Archtops with woody/acoustic sound qualities?

[Swingstring]

As a 575 owner (and make no mistake--i love this guitar), I must say it doesnt do much acoustically.

Heres an old video of a much hairier me playing it unplugged:

Doesn't sound too shabby either, though – nice playing. But maybe not that strong acoustically for a carved top, yeah.

How do you reckon the 575 does at achieving that blend of electric / acoustic tone – well-suited for getting into that territory?

[Gabor]

Tonewise, I'm interested in seeking out something that retains some acoustic/woody qualities in the amplified tone.
...
But since tone labels are often ambiguous, I guess examples are better. Julian Lage's archtop sound is sort of the 'ideal' tone I'd be aiming for (though obviously no small part of his tone is in his fingers):
Thanks.

I am pretty sure that referenced recording is mixed from both the acoustic miked + the amplified electric tone, the "acoustic qualities" come from the real acoustics, and not "retained some acoustic/woody qualities in the amplified tone" Much more studio recording does this - especially in the last 10-15 year, than we think.

It is also tricky the get the pure electric tone when we try a guitar in a shop or at a friend, because we _always_ hear the acoustics too, even at extreme amplified volumes the pick attack is clearly audible, not talking about normal room amplification where the natural acoustic mix is near 50%-50%

The real test is record just the electric sound (preferably with amp+mike), then re-listen it, that could be a surprise, how different is what you hear during the play.

***

In general the bigger body give more depth in amplified sound, but I should avoid the term "acoustic" or "woody". The 16"s Eastman AR372 with its extreme depth of body is unbeatable for the price. To go "deeper" the 17"s follow, for example AR810, but again this is to direction: deeper, richer, beefier, more mojo, etc whatever we call, but not acoustic, neither "woody" in the pure amplified sound.

I think to get acoustic qualities in sound requires record an mix the mike with the electric, then you shift the sound characteristics to more acoustic and woody, with great attack, and made it more rich. Of course the more rich is the guitar sound in itself the more rich will be the result.

[zcostilla]

I think my ideal setup would be wet/dry mic’d at the top end of the fingerboard and use the pickup(s) for whatever effects you might use (reverb/delay). I’d use effects sparingly for jazz, but I’d still use them. I’d also use the mic sound a lot louder in the mix than the pickups’ sound.

[mr. beaumont]

Doesn't sound too shabby either, though – nice playing. But maybe not that strong acoustically for a carved top, yeah.

How do you reckon the 575 does at achieving that blend of electric / acoustic tone – well-suited for getting into that territory?

I've never tried the condenser mic thing, I should bite the bullet and try someday, as I do really like that sound.

I know theres spruce topped and one pickup 575's floating around out there...those would probably fare better.

Listening back to this video, I am reminded too that this guitar sounds much better acoustically "out front" than it does to me while playing it.

[omphalopsychos]

As far as great tones go, I wouldn't leave out Szymon Mika.

Interestingly, his guitar is not even a hollowbody. It's a semi, which goes to show you how effective the micing strategy is.

Btw, if you're into minimal rigs, I also used a K&K Definity with my humbucker at one point. Here's a clip from a couple of years ago of my Eastman setup with a piezo + humbucker. It's not quite as lush as a mic rig but it is not a bad compromise. Just note that using a Piezo requires time spent on processing that signal because it doesn't sound so great on its own. I ended up using a TC Electronic Body Res pedal, which made the piezo sound way better (i.e. more natural, less pinched).

Whether you go with a piezo or mic is up to you, but I think mostly agree that to get this at a stage volume you've got to amplify the acoustic signal of your guitar.

Btw, I know where your next rabbit hole will be and the answer is Henriksen Bud for a 2-channel amplifier that sounds good with both a pickup and a mic.

[omphalopsychos]