably faster than flat-top instruments with solid tops? The reason I ask is that I've only had this little Eastman MD505 for a few weeks. After I reset the bridge (and installed the right base under the Fishman saddle) it immediately got a lot louder. But, that was only around a week ago and it has opened up even more since then.

At first I thought it was just my technique improving (this is my first mando, after all). Then, I realized that it seemed to be getting louder and have much better sustain even when I was just tuning it. So, I started paying close attention, holding it up by the heel of the neck and strumming the open strings, and I swear that it is louder and has better sustain than the last time I checked, two days (and about three hours of vigorous chording) ago.

Maybe it's my imagination, but I know I've never had a new guitar open up anywhere near that fast. My Taylor is about eight years old and it sounds significantly better than it did new, but it was a very gradual change over hundreds of hours playing. A Seagull with a cedar top opened up faster than any other guitar I've owned - fast enough that you could really tell it was happening - but even that was over a period of weeks of playing a couple of hours every day.

Anyway, if this behavior is something peculiar to arch-top instruments I think I'm jonesin' for an arch-top guitar...

John

**Michael Lewis** · Mar-18-2010, 1:53am

It depends on the instrument's structure and materials. Lightly built instruments will usually open up very quickly, more solidly made instruments take longer to get used to vibrating. For example, some Gibsons have been observed to take a year or two to develop, sometimes longer.

Archtop guitars are definitely not all the same, some are dogs and some will seduce you. Look for one that really talks to you, one that inspires your desire to play. Do you want long sustain or quick decay of notes? It's all available.

**Ivan Kelsall** · Mar-18-2010, 2:42am

It sounds to me that your initial re-setting up has redressed a bad set-up in the first place,so well done for that. Your instrument may be particularly 'sensitive' to it's set up,but now you seem to have got it sorted,it should go on to 'open up' even more over a period of weeks/months /years - just enjoy the experience,
Ivan

**...and Master of None** · Mar-18-2010, 9:06pm

Originally Posted by Michael Lewis

Archtop guitars are definitely not all the same, some are dogs and some will seduce you. Look for one that really talks to you, one that inspires your desire to play. Do you want long sustain or quick decay of notes? It's all available.

Thanks for the response, Michael.

I love sustain but not boominess (I've pretty much given up dreadnaughts and jumbos). I like the sound of my Taylor mid-sized body (314CE or 312CE, don't recall which at the moment and it's in the case). I'm not really a finger-picker but I do like to be able to get a delicate sound when I choose to arpeggiate chords.

I'd also want to have a magnetic pickup near the neck and get a good jazz-body sound when playing through a guitar (not acoustic) amp.

Probably a tall order.

Is there a particular type of bracing I should look for? This all assumes that I decide to take the plunge, of course, which basically means I'll need to move a couple of my current instruments out of the stable (or the wife will move me out to the stable)...

John

**...and Master of None** · Mar-18-2010, 9:08pm

Originally Posted by Ivan Kelsall

... just enjoy the experience,
Ivan

Oooh, I am, I am!

**...and Master of None** · Mar-18-2010, 9:13pm

Hmmm, the company I work for is headquartered in New York. I think I need to wrangle a trip to the home office so I can visit Buffalo Brothers - that's probably the only way I'm going to get a chance to try a lot of arch top guitars side by side...

**zombywoof** · Mar-18-2010, 11:09pm

I have played archtop guitars on and off for almost 50 years but have never owned a new one. I own two at the moment and both are around 75 years old. It took me a while to find one that I could make peace with but eventually settled in with the round soundhole models. Hard to categorize these as they combine characteristics of both a flat top and an archtop. I also found I prefer ebony bridges.

Regarding new instruments, someone once said it takes a new guitar a while to learn that it is no longer a tree. It can take a bit for glue and the finish to fully cure. At least with the older ones, about 1/2 off the finish thickness wouldl flake off in the course of the first year which is why Gibson used to heat the lacquer before they applied it so they could get it on the instruments in a heavy, even coat.

**...and Master of None** · Mar-19-2010, 6:23pm

Originally Posted by zombywoof

Regarding new instruments, someone once said it takes a new guitar a while to learn that it is no longer a tree.

Heh, heh. I like that line.

**Daniel Nestlerode** · Mar-19-2010, 6:49pm

Originally Posted by ...and Master of None

Hmmm, the company I work for is headquartered in New York. I think I need to wrangle a trip to the home office so I can visit Buffalo Brothers - that's probably the only way I'm going to get a chance to try a lot of arch top guitars side by side...

I think you mean Mandolin Brothers on Staten Island. Buffalo Brothers is in Escondido, CA, about as far away as you can get from NYC and still be in the continental US.

Daniel

**...and Master of None** · Mar-19-2010, 9:56pm

Ah. Ahem. Ooops. I was on the Buffalo Brothers web site, but thought it was the store that is in New York. Thanks for the correction. If I do manage to get to New York I might've spent all day in a cab going round in circles with the meter running...

Too bad California is such a long state - I have a brother I haven't seen in years living in central CA...