ARCHTOP GUITARS
76-8283 Benedetto (new) Andy model archtop, #447, antique’burst finish with a zipper gigbag.
Per the Benedetto website: The Andy is a ¾-scale archtop electric guitar, perfect for either travel, picnics, or for serious, even pensive, diminutive guitarists. Not a toy, the guitar’s 23” neck scale features a solid carved spruce top and a solid carved maple back with laminated maple sides. The guitar incorporates the same design features of its big brothers (and, well, sisters) with an ebony fingerboard, finger rest, tailpiece and bridge. A Kent Armstrong mini-humbucking pickup with volume and tone control is built into the top. This model has a Florentine (sharp) cutaway, a 3” body depth, it is parallel braced; the neck is maple but the fingerboard is ebony with a 12” radius, for you radius fans. The nut, which measures 1 11/16th”, is made of black phenolic and there are 20 frets total; it has an ebony bridge with black wheels and posts; the tuners are black mini-button machines. The finish is nitrocellulose lacquer, the strings with which it comes are pure nickel in the gauges .012 to .052. This guitar turns out to be an exciting alternative to an 18” wide Super 400 or Epiphone Emperor – it is little, lovely and lithe and, above all, fun to play. Plugged in, as many of us are after happy hour, you would never know it is only 12” wide the lower bout. The Benedetto List Price is $2475 and the Benedetto MAP is $1980.
76-8313 Redentore (new) “Santissimo” acoustic archtop with a floating pickup, #003.
This guitar, hand-made by Mark Piper, with his illustrious resume’ and just a few ordinary hand tools, has a 17" body width, a 3" body depth, a 20 3/4" body length, a 25" scale and a 1 3/4" nut width. Medium vintage brown sunburst shot with alcohol stain under its McFadden nitrocellulose gloss guitar lacquer. It has a carved select Sitka spruce top, which, underneath, is proprietary XY braced. The XY (male chromosome-based) bracing and 3 post bridge work together to assure that all strings are equally coupled to the top. The back and sides are made from Western curly maple, the neck from hard curly maple with a well-designed truss rod. It has 2 parallel 1/4" x 3/8" vertical grain purple heart stiffening rods inlayed full-length through the neck and the headstock; it has a premium ebony fretboard inlaid with v-block abalone and mother of pearl position inlays. It utilizes SS-copper alloy "gold" fret wire in its ebony and mother of pearl-inlaid "Redentore" faceplate. Other features include an ebony finger rest with Benedetto floating pickup and volume and tone controls, ebony gut tailpiece; unbleached bone nut and gut rest, ebony 3-post bridge with bone saddle; multiple fine-line real wood purflings throughout. Its headstock, fingerboard, body, and f-holes are bound with curly maple; it has a curly maple heel cap with an ebony strap button; maple burl overlay on the back of the headstock; maple burl inlay at its butt joint. It sports gold-plated Waverly tuners with ebony buttons and is housed in an Ameritage Gold Series archtop case.A brief bio: Mark Piper is known for his meticulous attention to detail. He has worked on projects for legendary artists such as Lorrie Morgan, Alan Jackson, Larry Carlton, Keith Richards, George Benson, Wayne Newton, Jimmy Vivino, Greg Lake, Robben Ford, Sonny Thomas, Eddie Martinez, Hank Thompson, Elliott Easton, “Gatemouth” Brown, Justin Hayward, Scott Holt (with Buddy Guy), and Steve Miller among others. Fender Guitars recruited Mark in 1999 to work in their Guild Custom Shop, building custom guitars for superstars like George Strait, Deana Carter, Terry Clark and Willie Porter. One of his favorite projects was the commissioning of limited edition Valencia acoustic guitars commemorating Disney Studios 75th Anniversary. The following year Bob Benedetto allowed Fender/Guild build and sell his guitars with the condition that the guitars be hand-built under his guidance and supervision. Mark and Master Builder Evan Ellis were selected to construct the exclusive archtop line with accolades from Benedetto himself saying, “Nobody builds my guitars better than these two guys.” With 30+ years of success as a Master Builder under his belt and a passion for building high-quality, hand-built archtop guitars, Mark launched Redentore Guitars, which he operates today outside of Nashville, Tennessee. Undaunted by competition from numerous talented guitars builders coast to coast Mark offers, “There is always room for excellent work.” You may visit the builder’s web site at www.redentoreguitars.com. This beautiful arched top guitar can be yours for $8,763 at our Discount Price, or at our Cash Discount Price, $8,500.
