The 175s are awesome but having a custom archtop built was my absolute dream. I thought I wouldn't be able to afford one until a few years after I've left uni but the price just worked for me.
But I thought that crazy big expensive jazz boxes were supposed to have floating pickups and such so that the top isn't compromised in any way? I don't see the advantage to having a guitar like this custom built compared to having it mass produced. Also what are the advantages to having flamed maple sides etc? The spec reads a bit like generic, high end custom guitar stuff.
I fully accept that I'm missing something here though, and that there is plenty about this guitar that I wouldn't be able to make use of. You are a much more capable guitarist than I am and if anyone on here can justify this sort of an instrument then I think it's you.
Yeah I can see that. However these guitars are designed for modern jazz so have to deal with distortion and high volume hence the smaller body and reinforcement blocks under the bridge to fight feedback. These guitars aren't designed with acoustic volume as the main goal, hence the set in pickups. Also set in pickups work much better when running through pedals and that. In terms of the wood choice, I was going to order a laminate box, but I was offered a deal on a carved body for less money so jumped on it! Carved tops sound quite nice acoustically, like the Eastman I have currently, although the guitars aren't purpose built for acoustic playing, they tend to have a nice sound.
It's exciting seeing it being built. Much more so that seeing comparable pics of a solid guitar somehow.
I'd never seen this process before. It all looks wonderfully Heath Robinson. I'd be awful at this, I'd end up making the guitar out of a bit of my trousers or something.
It's really cool to see how it's all done. This whole process is the reason I decided to go for a custom order. I watched a tour of the gibson factory on YouTube and seeing their guitars all built by robots really put me off.
