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Watching a lot of Peter Bernstein has given me the—very possibly mistaken—impression that it's possible to have a carved archtop with a floating pickup that you play as your main gigging guitar, and that while feedback will sometimes be an issue, it's generally possible to work around it to a degree that it's worth it to stick with the carved top.
I'm looking to get into my first carved archtop this year, and have the romantic notion of having a carved-top with floater being the "one guitar" that I use for most things—playing mostly acoustically at home, but using this guitar as much as possible for jamming and lower-volume gigs. I've got experience gigging out and managing feedback with a laminated archtop (and will still have that guitar and a solidbody in a pinch), but not that much with carved, and none gigging with floaters (though I've played them and love the sound). I understand that there will be a fair bit of variation from guitar to guitar, and from cramped corners to large open stages, but I'd be grateful to hear your experiences. Is riding with the feedback with a floater manageable if you're committed to it, or has it in your experience been so unwieldy that you'd recommend considering a set-in pickup much more seriously? Thanks!
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02-14-2026 09:47 AM
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Definitely worth it !
Amp placement is key (I am sure you know that) but I use mine regularly in big-band, solo and acoustically.Last edited by nbevan3; 02-14-2026 at 10:06 AM.
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If feedback becomes an issue, a set of F hole plugs will do wonders.
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Thanks Andrew—should have mentioned: I'm definitely up on all the feedback reduction strategies (Doug's plugs, packing tape, balloons, foam, etc.), and am open to using all of those! But would also appreciate hearing people's experiences of *not* using those and just trying to manage through amp position and angle.
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It really depends on the individual guitar. Some are carved extra thin and will be feedback monsters. Others are designed with electric playing in mind and have thicker tops and bracing. And of course, there are many in between.
It’s really one of those “you don’t know until you try” kind of things. There can be variations from the same manufacturer and even the same model. Or, to put it another way, not every carved archtop with a floating pickup will have serious feedback problems. Many will be perfectly fine at “jazz gig” sound levels.
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About amplified tone: on set pickups i would say that the difference is 100% worth it. There is a fatness and response that simply is not there in laminated guitars.
I never really liked and experimented vastly floaters, played many in stores but i didnt bond with them.
I would say that a guitar does do both might not be a good option. If you wish a good amplified tone go for it and dont expect the guitar to have a super acoustic tone, even with carved archtop, there is a kind of trade off between amplified and acoustic tone. If you find verstitilty you might end up with a middle of the road solution that is the best for nothing.
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I let go of a really magnificent '62 Super400CN equipped with the famed DeArmond 1100 pickup for the simple reason that this guitar was not usable on stage with the type of group/music I was mostly busy with at the time, feedback was just too much of a hassle and i did not want to tape up that guitar, making it mute so to say... At home the guitar was all one could ever wish for and NOW I wish I still owned it but alas .... My lam-top guitars perform without any problems, regardless of volume-level or stage/room size. I have 4 different ones : one Trenier Jazz Special (with a floating KA single coil pup) which has the most acoustic volume / the thinnest top plate of the bunch, then there's a Borys B-165 which has a really robust electric tone through it's built-in KA humbucker (comes very close to my now-gone Super-400 CES) and the third is a mid-60's Gibson ES-125 (deep body) , same build as the ES-175 without the extra bling and equipped with a single P-90 pickup. Less acoustic volume than the Trenier, about the same as the Borys but it's got a bit more "air" and that P90 pup is really sweet and creamy. Last-but-not-least comes an early 2000's Ibanez GB-15 with a replacement pickup, again made by Kent Armstrong but this time it's a mini-humbucker with a coil-tap. The small body and the really thick plates afford the highest volume levels while it still
sounds like a true hollowbody guitar. It's my go-to guitar for larger ensembles or for gigs where it might not be safe enough for the larger/much more valuable ones. YMMV ....
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I believe the key words in the OP's post are "lower volume" gigs. I have a pretty thinly carved 1990 Benedetto Cremona with a Bartolini floater. I use it on just about every gig I do. So much depends on amp placement and what amp you are using as you probably know. I usually place my amp to the left and slightly behind me. I'm not a knob twister, so once I find the best tone from the amp I don't mess with it. If it's a loud crowd or larger room I let the FOH system do it's work.
Yes, it's a challenge to find the sweet spot, but IMHO totally worth it.
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I think you can gain some perspective by looking historically at what performing and recording pros have used.