76-8637 Mark Campellone (new) Standard Model acoustic archtop guitar, #3610109, in the mellow yet dreamy honey blonde finish, with a floating pickup and a deluxe hard shell case.
Mark’s workmanship is nothing short of exquisite – he is a master of perfection whose artistic vision is exceptional and whose reasonable prices make one do an actual double-take. Mark’s Standard Series instruments feature a graduated spruce top (6 years in college), a hand-graduated figured maple back with matching solid maple rims, a multi-bound top, single-bound back, fingerboard and peghead, a single-bound tortoise-shell style pickguard, mostly maple neck, ebony neo-classical (no inlays on the front) fingerboard with side dot position markers, an ebony bridge with full contact base, his Standard Series tailpiece of gold-plated brass with an ebony appliqué, gold-plated Grover tuners with keystone buttons, and a fine hard shell plush lined case. This example was ordered with the option of the floating black, ebony-covered pickup which attaches to the pickguard at the underside of the fingerboard and allows for amplified playing with the most dulcet and melodious of timbre and euphony. If, when you receive this guitar for your 3-day approval period (assuming you mail-order it) you don’t find the Euphony with which it is so generously provisioned we want you to tell us because we, when we play it, are bathed in an ephemeral and diaphanous golden light that emanates – pours down like the honey from a tray of fresh Baklava – which seems to be coming from and through the dusty glass transom right there, over the worn wooden door of our rundown 1870s style hotel room. That’s my recurrent dream, doctor and I seem to be having it every night. It’s just me, my saddle bags, a half-empty bottle of rotgut hooch and my Mark Campellone brand new honey blonde Standard acoustic-electric archtop. There’s a knock on the door and then I wake up. What does this mean, doctor? Every aspect of this instrument is a delight to all of the senses (yes, including smell) and superlative in every way possible. The dexterousness with which this maker inlays his scripted name, boldly spelled with no period after the M in “M Campellone,” the polished ebony headstock overlay, the stairstep black plastic truss rod cover, outlined in white and held in place steadfastly with only one gold-plated Phillips screw, the ebony two-piece bridge carved with the elegance that the Great Master of Kenmore Street might have carved it, the three-piece curly maple neck bisected by a center strip of what could be walnut and the original three piece ebony and gold tailpiece that resembles a fanciful and deluxe cigar cutter – yes, all of this can be your own vaunted property if the gods of personal prioritization are prepared to portend your propitious possession. Our Discount Price is $4,330 and Our Cash Discount Price is $4,200.
76-8851 Paul Reed Smith (new) SC-J for Jumbo, thinline archtop jazz guitar, one of a “Limited Run, 2008”
series of only 300 guitars made, with a highly select curly maple top and back, mahogany sides, a tune-o-matic gold-plated bridge, #08-143253, with plush lined hard shell case. This is one of the most beautiful, and original new designs in a modern jazz thinline guitar as we have seen come to market. It is a large, and full scale of approximately 25.4” hollow-body, formerly available only through the Private Stock Collection of ungodly expensive instruments. Features include large striped back Grover sealed-gear tuners with stair step gold metal buttons, a one piece neck, natural maple border on top and back that look like binding but are probably the actual wood, stained honey color, twin gold-plated humbucking pickups with crème surrounds, two large, open f-holes, an equally large soundpost inside, that tune-o-matic bridge, and a carved, scalloped-top, ebony trapeze tailpiece with a gold metal base. This guitar has two gold cylinder knobs in the lower treble bout for volume and tone and a 3-way toggle under the treble f-hole. The pickups are: “PRS Archtop” model, treble and bass. The headplate and fingerboard appears to be striped Macassar ebony and said board has 14 frets to the body and 22 total, with 9 outlined “gold” mother of pearl birds dive-bombing downward in a linear fashion. Paul Reed Smiths’ facsimile colorful pearl signature inhabits the scalloped headstock and “SC-J” is inlaid into the rosewood hut-shaped truss rod cover. The strap pin at the bass side near the neck heel is actually a strap lock, the one at the base of the instrument is gold-plated and matching. The List Price is $8,000 and the PRS MAP is $5,600.
