James R. Baker Archtop Classic

I have a blonde archtop made by Jim Baker. The craftsmanship is flawless. IT is made from solid maple. Jim goes to great lengths to get perfect aged woods. Being that he is a master designer and wood expert, prior to building guitars, means that he brings background, experience and personal knowledge to Lutherie that is rare.
The finish is a soft luster lacquer sprayed many time over. THe tailpiece and bridge are custom carved for the instrument and the nut is a special polymer. I have Grover Imperial tuners and a Ken Armstrong pickup. THe range on the controls is wide but without amplification, the box has the tone and range of a pure acoustic intrument. Inside, instead of the standard cross bracing, there is a unique bracing system designed and patented by Jim. This design allows for full tonal range and volume but yet eliminates almost all potential for feedback, even when you are right in fron of the amp.
THis fingerboard is ebony inlaid with block pearl. Trully a work of art.

THe sound from the instrument is magnificent. Full range with the depth, warmth and clarity of the most advanced flatop with the crispness needed for Jazz when plugged in. You have to hear this instrument to believe it.

The instrument is truly a work of art. Each piece is carefully crafted and perfectly fit. This instrument is actually a living breathing soul that has a character of its own.

I treat this guitar like the museum piece and heirllom that it is but I have no fear of taking it to Gigs. It is robust but precious

Jim Baker is not a Company, he is an artist. He stands behind each one of his creations as though it is one of his children.

I have been palying for over 35 years. I have played professionally but now I just do it for myself. This instrument was a gift to myself for my 50th birthday. I hope that is remains as a family heirloom for many many years. It is magnificent!

Beautiful blond finish, solid spruce top with solid maple back and sides that looks so good it just asks to be played. It has a Kent Armstrong pickup that I like to turn on with just enough volume to know there's an amplifier, but still hear the natural acoustic sound of the guitar. It has gold grovers with a high gear ratio which makes tuning very precisely quite possible. The headstock is very thin, which at first might seem odd; however it produces a balance that obviates any need for a strap while sitting down with the guitar.

I play mostly Jazz, bebop and blues on the guitar. It has a singing-like tone with a lot of sustain w/o any amplification.

I do use it with a Laney 60w tube amp. The sound it produces with the amp is high fidelity and rich. This is especially noticable with complex chords which sometimes sound muddy on jazzboxes that have too much bottom.

The bridge and the pickgard are flawless. The intonation is perfect and it does not have a compensated saddle -- it was made correctly and doesn't need one. A good test for this is usually the 3rd string (g), where on a improperly designed box, when using an unwound third, it is impossible to get it in tune. But on this box its intonation, even with an unwound third, is right-there.

I keep it out of a case on a guitar stand in my room and I have kids -- enough said, it is durable.

The support I get is the best. Jim is willing to make the guitar do what I need it to do and he's glad to do it, too.

I have been playing for almost 27 years. It is my favorite guitar and always feels like it was made especially for me. I guess it was!

I have played the expensive boxes and usually feel I shopuld put them in a glass case and worship them. But this guitar I just want to play. I guess the best thing I can say about this guitar is that it makes me want to play more often.

This particular Archtop was made in 1998. James decided to sell this at the Long Island Guitar show recently, and I bought it. Made in Long Island, New York.
22 Fret handmade single cutaway Archtop guitar. Top is solid Englemann Spruce, back and sides are solid Big Leaf Maple (back has beautiful rosewood inlay). Maple neck with beautiful Ebony Fretboard.
A top of the line handmade archtop, with a Kent Armstrong Jazz Pickup. Gold Grovers, bubinga pickguard and tailpiece, Antique Sunburst finish, absolutely exquisite.

I had searched for the "perfect" archtop for years before I found this. I had an L7 (considered and almost bought an L5), PRS Archtop, also considered many of the top name builders (Buscarino, Comins, etc.)- I didn't want to spend $10,000 on a guitar, but I wanted tone, playability and aesthetics of a $10,000 guitar.
My needs are for the guitar to have a beautiful, crisp, powerful unamplified acoustic tone, and to sound full and lush through my Fender Vibrochamp.
I could not be happier with this instrument. This guitar sounds like a Martin acoustically (I had a Martin 000-16 to compare it with), and when plugged in, whoa - unbelievably nice. Each string rings with an independent voice, crisp, sensitive, tonally accurate.

Most luthier archtops look the "same". Nice wood, nice craftmanship, good playbility, etc. Jim's archtop is a different breed; more of a unique work of art, than simply a great archtop guitar. The guitar is tuned for strong acoustic sound, as well as electric sound. The finish is great, the wood selection is excellent (Jim chooses his wood for it's sound quality AND looks) action is perfect, the frets are perfect, but this should all be assumed anyway; what's more interesting to me is the guitar itself is sort of "organic". There is a resonance that permeates the instrument, (EVERYTHING is handmade, except for the tuners - gold grovers - and a few screws to fasten the pickguard and tailpiece) that's a real trip. I would compare this guitar to anything made today.

All handmade archtops need care. This guitar is built solidly, and seems as if it will last a lifetime.

I can't say enough positive about Jim on this front. If there is a better person to do business with, I haven't found him/her.

I've been playing for about 10 years. Didn't begin until my late 30's. I have owned many guitars over these 10 years, this is by far my favorite. I've had PRS guitars, Heritage guitars (they make a beautiful Les Paul type guitar that I own) a couple of classical guitars, a couple of Martins, etc. I think I considered almost every luthier archtop made before I purchased this one....I made a good choice.