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Lot Essay
Sold with a letter of provenance signed James L. D'Aquisto
Regarded as perhaps the finest archtop guitar builder to have ever lived, John D'Angelico and his instruments have come to represent the highest standard of excellence in instrument making. D'Angelico was born in Manhattan's Little Italy to immigrant parents from Naples. As a young boy D'Angelico began work in his uncle's shop, who was himself a well-known New York luthier. Upon his uncle's death in 1923, the eighteen-year-old D'Angelico took over the operation, but by 1932 he had set out on his own, building archtop guitars patterned on those made by the Gibson Company. D'Angelico instruments were strictly hand-made, in limited quantities and often built to suit the specific requirements of the customers who ordered them, offering a choice of different types of wood, sizes and shapes of necks, and other custom features. Musicians of later generations continue to desire D'Angelico guitars for their tonal quality and exquisite workmanship.
D'Angelico modeled his earliest guitars after the Gibson L'5s of that time, featuring the same "snakehead" headstock and body design. Although there are no model names on his earliest instruments, by 1934 D'Angelico was offering the style A, B, Excel and New Yorker. These early Excel examples were spelled Exel.
D'Angelico's protégé and successor, James D'Aquisto, was born in Brooklyn on November 9, 1935. In 1952, at the age of seventeen, D'Aquisto was offered the job as D'Angelico's shop boy and spent the next twelve years learning every aspect of guitar making. Upon the passing of his mentor in 1964, D'Aquisto purchased the D'Angelico guitar shop, and was immediately recognized as a worthy successor.
Richard Gere remembers purchasing the guitar from Lloyd Chiate of Voltage Guitars in Los Angeles who told him that the instrument was once owned by James D'Aquisto. After acquiring the guitar Gere had the opportunity to speak with D'Aquisto who confirmed that the guitar was a personal instrument of John D'Angelico and hung in D'Angelico's workshop while D'Aquisto worked for him and he acquired it from the D'Angelico's family after his death.
Regarded as perhaps the finest archtop guitar builder to have ever lived, John D'Angelico and his instruments have come to represent the highest standard of excellence in instrument making. D'Angelico was born in Manhattan's Little Italy to immigrant parents from Naples. As a young boy D'Angelico began work in his uncle's shop, who was himself a well-known New York luthier. Upon his uncle's death in 1923, the eighteen-year-old D'Angelico took over the operation, but by 1932 he had set out on his own, building archtop guitars patterned on those made by the Gibson Company. D'Angelico instruments were strictly hand-made, in limited quantities and often built to suit the specific requirements of the customers who ordered them, offering a choice of different types of wood, sizes and shapes of necks, and other custom features. Musicians of later generations continue to desire D'Angelico guitars for their tonal quality and exquisite workmanship.
D'Angelico modeled his earliest guitars after the Gibson L'5s of that time, featuring the same "snakehead" headstock and body design. Although there are no model names on his earliest instruments, by 1934 D'Angelico was offering the style A, B, Excel and New Yorker. These early Excel examples were spelled Exel.
D'Angelico's protégé and successor, James D'Aquisto, was born in Brooklyn on November 9, 1935. In 1952, at the age of seventeen, D'Aquisto was offered the job as D'Angelico's shop boy and spent the next twelve years learning every aspect of guitar making. Upon the passing of his mentor in 1964, D'Aquisto purchased the D'Angelico guitar shop, and was immediately recognized as a worthy successor.
Richard Gere remembers purchasing the guitar from Lloyd Chiate of Voltage Guitars in Los Angeles who told him that the instrument was once owned by James D'Aquisto. After acquiring the guitar Gere had the opportunity to speak with D'Aquisto who confirmed that the guitar was a personal instrument of John D'Angelico and hung in D'Angelico's workshop while D'Aquisto worked for him and he acquired it from the D'Angelico's family after his death.