Different kinds of archtops?

[stryperfan]

I've noticed that the current SLAT3-6 Soloist's archtop is different than many I've seen in the archtop soloist gallery. In fact, there seem to be several different archtop designs. Can anyone classify them for me? As usual, pics of examples would be appreciated. Oh, and how would one specify a certain type of archtop in the Custom Shop?

[neilli]

I'm not sure off the naming conventions to describe the archtops but there are 3 soloist styles that I can think of (I'm discounting the PC archtops, Demons, even an RR archtop). Here's my 'interpretation' of how they look and I just did a quick google search to find the pics:

Old school. Carved kinda like a Les Paul:




SLAT style - more noticeable carve to the top, especially obvious around the horns.


'Soft' arch - there are only a couple of these around from the CS. The top is just gently arched, kind of like the top of an Ibanez Sabre.

[stryperfan]

Well, some of the archtops I've seen in the Archtop Soloist gallery have what looks like a raised section in the middle of each horn (that's what the upper pointy parts are called, right?). The current SLAT3-6 and others look like they're without this (which is good, in my opinion).

[stryperfan]

Whoa, the pics weren't there the first time I read your reply. The current SLAT3-6 seems to have less dramatic curvature than the example of the SLAT you posted; it looks more like the "Old School" with less carving around the horns than your SLAT pic. But still, any idea how someone would specify which type in the CS?

[shreddermon]

The custom shop generally calls these two variations:

"Soft Arch Top" - Like a Les Paul, the top takes a gentle curve to its arch. Think like the curve of the horizon.

"Carved Top" - Like the SLATQH above, the arch is more sharply angled with almost a flat plataeu in the middle.

Both are classy, gorgeous etc, but IMHO the soft-arch is old-school and way cooler.

[stryperfan]

So what would the current SLAT3-6's top be described as?

[shreddermon]

Looks like a soft arch to me. Most pics on the web are pretty cheesy, though. So I'd need to see something better to say for sure.

[stryperfan]

Perhaps try Guitar Center's product pics of it, they're pretty decent quality.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Jackson-SLAT3-6-Soloist-Archtop-Electric-Guitar-584381-i1502359.gc

[Model 88]

I would say the SLAT3-6 is a soft arch like the frist picture but with beveled horns .The SLATQH is pretty extreme with the arch . To me looks like they went back to the original Japanese archtop from 90-91 . Which would be the Soloist Archtop Trem .
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...%20PRO/008.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...%20PRO/028.jpg