archtop

An archtop guitar is a guitar with a curved top and back, typically built with a hollow body and f-holes. The top is usually carved spruce or laminated spruce, and the back and sides are commonly maple or laminate. Many archtops feature a floating magnetic pickup and a tailpiece rather than a fixed bridge. The arched top design helps produce a warm, projecting tone when amplified, which has made arch-tops especially associated with jazz.

Construction variants include carved-top archtops, where the top is carved from solid wood, and laminated-top archtops, built from layered woods. Some models also use carved backs or other decorative elements. Necks are generally set or mortised into the body, and pickups range from vintage single-coil designs to modern humbuckers.

History and development: The arch-top concept evolved from late 19th-century guitar design, with early archtop instruments developed in the Gibson line. The electric archtop gained prominence in the 1930s and 1940s, notably with the Gibson ES-150 introduced in 1936, which helped establish the electric archtop sound. Over the decades, many manufacturers—Gibson, D’Angelico, Gretsch, Ibanez, Eastman and others—produced carved-top and laminated-top models for jazz players and others seeking a traditional tone.

Playing and use: Archtops are prized for their warm midrange, rich sustain, and strong projection when amplified. They are a staple in many jazz ensembles and are also used by players in other genres who value a classic, woody guitar tone. Their hollow body construction can make them more susceptible to feedback at higher volumes compared with solid-body guitars.