Archtop Electric Guitars

Whereas many acoustic guitars have a flat top, the top of an archtop guitar is, well, arched! It has a convex, bowed shape more like a violin from either being carved or the wood being bent in order to achieve its distinctive shape.

Most of the time, when someone thinks about an archtop guitar, they’re thinking of an archtop hollowbody electric guitar, or a semi-hollow body electric guitar. However, any guitar that doesn’t have a flat top is technically an archtop guitar, such as a Les Paul standard or guitars without sound holes like B.B. King’s Gibson Lucille or Brian May’s Red Special.

Though they can be played with essentially any genre of music, archtop electric guitars are most popular in jazz, blues, country, and rockabilly.

When it comes to the sound of an archtop vs. flat top electric guitar, the sound of an archtop guitar will have more midrange, less top end, and, often, less sustain. This is especially the case for archtop guitars that are also full hollow body or semi-hollow.

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