Originally Posted by j.l
The instrument choice is always a compromise - what's practical, in whatever sense, versus what sound you're looking for. Joe Pass mostly used a laminate-topped hollowbody (ES175); Wes used a carved-top with set-in pickup (L5C); Johnny Smith used an acoustic archtop with a floater; Gabor Szabo used a flat-top with a pickup; and Ed Bickert used a Telecaster.
But at least up to the beginning of fusion, I think you'd find that most players used laminate-topped hollowbodies, some used carved-tops with set-in pickups, a few used carved archtops with floaters, and a very few used solid bodies. Of course some players switched guitar types now and then according to their tastes or needs. But the majority seem to have found that laminate-top hollowbodies were best-suited to their needs and struck the best balance between all their conflicting requirements. But that wasn't everybody.
So, yes, you can use a carved-top acoustic guitar with a floater as your main guitar provided the gigs you're playing support that. You would be unlikely to use a carved-top if you're playing with a Miles Davis/Bitches Brew tribute band, for example. But if the carved-top with floater is the sound you're looking for, go for it, and learn to deal with the issues. As Robert McCall said, "When you pray for rain you gotta deal with the mud too."
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A few thoughts about this ...
Peter Bernstein's guitar sound is a very particular thing. It's a not just a carved top guitar with a floater -- it's that particular guitar with that particular pickup (a full-sized humbucker, whereas most other floaters are minis). If you want THAT sound specifically, it might be hard to duplicate.
The idea of one guitar covering both acoustic and electric duties is very appealing, but I think the catch (feedback aside) is the electric side of the equation. I tried finding a carved-top/floater guitar for this reason, but couldn't find any with an electric sound that I liked (including a real D'Angelico, several Eastmans, a Loar, a Gibson Solid Formed, and a Johnny Smith, blasphemous though this may sound). Other people playing them sound good in their own way, but my search revealed to me that I just prefer the warmer lam/set-pickup electric sound. I'm happier with an archtop more optimized for my electric playing and a separate (flattop in my case) acoustic.
I'd also say that carved vs lam is not a better/worse thing; it's just a difference. I carved top guitar is arguably a more impressive work of craftsmanship, but that doesn't make it a better tool for the task of playing the music you play. It certainly can be (and is) for many people, but a lot of people become kind of fixated on the idea that carved is the ultimate jazz guitar, and the reality is that it isn't for everyone.
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It depends on the volume and the drummer. I have a Elferink Tonemaster with a K.A.Floater, I use in lower volume settings and in duo,trio without drums without any issues.
Pop band settings would be doable but difficult to say the least. But why deal with the hassle?
You need to try for yourself and find out what works for you!
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Indeed. You couldn't duplicate that sound with Pete's guitar and amp because most of that sound is Pete, his technique and concept of playing. He sounds the way he does because of what notes he plays on which string and the timbre of those notes, as much or more than the guitar, pickup and amp. Originally Posted by John A.
I love Pete's playing and it is what freed me up from my obsessive chase for the Jim Hall type guitar tone, which neither my technique nor any of my guitars and amps will get to. That was Jim Hall's sound and really nobody else can have it. I especially wasn't going to get that sound playing a 17" carvetop guitar with a floater!
I have had my archtop for 20 years now, made by the late Matt Cushman. After many trials and tribulations over those two decades with different pickups and amps, I have found a setup that I consistently like with that instrument (VVG neck-mounted PAF and DV Mark EG250 with a TOOB Metro BG+). For many years, this guitar was just much too bright and hard sounding for my comfort and I often hear that tendency in amplified acoustic archtops with a floating pickup. Getting a good stage tone with one of these guitars, unless you happen to like a very bright tone, is a challenge- archtops with floaters have a stringy sound inherently for reasons that have been much debated.
I rarely gig with the Cushman. The feedback problem is just too much. I find that I am constantly on edge while playing, trying to avoid certain notes because I know they're more likely to feedback and that distracts from playing the music. In really quiet environments I am willing to use it. I find that feedback is greatly reduced by using a small speaker; the TOOB and EG250 sound great and result in much less risk for feedback compared to my tweed Deluxe, which can result in feedback in my living room at a soft conversational level let alone at stage volume. My last performance with the Cushman was accompanying a friend doing a jazz violin recital in a small concert hall and it worked great. Low volume (he was un-amped), the excellent acoustics of the room allowed the nuance of the instrument to come out and I was really happy I chose to take it. But for a gig in a bar or something, it's staying home and I'm taking my GB10, a Telecaster or my ES-175.