76-8973 Benedetto (new) Bravo Claret, #S1375, with a floating Benedetto A-6 gold- plated humbucking pickup and hard shell case.
The Bravo was designed to gratify the player’s need for a tastefully–detailed, rich and full–sounding thin–body (2 ½” in depth) that they could travel with—the next generation archtop guitar. It utilizes lightweight laminated spruce top and select yet laminated flamed maple back construction. The Bravo features a flamed maple neck, gorgeous abalone floral inlay at the 12th fret and the Benedetto A–6 humbucking pickup. Crafted for the player who has longed to express him or herself on an instrument of the highest order, there simply is no substitute for the Benedetto pedigree. This guitar has a laminated body with a 16” lower bout, a 2 ½” body depth, and a Venetian cutaway. The top is laminated selected spruce and the sides and back is laminated select flamed maple. The sides, however, are solid select flame maple (wow, who would’a guessed that?). It is parallel-braced with spruce; the top and back have white-black-white binding, the headstock and neck white single ply. The fingerboard is ebony with a 12th fret abalone floral inlay; the (genuine bone) nut width is 1 ¾”; the scale is 25”; the bridge is ebony and adjustable with black wheels and posts, the tailpiece is a “Model EPS (Ebony Professional Series); the hardware is gold plated, the elevated finger rest is ebony and the finish is glossy nitrocellulose lacquer. (If you’re interested, this model is also available in 7–string at additional charge). The Benedetto List Price on the six-string is $5500 and the Benedetto MAP is $4400.
THE ARCHTOP GUITAR OF DA MUNT – FOR JANUARY 2009:
76-8952 James D’Aquisto (used, September 27, 1974) New Yorker Special (cutaway) Serial Number: #1082, vintage sunburst finish, with original black tolex covered plush lined hard shell case.
James D’Aquisto, born November 9, 1935 was trained by, and is the successor to, John D’Angelico. Both men are considered to be the finest independent builders of archtop guitars in the history of the instrument. James apprenticed to John, starting in the 1950s, possibly as early as 1954. Jimmy said “I was making $35 a week. I was like the runner: I’d go to the stores, pick up the tuners, go get the tailpieces from downtown, take the necks to the engraver, all that. I cleaned the windows, swept the floors, everything – we all did that. On Friday we put away the tools and cleaned the shop so when Monday came the place would be spotless.” Later, James learned the “rough work” of the D’Angelico building style. By around 1960, John’s health was failing and Jimmy was asked to do more and more of the finishing work, and, finally, the hand-crafting of components. John passed away on Tuesday, September 1, 1964 at age 59. Jimmy continued the business of building guitars, under his own name. In 1966 he moved to Huntington, Long Island and in 1973 moved to Farmingdale. In 1977 he made his final move to Greenport, Long Island. His guitars are considered without peer. Jimmy D’Aquisto was always afraid that he might die at the same age as his mentor, at age 59. In fact, he died Tuesday, April 18, 1995 at the age of 59.This amazing guitar is a nominally 17” wide New Yorker, which Jimmy called New Yorker Special (because standard New Yorkers were a huge 18” wide). The exact width is more like 16 15/16th”. It was entered into Jimmy’s log book on 9/27/74 as having been made for Matty Grecco, which we know was the guitar’s only owner. It has a scale length of 25.4” and a nut width of 1 23/32nds (just under 1 ¾”). This is a fancy, traditional instrument having the pineapple and pediment motif at the top of the headstock – similar to the design of a grandfather’s clock. The headstock hosts six original Grover Imperial tuners, having large striped sealed backs and stair step style buttons. The headstock is inlaid with the