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Just got back from a three day trip to Ho Chi Minh City in Viet Nam. There is a guitar maker there who is producing Archtops. Solid Spruce top, Solid maple back and sides. Ebony fret board etc. etc. I played several and have to say they were awesome! Very nice guitars and his asking price was $600!! With a few upgrades, such as a good pick up it seemed quite the deal. I currently play a Framus AZ 10 with a Atilla Zoller foating PU. It sounds great but have always wanted a Gibson Wes guitar. I am having this luthier, Mr Duy Ngoc make me one so we shall see how it turns out. Probably gonna run a few more bucks but that's OK. Will keep you updated on how this project turns out. There is a street in Saigon that has about twenty guitar shops. Most of the instruments are Martin and Taylor style acoustics and run from $200 to $1000. There are some pretty impressive sounding instruments. He seems to be the only one venturing into Archtops. Exciting stuff!
Joe
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02-07-2012 06:06 AM
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I love the smell of wood glue in the morning......
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smells like victory?
Originally Posted by mangotango
I love the smell of wood glue in the morning......
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I'm guessing these aren't the sort of fellows that have websites, right?
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Ta taaaa, ta ta ta taaaa taaa, ta ta ta taaaa taaa, ta ta ta taaaa... Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
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This is pretty interesting. I look forward to seeing the result, so keep us posted!
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They do have a website. Google duy ngok to get it.
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I googled duy ngok:
This guy makes guitars?
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I'd be more likely to believe its this guy...
Here's his website....
https://sites.google.com/a/duyngocgu...uitar/workshop
I guess it's spelled, Ngoc.
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Am I missing something...I don't see a single archtop on his site.
'Mike
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Add luthier or guitar to the search. There is also a viet pop star named duy ngok. I guess it's the John Smith of Viet Nam
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Archtops not on the site. He had two at his shop. As I said, it's a new venture for him.
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Actually, there is a picture of one on his site. Scroll through the photos at the bottom of the home page.
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How much does it cost to fly out there?
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I did catch two archtop acoustics in his slide show. Would need more information before I ordered something from 3,000+ miles away sight unseen and tone unheard.
'Mike
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I live in Bangkok so it's no big deal, but coming from the States is quite the journey. Probably only worth doing if you are in SE Asia.
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When I pick mine up I will post something on You Tube review wise.
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It cost me nothing to get there by ship. In fact, I even got fed and paid for the trip. Took a long time, though. I liked it so much that after the first trip in 1969, I went twice more. Originally Posted by Pat Clare
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My Uncle was in a LRRP and loved it so much he went back 4 times. He still drinks warm beer to this day...
Never talks about the archtops he saw though.
'Mike
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Hi. I reside in Saigon. If you go to youtube and search for the 'Vietnam Guitars' channel, that's me.
vietnamguitars - YouTube
I have no financial interest in these guitars except that I have purchased several.
A friend reviews his nice 335 clone made by Duy Ngoc there. I also review my big archtop there too. I buy my guitars across the street from Duy Ngoc, at Mr. Binh's, formerly Tam Hiep luthiers.
My archtop is reviewed there too. it's big, loud and wonderful. My name is inlaid on the headstock.
Solid carved Mahogany/Spruce. I bought it 6 years ago. After mods, total cost was still under 500 USD. If there is a flaw, the neck gets a little chunky toward the body. But acoustically, it is the loudest archtop I have ever played or heard.
Actually, it's the biggest archtop I've seen too. Approximately 18" lower bout and 4 1/2 to 5" deep, over-sized F-holes too. it's the first one Mr. Binh built. I haven't seen any come out of those shops or anywhere on the market that are that large since I bought mine.
Anyone interested in how it sounds, can hear it on some recordings at my music site, www.youtube.com/user/louparte1
Mystère de la Nostalgie & Shag a'la Fantômas both have my big archtop plugged in.Last edited by Louparte; 10-25-2012 at 06:29 AM.
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Do you have experience with archtop manufacturers that we would be familiar with so that we can have a point of comparison? Are his archtops based on common designs like Gibson or Benedetto? Originally Posted by Louparte
It's amazing that there is participation on this forum from places as far-flung as Vietnam. Thanks for posting!
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I have limited experience playing Guilds, Gibsons and Heritages. I've never owned any. I've played a couple of Godin's recently. Comparing mine would be tough. It's bigger than all those. Heritage makes some archtops with an 18" lower bout. But they are not nearly as deep as mine. The F-holes are different size. they're all Maple with Spruce tops. Mine is Mahogany/Spruce. The guitars you buy here are all solid woods, not lams. Originally Posted by Klatu
I think mine is a one-off. All of the other archtops I've seen from here are more standard size. It was the first one my luthier made. Here's a pic. It's very loud and has that nice natural reverb that good archtops have.
If I owned a Godin, I'd string it with .12's. I can string mine with .10's and it's still very loud.
Last edited by Louparte; 10-25-2012 at 07:36 PM.
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Those F holes are definitely different. Short and fat.
Nice looking guitar.
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Thanks. I'd like to get a better looking pick guard & different knobs. Originally Posted by edh
And one day, I may have Mr. Binh make me a blonde with Maple B&S.
But right now, I have too many guitars.
Mr. Binh is directly across the street from Duy Ngoc. His brother owns a shop called
Tam Hiep. But Binh & Tam Hiep guitars come from the same small factory they own.
I've visited it. Duy Ngoc makes his somewhere else. Both shops make good instruments.
I'm not a great jazz guitarist. But here you can hear the guitar acoustically and
plugged in. You can definitely hear the natural reverb the instrument has
unplugged.
I bought this guitar originally for $225 six years ago. I saw it and instantly put down the money.
A Japanese customer in the shop at the time told me,
"The F-holes are too big,".
I said thanks. Later that day, I ran into an Aussie guitar dealer who was angry I'd beat him to it.
He told me he ordered 6 more just like it. So if there are any archtops like this one around, they're probably
in Australia.
I sank some money into mods. (1) The neck binding was screwed up on the bass side.
Mr. Binh had placed dots the way classicals have dots. I paid him to tear off the binding
and replace it. (2) The knobs were in the way, so I got a new pickguard and had him move
the knobs further down.
(3) I bought a KA mini-humbucker in the US and had him install it. It took awhile to find the right
tailpiece too. But the one I have now is Ebony & it's excellent. In total, I've probably spent $500
or less.Last edited by Louparte; 10-26-2012 at 01:03 AM.
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never disregard the "small" luthier . some fairly low cost but fabulous instruments are floating around that are all one off's or custom builds ,
i will definitely visit Vietnam and look up this luthier and others , next time i'm in Thailand (which is just a short flight away )
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