I've been playing my Gibson long-neck archtop since 1964. I like it, but it is unwieldy and hazardous to other musicians. It is also peghead-heavy, and if not held up, the neck will drop toward the floor. That said, it plays fine and allows you to play three half-steps lower than standard tuning without tuning all of your strings slack.

There is a website on the long-necker, (and I'm going to try my newfound skill at blue clickies)
click here