handbuilt archtop guitars - comins, andersen etc.

[kris]

the sound is in the fingers!!!!
guitar...d'aquisto...

[Groyniad]

Here's a pic of my Comins Classic. It is a total revelation - like Butch I only wish I'd got one sooner. I was lucky to pick this up second hand because it had all the specifications I needed.

A really great guitar is all about weight - not too heavy not too light. Too light and its zingy and sparkly and responsive acoustically but doesn't work amplified; too heavy and it may work amplified but it is dead (so even the amplified sound suffers.) My top priority is amplified tone - and I got the feeling the Andersens were a touch on the light side for my needs. The Comins is perfect. The neck in particular has more weight to it than we are now used to - but it is no base ball bat.

I also changed my solid state rig for a tube rig (Rivera Jazz Suprema) and that is also a revelation. All in all I'm in guitar heaven. By the way the Garrison Fewell videos in this thread are absolutely invaluable resources - they have turned me on to a whole new approach to the neck and to harmony (which I didn't think was possible after all these years).

thanks everyone - hope the picture comes out okay.

[mattymel]

+1 on Andersen guitars. Considering that some big name builders are charging $10,000 for a archtop, Steve's guitars start to seem pretty reasonable. I also live in Seattle and have played pretty much every custom builder there is. Andersens are def the cream of the crop IMO. By a large margin, workmanship, materials, playability, but MAINLY SOUND! Everyone of his guitars just has SOMETHING. Ive visited his shop, played all his models, and had him do a setup on my 40' Epi for me. Money WELL spent! He is the one setup I ever payed for where when I changed the strings a few times, it still played GREAT! The guy is seriously a genius.

One that isnt talked about enough is Trenier. I think if I was looking for a traditional D'Aquisto style guitar, he would be the obvious choice. Meticulous workmanship and very well rounded sound.

I am personally more of a vintage guy because of the mojo of some of those. And you dont have to worry about putting knicks in the top as much. But the Andersen stuff does still tempt me. If I ever came into some big money, I would def be giving him a call.

[oldane]

Jim Triggs and Mark Campellone make great guitars at very competitive prices.

[Bluewyatt]

I'll post a sound clip of my Jimmy Foster Basin Street tomorrow night. It may be interesting to some folks because of the unusual wood combination he uses on the smaller 15' archtops (Cedar/Mahogany). I'll record it without any eq or reverb.