Advice please---Archtop Spruce??

[tonyvenn]

Hi all....

I'm looking at a 2009 Archtop Spruce to round out my collection...

I've got a little bit of everything...a semi-hollow, a McCarty, a CE, etc

Anyway...I'm having a hard time finding good info on the Archtop, let alone the SPRUCE version.

Does anyone here own one?

The PRS "past models" section mentions they were made until 2004...but this one is clearly a 2009.

Were they made longer?

Archtops are no longer made, correct?

They are the widest body PRS made (like, 4 in?)....what would they be comparable to?? A Gibson? A Gretsch? A Ric?

What STYLES of music do the Archtop pickups work well for? I'm not planning Metallica...but some examples would help....


This is a long post, but like I said---info is hard to come by. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Tony

 

[ADP]

The Archtop was discontinued in 2004 but was reintroduced for a limited run a few years ago. The one you're looking at must be from that time.

I'd say they're much closer to a Gibson than a Gretsch or a Rickenbacker. They are very full-sounding and make a great practice guitar for playing late at night. I have a 1999 and a 2004 with a spruce top and maple back (sometimes referred to as the Archtop IV). I love them both.

Opinion is divided over the Archtop pickups; some love them, and others think they're underpowered.

Mike Einziger used one on Incubus' excellent Morning View. I can't think of anyone else who played one offhand.

I hope this helps.

 

[Huggy Love]

I love the arch top pups, same as the ones in my HB from 2000. They're actually pretty versatile, though not suited for metal they can do hard rock, but they really shine when it comes to clear clean chords. You really have to push the settings to get them to clip in the clean channel, great for jazz to alternative, and in a lead channel you can keep the gain down for some blues tones, alternative, & fusion sounds, or put the gain up for some classic rock tones. On top of that I found if I roll off some of the mids & bottom on my clean channel of and set my tone & volume knobs about midway, I can get my HB to sound almost acoustic.

Haven't had the chance to play a full archtop cause they're disco'd and always have been rare, as much as I love the HBs, I'd probably love those too. Good luck on your deal.