Archtop Guitars with Floating Pickups

[Cunamara]

Well, almost all of Johnny's recorded output was with a D'Angelico with a DeArmond 1100. Only his last few albums on Verve were with the Gibson, and maybe Legends. So that would be one sound to consider, if you want to hew to that.

Another option would be a floating Charlie Christian style pickup from Pete Biltoft or Jason Lollar. Different flavor altogether. A sound I like, along the lines of Barney Kessel's "Solo" album IME.

A third option would be a Kent Armstrong handmade floating single coil, which can be tapped to be closer to the 1100 or a P90 (or both with a switch). He also makes a 12 pole humbucker, which I find a little "hard" sounding (I prefer a soft attack, as with a Classic 57), but many people love that pickup.

[guavajelly]

The only floater I have left is the Ibanez GB10 – really versatile guitar that works great with every amp at any volume. It's plywood and a heavy build. no feedback and still a satisfying electro-acoustic tone. I love it.
I tried to sell my eastman to a friend but as he did not pay it off in 2 years I think I'll get it back this month. That's a totally different animal: carved solid woods and a light build. Before I sold it I just played it at home because playing gigs I always got howling feedbacks when sustaining a low note. I switched to a telecaster for like 10 years because of that. Honestly I didn't know what to do with it – the acoustic tone is not very satisfying and not loud enough (I much prefer a flatwound), the electric tone was nice but had these feedback problems. The thing it worked best for were recordings ...