The amazing Godin Guitars.
Archtop guitars offer an element of loveliness and tradition that leaves significant amounts of musicians having dreams about their own. But for flattop-oriented players who can’t buy an acoustic guitar to accommodate every single whim, they may be not practical from a tonal and personal financial standpoint. Despite the fact that archtops have been available since the 1890s when Gibson pioneered the design and style and were made popular by early jazz and country greats such as Eddie Lang and Mother Maybelle Carter, the real acoustic archtop has had a lesser amount of influence than its flattop cousins. There have been a large number of reputable archtop luthiers in the past, including John D’Angelico, Jimmy D’Aquisto, and Bob Benedetto. And a point in time during the 1950s and early 1960s saw brands like Gretsch, Harmony, National, and Guild manufacture some prosaic but low cost instruments. Largely, however, the acoustic archtop’s somewhat high price level and dry, barky tonal signature have made them a luxury or novelty instrument beyond a small coterie of followers.

