Best Archtop Guitar Under $1,000 — 2026 Buyer's Guide
The archtop guitar — with its carved or pressed arched top, hollow body and f-holes — is the traditional instrument of jazz guitar from the 1920s to the present. Gibson's ES-175, ES-335 and L-5 CES; D'Angelico New Yorker; and countless vintage instruments define the category.
At under £800 / $1,000, you cannot buy a vintage instrument or a hand-built American archtop. But the production guitars from Ibanez, Epiphone and D'Angelico's Korean-built lines offer genuinely capable instruments for jazz, blues and chord melody playing.
Hollow Body vs Semi-Hollow at This Price
Fully hollow archtop: A true hollow body with no solid wood centre block. Maximum acoustic resonance and the warmest, most "airy" amplified tone. High feedback risk at performance volumes. Traditional jazz archtop form. Examples at this price: Ibanez AF75, Epiphone ES-175.
Semi-hollow: A solid wooden block runs through the centre of the body, with hollow "wings" on each side. Less resonant than a fully hollow guitar but significantly more feedback-resistant. More versatile across different volumes and styles. Examples: Ibanez AS73, Epiphone ES-335.
For most players at this price, a semi-hollow is the more practical choice. The feedback management allows playing at higher volumes without squealing, and the tone is still warm enough for jazz while being versatile enough for blues and rock.
Best Archtop Guitars Under £800
Ibanez AS73 Artcore — £450 | Best Value Overall
The AS73 is the standard recommendation for an entry-level semi-hollow guitar — it has been for over a decade, for good reason. Mahogany body, maple top, rosewood fingerboard, Alnico Classic humbuckers. The build quality is consistently good at a price point that undercuts all serious competition.
Tone: Warm and round in the neck position, cleaner with slightly more definition in the bridge position. The Alnico Classic pickups are an improvement over standard Ibanez fare — responsive to volume and tone knob adjustments, which is important for jazz playing.
Best for: Beginners to intermediate jazz and blues players who want a capable instrument at minimum cost.
Known issue: Factory pickup height is often too low — raise both pickups closer to the strings for more output and presence.
Ibanez AF75 Artcore — £380 | Best Fully Hollow Budget
The AF75 is fully hollow — making it the entry-level fully hollow archtop in the Ibanez Artcore range. Maple body and top, Classic Elite humbuckers, standard tune-o-matic bridge.
Tone: Warmer and more resonant than the AS73 — the fully hollow construction gives a characteristic "bloom" to notes, particularly in the neck position. More feedback-prone at volume.
Best for: Low-to-medium volume jazz playing, recording, chord melody. Not ideal for high-volume or amplified gigs.
Ibanez AS93 Artcore Expressionist — £600 | Best Mid-Range
Step up from the AS73 in construction quality — solid maple top and back, significantly better Super 58 humbuckers (wound to vintage PAF specifications), roller saddle bridge for better intonation stability. The difference from the AS73 is immediately audible in the pickup quality.
Tone: More complex and detailed than the AS73 — the Super 58 pickups open up with more harmonic content and dynamic response. Worth the additional £150 for players who will spend significant time with the instrument.
Best for: Players serious about jazz or blues who want a noticeable upgrade from entry-level without reaching the £700+ price point.
Epiphone ES-175 — £500 | Classic Jazz Form Factor
Gibson's ES-175 is one of the most recorded jazz guitars in history — Joe Pass, Steve Howe, Jim Hall and countless others have used it. The Epiphone version offers the same body shape and approximate construction at a fraction of the price.
Tone: Warm, slightly dark, with the characteristic ES-175 single-cutaway resonance. Less feedback-resistant than a semi-hollow but more tonally authentic to traditional jazz archtop character.
Best for: Players specifically inspired by classic jazz archtop tone who want the ES-175 form factor at an accessible price.
D'Angelico Excel Mini DC — £900 | Best Approaching £1,000
The D'Angelico Mini DC is a smaller double-cutaway semi-hollow — significantly better construction quality than Ibanez at this price, with a slim profile and excellent playability. The Dog Ear P90-style pickups give a slightly brighter, more forward character than humbucker-equipped alternatives.
Tone: Cleaner, slightly brighter than humbucker-equipped semi-hollows. The P90-style pickups add a mid-forward character that suits chord melody and contemporary jazz playing. Built to a higher standard than any Ibanez at equivalent pricing.
Best for: Players who want the best available construction quality under £900 and prefer a smaller body profile.
What to Look For When Buying
Fretwork quality: Run your thumb along the fret ends — rough or sharp frets indicate cutting corners on finishing. This is the most common quality indicator across this price range.
Neck straightness: Look down the neck from the headstock. A slight bow (upbow or backbow) is correctable with a truss rod adjustment but indicates the instrument was not properly set up before shipping.
Pickup balance: Play each pickup individually and compare output levels. Major imbalance (neck much louder than bridge or vice versa) indicates factory pickup height was not set correctly.
Action: High action makes the guitar hard to play; low action causes buzzing. Most guitars in this range benefit from a professional setup (£40–£60) regardless of where they are purchased.
FAQ
Q: What is the difference between a hollow body and archtop? A: All archtops are hollow bodies, but not all hollow bodies are archtops. True archtop guitars have a carved or pressed arched top. The term is often used interchangeably in modern usage — most production "archtops" have pressed (not carved) tops.
Q: Are these guitars feedback-prone? A: Fully hollow archtops (Ibanez AF75, Epiphone ES-175) are feedback-prone at high volumes. Semi-hollow guitars (Ibanez AS73, AS93) are significantly more resistant. For live high-volume use, semi-hollow is the practical choice.
Q: What pickups do archtop jazz guitars use? A: PAF-style humbuckers on most production instruments. The Ibanez Artcore Classic and Super 58 humbuckers are adequate at their price points. Upgrading to Seymour Duncan Seth Lovers or Lollar Imperials dramatically improves the instrument for serious playing.
Q: Can I play rock and blues on an archtop? A: Yes — many blues players use archtops. But the hollow construction limits high-gain use due to feedback. Archtops are best suited to clean, semi-clean and light overdrive applications.