So my answer is "no, the feedback problem is not worth it" for gigging with an acoustic archtop with a floating pickup. If I played in more professional settings where there was an FOH sound person and sound system that could allow for low stage volume while still letting the audience hear, I might have a different opinion about that. But I am not a guitarist who plays at that level of gigs. The last time I saw Peter Bernstein was with Larry Goldings and Bill Stewart at the Dakota in Minneapolis; he had the house Fender Twin tilted back and pointed right at himself; I don't recall any feedback occurring. Either he has developed really good technique at avoiding that or perhaps that guitar just doesn't happen to be all that feedback prone. I just thought of this, perhaps tilting the amp back and pointing it at himself allowed him to run the volume much lower? Because it was also miked and going to the house PA.
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Im gonna say yes, yes and yes. Especially for conrolled volume playing. Unless you just jam out at home at loud volumes feedback should not be a problem. If it is your room needs some control. I have a few guitars but I always reach for my carved w/floater. If I were out gigging loud I might think differently.
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Of the archtops I have only one is a built-in pickup all the others are acoustics with a floater. I have no trouble but I am not probably playing any gigs that require so much sound that feedback is an issue. In general I think an acoustic with a floater can cover most things. I used mine with a huge 18-piece big band years ago and it worked. I found a Raezor's Edge Twin 8 and AI amp would allow the sound without the feedback. Now days I don't like those gigs so not an issue I play solo.
That said a laminate or in my case my only electric is a 2005 Super 400ces. Because of the design it is competely different beast to me and the sound is very different than any acoustic with a floater. I just love the tone but in the same way I love the tone of a my Campellone with floating KA PU. They just have different sounds and require different settings.
I personally am an acoustic player and that sound of up most importance to me. My thought is to have one of each to cover the situation. So, an L5v ces, and L5 acoustic with a floater, and then an ES-175 to cover the laminate electric. The problem being that option has cost that exceed $15k so most will have to make some compromises. It really is different for each player. To me this possibly why a Wes L5 might be one of most sought and easily sold and bought true carved tops.
1. It is carved so nice sound with built in pickup and no floater issues.
2. It only has a neck pu and I play jazz never use the bridge pu
3. Wes is a known quantity even to players who don't follow jazz guitar at all, they like him
I have to play guitars that inspire me to pick them up that is the first and foremost. Do what you gotta do.
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My experience, decades ago, with an archtop with a floater was that I couldn't control the feedback. I was a beginner and this was well before GP or the Internet so I didn't understand what was happening or what to do about it. I switched to a solid body for this reason.
Decades later I got a Godin Multiac Nylon which had such a live top it would feedback at conversational volume if the amp was facing the guitar. I taped the holes, which did nothing. Then, just before I would have smashed it to bits, I stuffed it, and I mean stuffed it, with upholstery foam. That completely muffled the acoustic sound, but the amplified sound was still good. And, zero feedback.
It has always seemed weird to me that people will pay extra for a carved top and then some will suppress its vibration with taping the f holes or stuffing the body or whatever. I'm aware that it works - you can get great sound that way. Just seems like you could save money on the carved top -- but I'm aware that the sound may not be the same.
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I have a Rocktron Noise Reduction Guitar Silencer pedal. I can dial out the frequencies that creates feedback. For me it is actually a pretty narrow band so I am not missing much from the tonal spectrum. I really can’t say that I even notice what is missing.
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Hmm.....eight of my eighteen guitars are carved archtops (4 with built in PUPS, 4 with Floaters), so I think that for me, it is worth it.
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I love my Campellone with KA floater, but I would be hesitant to gig with it for anything other than a super low volume gig. Not because it couldn't work, but because I don't really know how to make it work. If I learned how to do that, fine. It would involve positioning, foam plugs, etc. More work and distraction from music playing than I would want.
Much easier to take a laminate arch top or even a 335 type. I really love playing the Campy at home and it is my main practice guitar. Plus it records beautifully. I bought it with all of that in mine, and a laminated Borys thinking it might be easier to gig if and when I do that. Certainly it feeds back somewhat less.
