A few Archtops

Stopped by a Guitar store in Edison NJ last week and tried a few Archtops, I had started looking back in February. All three had a floating pickup, a wooden bridge and a single cutaway, just what I was looking for.

Godin 5th Avenue Jazz(new) for around $1000. The neck felt too narrow, I didn't like the scale and the body felt small. Sounded fine, weighed next to nothing.

Hofner Jazzica(new), for close to $3000. Felt almost like the Godin, blindfolded I wouldn't have known the difference. I really liked the pick guard, doesn't block the sound hole plus the tail piece looked really nice. The build quality was a bit higher than the Godin.

Epiphone Emperor, made in Korea, $799 used. The color doesn't look as bad in person. The size felt better and the sound was warmer than the other 2 guitars I played that day. I didn't try it through an amp so I can't tell how the non-standard pickup (a Shadow) on the Emperor sounded. The volume and tone knobs on the pick guard didn't bother me, I had thought they might get in the way. Sounded very nice, if I could have had one of the 3 for free, it would have been the Emperor. Didn't love it, so I didn't buy it. New ones go for $699, but are made in China, some say the quality is not as good as the older Korean made models.

Still looking.