Forster Archtop Guitars – Handmade, modern, unmistakable
There are a lot of archtop guitars out there these days—more than ever, in fact. But knowing which ones are truly special isn’t always easy.
Almost by accident, I ended up designing something new. The result? A modern classic.
The most popular model is the “Charlie”—an elliptical soundhole archtop with a carved European spruce top, shallow maple body, and a long mahogany neck. It’s a refined, lightweight, semi-acoustic jazz guitar that delivers real tone and clarity.
If you’re after a truly fine handmade jazz guitar—and want something built to last—feel free to get in touch through the contact form below.
This design has so many benefits for the player – the sustain of an electric guitar coupled with the broad tonal range and resonance only possible from an acoustic instrument. Add to this great access to the upper frets, a compensated zero fret and saddle making for super accurate intonation over the whole fretboard.
This "long neck" design is a total rethink of how archtop guitars work, there is nothing quite like this around anywhere.
This "long neck" design is a total rethink of how archtop guitars work, there is nothing quite like this around anywhere.
Material
Soundboard: Carved European spruce.
Back and sides: carved maple, many upgrades available.
Neck: New Guinea rosewood, mahogany or flame maple.
Fretboard and bridge – Sri Lanka ebony or rocklite ebano.Hardware
Tuners - Gold Gotoh 510.
Handmade lacquered brass neck hardware.
Handwound alnico pickup.
Paper in oil capacitor.
Highly polished Evo Gold fretwire
Nut and saddle - polished bone.Dimensions
max body width: 390mm
body length: 490mm
depth: 110mm
nut: 44mm
bridge spacing: 57mm
scale: 630mm or custom