The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I'm doing a series of unscientific tests that really appeal to intrigue over much else.

    There are variables that make all of this unreliable, so please bare that in mind.

    The weight of an Archtop is said to play a role in the over all quality and 'livelyness' of its acoustic sound.

    Much is said about the thickness of the top.

    In this case I weighed and measured 3 Johnny Smiths and & Campellone Deluxe.

    Which one is the winner?

    Please place your bets in the comment section below before watching the results.

    Good luck!



    Last edited by Archie; 06-23-2022 at 09:06 PM.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Ship them to me so I can give them a heft first.

  4. #3

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    Thanks for the post and the entertainment!

    I think you might want to tap your foot on the scale each time to make sure the scale resets to zero before weighing each guitar. That might be tripping up your scale. But who knows. And it's all in good fun anyway with four magnificent archtops -- and that's plenty good enough for me! Cheers!

  5. #4

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    Campellone Deluxe is the lightest.

  6. #5

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    Gibson Johnny Smiths had a massive end block under the fingerboard overhang. This block actually extended into the upper bout cutaway on two I've worked on. This made those particular Johnny Smiths heavier than many other high end 17" guitars including the Guild AA (Westerly), Benedetto Manhattan, Campy, Eastman and all the Yunzhei or Wu's I've played. That being said, I have played Gibson Johnny Smiths from the 60's that were lighter.
    When I was finally in a position to buy a high end archtop many years ago, I went to a shop that happened to have both a Gibson JS and a Campy standard. I was surprised at how much lighter the Campy was and how well it responded to the lighter touch of my finger style playing.
    The Gibson is very much in the tradition of the D'Angelico upon which it was initially modeled, in an older school design. Campellone is of a more modern (D'Aquisto and more recent) design and tends to be graduated thinner; typical of modern handbuilt designers.
    I'd say Campellone is quite a bit lighter (5-5.5 lbs?), Gibson maybe weighing in around 6 lbs?
    My rough guess anyway.

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy blue note
    I'd say Campellone is quite a bit lighter (5-5.5 lbs?), Gibson maybe weighing in around 6 lbs?
    My rough guess anyway.
    I have a 1969 Gibson JS and a 2011 Campellone Deluxe which is the same body size, scale and nut-width as the Gibson. Both guitars have a single JS style pickup. In my case, the Campellone is slightly lighter than the Gibson. My JS weighs 6 lbs 14.6 oz and my Campellone weighs 6 lbs 9.5 oz.
    Keith

  8. #7

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    Someone first needs a better scale.

  9. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
    Someone first needs a better scale.
    We'll let you use a sliding scale.

  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
    Someone first needs a better scale.
    Hand on heart the scales were working flawlessly before I pressed record but point taken
    Last edited by Archie; 06-24-2022 at 06:41 PM.

  11. #10

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    A hanger scale would work better for this purpose, imho. The balancing act on a floor scale can be tricky. (But I would take the heaviest of those beauties in a heartbeat!)

    I Weighed & Measured 3 Johnny Smiths & A Campellone Deluxe.-71z1raqyj5l-_ac_sl1500_-jpg

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flat
    A hanger scale would work better for this purpose, imho. The balancing act on a floor scale can be tricky. (But I would take the heaviest of those beauties in a heartbeat!)

    I Weighed & Measured 3 Johnny Smiths & A Campellone Deluxe.-71z1raqyj5l-_ac_sl1500_-jpg
    They’re even much cheaper than a scale. Plus you have hands off, which could potentially influence the weight. Not that your hand can, but you get my drift.

  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
    They’re even much cheaper than a scale. Plus you have hands off, which could potentially influence the weight. Not that your hand can, but you get my drift.
    It's true, holding the guitar is a variable best eliminated.

  14. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by ArchtopHeaven
    It's true, holding the guitar is a variable best eliminated.
    I use a large kitchen scale. You can carefully place an archtop on its back on top of the scale so it is balanced in such a way that you don’t have to hold on to it.
    Keith

  15. #14

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    Frankly it is fun to do this but meaningless to the extent of the if the guitar is a dud or not. But don't let me discourage anyone this is cool thread.

  16. #15

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    I got a few chuckles from the vid. Quite entertaining.

    I don't think bath scales are really designed for such light subjects. Here's a tip: weigh yourself, then again while holding the guitar, and then do some math. I think it's more accurate. (try a calculator if it isn't)

    The only down side is you can't ignore your current weight...

  17. #16

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    My bathroom scale has a tare function, so you can weigh yourself, and tare your weight while holding the guitar, making math unnecessary, you just read the difference. I use that function a lot.

  18. #17

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    Well, I'm waiting for someone to post videos of an endoscopic exploration of several vintage archtops.

  19. #18

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    This coming week I'm focusing on reverse engineering the acoustic archtops and from that will come video footage of the insides, CAD models, Studio photos, hopefully a YouTube video, much in the same vain as 5 watt world (or more like troglodytes guitar world), where I can give a complete run down of the guitar.

    My aim has always been to do top rate video content but I don't know how to do that, having had no real experience. I also have the issue trying to make a guitar manufacturing business and a semi professional youtube business.

    I want to do too much but making great YouTube content would also help the business, so if I can do it well enough, it's worth it.

    We'll push forward with that over the next couple of weeks.
    Last edited by Archie; 06-26-2022 at 12:51 PM.

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by ArchtopHeaven;[URL="tel:1204854"
    1204854[/URL]]…This coming week I'm focusing on reverse engineering the acoustic archtops and from that will come video footage of the insides, CAD models, Studio photos, hopefully a YouTube video, much in the same vain as 5 watt world (or more like troglodytes guitar world), where I can give a complete run down of the guitar…..
    I look forward to more of your unique style of comedy.

  21. #20

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    Metoo!