It is a well known fact that guitar players can be adamantly specific and almost mystical when it comes to their preferred 'axe.' Guitarists will oftentimes choose a specific guitar for the particular sound or 'color' that it can lend to a piece of music. Since their invention, a variety of different musicians have favored archtop guitars.

Archtop guitars were actually invented by a guitar pioneer named Lloyd Loar, who at the time worked at a now famous guitar company. Lloyd had previously designed a successful mandolin, and subsequently, he modeled the basic shape and characteristics of the archtop on the mandolin design. Archtops are now distinguished by a couple of easily identifiable characteristics, which Lloyd established.

Archtops are primarily steel-stringed guitars, which separates them from guitars that utilize nylon-type strings. Additionally, archtops generally have a hollow body type, and they tend to mimic violins or other classical stringed instruments in style. Perhaps the most obvious telltale sign of an archtop is their f-hole, which resembles the traditional f-holes found on violins.

Archtop guitars are popular with musicians exhibiting a wide mix of playing styles. Jazz and country musicians are especially fond of archtops, but you can also find plenty of rock-and-roll musicians who favor these classically inspired instruments, and thus it is not uncommon to find archtops that have tremolo arms. You can find new or used archtop guitars from a variety of guitar manufacturers and distributors.