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I have never tried an acoustic Epi archtop but I have to say the recent model Emperor I bought was a bit of a disappointment. I believe a good jazzy archtop should still have a decent tone unplugged but that one was very weak. Even through an amp the tone was nothing special although that of course could be tweaked with effects and boosters. I wonder what model Emperors Ninine Garcia and some others guesting at La Chope on YouTube used, I suspect they may have been the Korean made ones from the '90s?
Having said all that I do like the look of the Masterbilt that Brunerd1489 has modded and if it ends up being a decent electric due to his efforts then well done!
Regarding good, affordable archtops: I am not an expert, but I tried a bunch (and temporarily owned a few) "swing" style archtops over the last few years.
For non-Vintage guitars the Epi master built was very disappointing, the Gretsch New Yorker (9955?) with floating pickup was disappointing and seems to be the same build as the Loar 300.
I've been told Loar 600/700 are worthwhile at a fair used price, but I understand the Loar is now out of business. Not sure what affect that may have on prices. I never played one of these but would want to if they ever pop up locally.
Eastman has a lot of good stuff, they are certainly quality instruments, but not undervalued on the used market. You get what you pay for with them in my opinion. @paulmcevoy75 : Buckdancer's in Portland had a nice used one about a month ago, with Florentine cutaway and a single humbucker iirc.
In Europe I did use old German Jazzgitarren from time to time and they are worth checking out. There are some deals to be had on good instruments.
Now I'm living with a Godin 5th avenue, with the p90. You can pick these up used for under 500 bucks and I haven't played anything under about $900 that compares. It's not a solid top. Through an amp with flatwounds it has a great jazz tone, also good with nickel or monel strings through and amp and better acoustically that way. Acoustic volume seems on par with a dreadnaught. I'm still finding the best acoustic tone but I'm happy with it. Better than some of the expensive Eastman's (albeit those are designed to be electric guitars). The Godin is very giggable. I don't know what the quality control is like, I've only ever played this one but it's a good one. Worth trying one out.
Those are all old-style swing rhythm guitars. If you're after a Beson or Metheny thing I imagine an Ibanez is the way to go, at this ~1000 USD price point.
But here's a vote for the Godin. They did a good job on those.
I've been told Loar 600/700 are worthwhile at a fair used price, but I understand the Loar is now out of business. Not sure what affect that may have on prices. I never played one of these but would want to if they ever pop up locally.
We carried the Loar line at the music shop I used to work for and I'll attest they were very good for production archtops...and although no production archtop will ever sound as good as a luthier archtop when played acoustically, Loars and Eastmans were to me the most "alive" sounding in comparison to most other production archtops.
Some of the lower tier Ibanez archtops could be nice too but you'd have to go through a batch before finding a good one.
The best sounding electromagnetic-amplified archtop is not the best sounding acoustic archtop, in my experience. One should go for one or the other, unless you want something that can just make do well enough in both roles.
Brunerd1489--Didn't mean to question either your skills or the success of your modifications. It's just that those Masterbilts really are sow's-ear guitars, even by budget-line standards. And, given the success of the Godin 5th Avenue and Kingpin models, they didn't have to be. I got to hear a Kingpin at a gig, and it punched way above its weight, with a solid, fat 50s-electric-jazz tone. I doubt that it would have been equally impresive in an acoustic setting, but at that price point, its electric performance was remarkable.
Acoustically the Godin's are piss poor. Especially the ones without a pickup. My buddy has one with a floating mini humbucker. Sounds fantastic. Their quality control is very good. Their premier line of hollow bodies are very nice for the money.
Just don't buy a 5th Ave wanting an acoustic instrument.
I have very little experience of archtop jazz guitars, other than whenever I walk into a guitar shop, I always marvel at their beauty and am drawn to them. I had a Godin 5th Avenue many years ago. The acoustic only original. It felt great to play - the neck/fingerboaard/frets were perfect for me. As has been mentioned though, acoustically it was poor.
I have a vintage Hofner President which belonged to my grandad. It is a very cool guitar - looks great!! Despite the neck being very chunky, it's narrow, feels great and just works. Mine needed a neck reset many years ago (John le Voi, thank you). It's not the loudest acoustically, but it has that wonderful acoustic growl. What do you think Willie? What vintage archtops are your favourite?
I'm not the Archtop wizard, but had several during the last decades. The thing with the vintage German ones is the lack of a truss rod, so the neck often is twisted. Acoustically I love the sound and loudness of many of them: more "body and character" than the Loars, Eastman and Epiphone Masterbuilts I had in my hands.
I found my 60s Suzuki P-20 at a flea market several years ago. Neck is very comfortable for me, sound is warm AND bright. Don't play that much these days, but if I do, I use the Suzuki (or the Altamira).
As I don't play amplified, I'll sell my 90s Epiphone Emperor Regent although it is a great guitar. Classic Jazz sound with tube amps, versatile sound without.
The very very best archtop. I ever had the chance to play was a 40s Gibson L7. But it was not mine, and the owner sold it for around 4500 €. (My Suzuki was 350).