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1933 D'Angelico, First Model Archtop
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Serial number: 1030, stamped inside back
Body size at lower bout: 16 1/2" Scale length: 24 3/4". Nut width: 1 11/16" Body depth: 3 1/4"
Finish: Sunburst finish, nitrocellulose lacquer type
Materials: Solid handcarved flame maple back, sides and neck; solid bookmatched handcarved spruce top; mother of pearl block fingerboard inlays; ornate floral peghead inlay, three-ply body and headstock binding, bound fingerboard.
Hardware: All original nickel hardware includes open-back Grover tuners, pickguard support and tailpiece; adjustable compensated ebony bridge; triple-bound bakelite pickguard.
Notes: The instruments of master builder John D'Angelico are widely regarded as representing the pinnacle of the modern luthier's craft. We are pleased therefore to announce the arrival of an instrument from the very beginning of his illustrious career. Stamped with serial number 1030, this would appear to have been completed sometime in mid-1933.
This remarkable instrument dates from DAngelico's earliest days as an independent luthier, and represents the only model he offered in those formative years. It also clearly demonstrates the maestro's earliest influence as well: Gibson's pioneering L-5 archtop guitar. Introduced late in 1922, Lloyd Loar's L-5 was so widely influential that it was copied almost universally by guitar builders great and small, but by none more successfully than John D'Angelico.
This earliest of D'Angelico's offerings precedes the model names that made him famous. Before the Excel and New Yorker, before the Style A, B and Special, if you went to the little shop on Kenmare St. for a guitar, this is what you got. And the young luthier from Little Italy didn't waste time reinventing the wheel: from the tapered 'snakehead' headstock to the pointed fingerboard finial, this guitar is an unabashed tribute to the Gibson original, right down to the pickguard, block inlays, and the formal 'Cremona' style sunburst.
The similarity extends under the hood as well. The bracing, scale length, nut width, and body depth all mirror the L-5 closely: D'Angelico's customizations were limited to a slightly increased body width, and the graceful floral peghead inlay and banner logo. But while Gretsch and others were content to ape Gibson's cosmetics, D'Angelico had an ace up his sleeve. Blessed with a background in violin making, he would have readily understood the vital process of tap-tuning the top and back plates of this new guitar design, an advantage few of his contemporaries would have grasped.
While most of his creations were sold directly to individual customers, D'Angelico's handwritten ledger shows that a number of his guitars were commissioned by retailers like Gravois Music and Silver and Horlund. And three of D'Angelico's earliest instruments were built for Selmer, famed retailer of band instruments, and the early Maccaferri style gypsy guitars. These latter all bear the Selmer logo, rather than D'Angelico, in the headstock banner: one of which, #1062 from May of 1934, is shown here. This intriguing guitar, however, shows no engraving in the headstock banner at all: the pearl is completely blank. Its purchaser is not listed in the early ledgers, so we have no idea who might have commissioned it originally, but it remains the only D'Angelico guitar we've seen with its banner still unengraved.
Well played and well maintained, the guitar remains in fine shape, with back, sides and neck hand carved from handsomely figured tiger flame maple, and the bookmatched quartersawn spruce top carved to very fine tolerances. The fingerboard is fashioned from dark clear ebony, inlaid with clear mother-of-pearl. The original dark sunburst finish shows some normal playwear, with some scattered nicks and scratches confined mostly to the upper lacquer. A short crack on the bass side upper bout, and another running from the tailpiece under the pickguard have soundly resealed and cleated. Some thumbwear on the neck appears to be covered with some older clear lacquer, which may extend to the back and sides as well. The multi-ply binding on the body appears original, tight, and in excellent condition, as is the original bound black pickguard. Interestingly, the soundholes are bound with a remarkable 5 plies, extravagant on any guitar, and the binding on the neck was installed without side dots. The first fret inlay is uncommon on these earliest examples as well, and the maker's original registration dots are found on the back near the heel and endblock, as usual in these instruments.
The original gold Grover G-30 tuners are in fine working order, and the tailpiece is an original by Grover as well, seen only on the earliest D'Angelico archtops. Finally the bridge contains a bone insert, an extremely rare feature on a D'Angelico's instrument. We have re-created this unique design, installed it on the original ebony base, and included the original saddle in the case. The neck has a solid gentle "C" profile that is neither clubby nor veed, and quite comfy in the hand. The fingerboard is straight, and the action is smooth and low over a fresh high-precision setup. The voice is warm and woody, with excellent projection and a full, throaty resonance.
D'Angelico did not designate his archtops with specific model names until late 1934 or '35, at which time he upsized the bodies to the 17" dimension they retained throughout the rest of his career. Accordingly, these early 16" guitars are the rarest of all D'Angelico archtops, built in small numbers only in the first two years of production. Owned for decades by a gentleman named Louis Fanizzi, the instrument has been kept in his family since his passing over three decades ago. Bearing one of the serial numbers missing in the pages of D'Angelico's earliest ledger, this remarkable instrument has been previously unknown outside the family until now.
Combining unparalleled musicality, rarity and historic importance, this master creation is an outstanding instrument at the very dawn of the modern archtop guitar. One only: call now.
Setup: The frets have
been precision leveled, crowned and polished as necessary; bridge height adjusted; bridge compensation set; string slots at nut and bridge inspected; bridge foot contour inspected; bridge radius inspected; bridgewheels and tuners lubricated; fingerboard and bridge oiled; body and neck cleaned and hand polished.
This instrument is strung with medium gauge bronze strings (.013-.056). The guitar will accommodate lighter or heavier gauge strings, according to preference. String action is set at 4/64" to 5/64" at the 12th fret, with moderate relief for acoustic playing with medium strings. The action may be lowered or raised to your requirements with the adjustable bridge.
Case: Deluxe arched black plush lined hardshell case.
