Switching to a Guild Archtop

[Brad]

Thanks for the input AlohaJoe!
My favorite guitar is a 1947 Gibson L7 with a Dearmond floater. The tone is remarkable but the guitar is old, has a very thick neck with a 25.5" scale that just kills my left hand. It will feedback on me but I have made some f hole plugs that work great.

My ES350 is a 1951 with two P90's, maple laminated top and it sounds great but I prefer the carved spruce top of my L7 which is why I am considering the x-700. I have the original pickups for the ES350 but have replaced the neck pup with a p100 and did not wire the bridge pup because I never use it. The p100 is not so great but I got tired of the p90 hum on my quiet jazz gigs.

 

[Walter Broes]

My ES350 is a 1951 with two P90's, maple laminated top and it sounds great but I prefer the carved spruce top of my L7 which is why I am considering the x-700. I have the original pickups for the ES350 but have replaced the neck pup with a p100 and did not wire the bridge pup because I never use it. The p100 is not so great but I got tired of the p90 hum on my quiet jazz gigs.

Oh man, that's my dream Gibson hollowbody....! But that's not me saying I want to buy yours, because they're way out of my league...beautiful guitars with perfect specs though I think...

 

[guildman63]

Very good article!

Seattle Jazz Guitarist Rik Wright has the best summation I've seen of carved vs laminate on his website under "Choosing an archtop guitar".
http://www.rikwright.com/Content/Content.aspx?page=custom&pgid=622#x2

 

[kakerlak]

Thanks for the input AlohaJoe!
My favorite guitar is a 1947 Gibson L7 with a Dearmond floater. The tone is remarkable but the guitar is old, has a very thick neck with a 25.5" scale that just kills my left hand. It will feedback on me but I have made some f hole plugs that work great.

My ES350 is a 1951 with two P90's, maple laminated top and it sounds great but I prefer the carved spruce top of my L7 which is why I am considering the x-700. I have the original pickups for the ES350 but have replaced the neck pup with a p100 and did not wire the bridge pup because I never use it. The p100 is not so great but I got tired of the p90 hum on my quiet jazz gigs.

Honestly, if you like the floating DeArmond, you really might want to look for a 60s Artist Award or an A-500/A-350 (plainer trim carved tops) all either came with or were optional w/ floating DeArmonds and should sound "similar" to your L7. I think these will all be 24.75" scale guitars, except for Artist Awards from the 70s on.

That's not to say that the x-700 isn't a good guitar, but it'll sound a lot different plugged in than a floating-pickup instrument, as it's got real-deal fullsize humbuckers in it (good sounding ones, though.)

There's a big price difference b/w vintage Artist Awards and X-700s, but something tells me you might have the cost covered w/ your ES anyway...

Anyhow, I'm a showoff, so here's mine:

Excuse my crummy camera...

 

[Brad]

WOW! Thats a beautiful x-700, nicest one I've seen.

 

[kakerlak]

WOW! Thats a beautiful x-700, nicest one I've seen.

Thanks! I really prefer the naturals. Well, I tend to anyway, but the sunbursts on these mid 90s Guilds cover up too much wood for my taste. Guild seemed to be getting some pretty attractive wood stock around this time; pretty maple and very fine and straight grained spruce.

BTW, excuse the pinkilined Gibson case. This guitar came w/o a case (!) and this is what ended up fitting it. It's got the grotesquely oversized "Gibson USA" screenprint on the front of it, too...

Normally these have a black, alligator grain vinyl case w/ a dark green interior; nice and classy. Maybe someday I'll find one for sale and not have a hundred more pressing things to throw money at. :lol:

 

[rwmol]

Honestly, if you like the floating DeArmond, you really might want to look for a 60s Artist Award or an A-500/A-350 (plainer trim carved tops) all either came with or were optional w/ floating DeArmonds and should sound "similar" to your L7. I think these will all be 24.75" scale guitars, except for Artist Awards from the 70s on.

My 1961 Stuart A500 Sunburst with the floating DeArmond PU is for sale. Picture posted earlier in this thread.

 

[Brad]

rwmol,

Thanks for posting the pictures, your guitars are beautiful. I just figured your A500 would be out of my price range.

Brad