Another consideration is whether you are going to be playing any other style of music than jazz. When I was gigging the most, I sometimes, but rarely, had gigs that were pure jazz. Usually I needed more versatility. My main gigging guitar for those "mixed" kinds of gigs was a vintage ES345. And from what I have heard, purely jazz gigs are even harder to find now. Even here in Nocal, where we have SF Jazz etc.
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This is really helpful, all! Definitely not trying to reproduce Bernstein's sound (beautiful, but a lost cause as others have noted). The Jim I'm drawn to tone-wise is less Hall than Raney (early and late), so I've been kicking around the idea of a floating CC pickup.
Cunamara, I recall that you used to have one of those on your Cushman, but it sounds like that's no longer the case? What pushed you back toward a humbucker?
This is tough. I've always used one guitar for the vast majority of both practicing and playing out. I really want a lovely acoustic sound for all my home practice, but it's hard to swallow the idea of that not being my main guitar across the board (especially considering the cost!).
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The biggest problem with ‘carved’ archtops is the acoustic tone. Many don't sound that good acoustically ime and cause you more annoyance than when amplified, as each dead or woofing note (usually past the 10th fret on the E & A strings), increases feedback and amplifies bad acoustics. Originally Posted by j.l
A good luthier can make a balanced sounding carved instrument but they will be expensive.
Carved tops that are over braced like the L5, L4, or thicker carved tops like the X700, will not only reduce feedback (to some degree), they will also sound more balanced because they are less lively. It's a tradeoff that you can only win with experience.Last edited by Archie; 02-15-2026 at 12:07 PM.
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I play carved top guitars on gigs all the time, both floating pickup and built-in pickup versions. As a couple of previous posts have said, I find that the type and placement of the amplifier has a lot to do with controlling feedback. I mostly use amps with closed-back cabinets and I always place the cabinet behind and to my left, angled slightly away from me. As a right-handed player, that reduces the amount of sound that is directed at the body of the guitar. My gigs are typically low to medium volume gigs and I never have any trouble with feedback this way. In higher volume situations, I typically play an L5CES with my usual amp placement and I still don’t have feedback issues. In the past, I often had feedback trouble with open-backed cabinets, which are much less directional than closed backs.
On another note… some posts have talked about archtops with floating pickups being overly bright. I always have a tone control installed with a floating pickup and I can dial in a warmer tone that suits my taste.
Keith
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So the Trenier has less feedback because its lam even though its a thin top acoustic? Would that be less feedback such as a 175 compared to a carved top? I have nice carved acoustic archtops but always played my 175 out (which will also feedback but less so) seems like Trenier has solved the problem? Ive never seen or touched a T and doubt Ill get the chance but quite interested in the feedback resistance of an acoustically made lam vs carved. Originally Posted by gitman
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My feedback reduction tip: lower the volume on the guitar and strike harder. That will make it less likely for extraneous signal to hit an activation threshold for feedback.
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The feedback issue with carved archtops in general is overstated in my opinion. Unless you're playing extremely loud and have the amp very close by, it shouldn't be an issue, even with a lively carved top guitar.
A simple trick to reduce the propensity for feedback is to roll the bass off the amp - this eliminates a lot of the 'mud' that often detracts from the tone of the guitar and causes those woof tones that can result in feedback.
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Originally Posted by j.l
Yeah I've seen Bernstein in several different places/context, and all over youtube. He his tone/sound is
always incredible. How does he do it? Metheny is like that too.
my experience: For a few years all I had was a carved/floater. Every gig, except duos or perhaps trios with a very quiet drummer, was a stress fest: I constantly had to damp strings, cut off notes that start to swell, or have to accept being lost in the mix, even with f-hole plugs, and even when there was enough space to move/point the amp/guitar etc. Not to mention the stress of damage at a gig, or dealing with people who ask to play it.
Yes amp location/settings/plugs/tape/pedals help some, but the shock of being in the second chorus of my solo, getting loose and trying to get a little juice out of a note or chord and having everything suddenly swell loud enough to make me feel the body vibrate, makes me forget where I was going, and it's hard to recover.
For duo gigs in some small place where the music is listened to, or, with high action/heavy strings and used as a freddy green machine, it works well. I used it twice in straight ahead jazz studio recordings, and the result sounded great to me, "just like a studio recording of a carved/floater".
I eventually got a laminate with no f-holes and have used it for most gigs since. It sounds/plays well and the only stress I feel on gigs now is accompanied by some thought like "is this the bridge or the second A coming up???".
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