large DAquisto (no apostrophe) underlined logo, and below that a scroll that reads “New Yorker” sideways so that the audience can read it; below that is a stylized ebony truss rod cover held in place by two screws above the nut that is inlaid with mother of pearl; on the back of the headstock are double diamonds – one facing up, one facing down. The three-ply bordered ebony fretboard is inlaid with split blocks at 7 positions, starting with the first fret, and then a solid rectangle of pearl at the 17th fret. The four-ply black-white bordered ebony stylized pickguard is fitted to a black floating pickup with exposed magnets that hangs under the base of the fingerboard but does not penetrate the top, and there are two rotary knobs on the pickguard for volume and tone. The twin “s” shaped soundholes are bordered in black-white, and the top and back in 6-ply, the sides in four-ply. The ebony two-piece bridge was hand carved by D’Aquisto and so was the carved ebony and black chrome metal, proprietary tailpiece. The carved back and, as well, the sides are flamed (tiger stripe) maple and the top is carved of most likely European spruce. The body width at the lower bout is 16 7/8”, the scale length is 25 ¼”, the width at the upper bout is 12 1/8”, the nut width is 1 ¾”; the body depth at the lower bout is 3 1/16th”, at the upper bout it is 3 1/16th”; the body length is 20 5/8”. The neck is medium flame. The condition of this example is excellent plus, showing a few dings, extremely light belt buckle marks on the back, and sinkage of the finish into the back seam and headstock seams. The frets need cleaning and the guitar needs a set-up. On this guitar the builder’s signature and serial number are hand signed on the underside of the top. The pickup is of unknown brand; possibly Kent Armstrong.
This guitar is extremely clean – some would call it excellent plus-. There are some finish checks here and there, including (but not limited to) on headstock and back of headstock, on the back at both waists; there are some normal signs that it has been held and even played. There might be a dozen or so small dings, the some of the crazing lines may have the appearance of an incipient hairline but right now they’re crazing lines, the finish is being “sucked” down into the finish due to dryness and there are some areas where bindings are not exactly level with the adjacent wood. All of this is normal on an older guitar. The condition is overall quite remarkably clean. $56,705 or, at our cash discount price, $55,000.
76-8895 Gibson (used, 1963) Super 400C, acoustic cutaway behemoth, #62385, in excellent condition, in a medium (reddish to orange) sunburst finish with original black Tolex covered hard shell case.
In the case is the original Gibson Guarantee and Warranty Card, written on but never sent in. This acoustic version of the famous (and huge) 18” wide Gibson super deluxe archtop guitar has the long ebony overlain headstock with the Gibson block logo and the five-part diamond and rectangle central inlay, a large angular wide-white bordered truss rod cover with the word “Custom” in an angled parallelogram. It has three ply back and heel cap binding, a Venetian (soft) cutaway, a variegated celluloid design pickguard that is four-ply and then crème bound, four plies of black-white fingerboard binding, eight split block mother of pearl inlays (alternating three-part and two part from fret 1 to fret 17). It has a carat at the lower end of the fretboard which in turn leads us to the added DeArmond single coil Rhythm Chief Model 1000 (gold-plated) pickup mounted under the end of said fretboard, and routed (slightly) into the pickguard, which offsets the pickguard a bit. Said pickguard is a bit curved and our workshop will be making it a new, replica pickguard. The guitar shows only light signs of use and wear, oxidation of the gold plating on tailpiece, tuners and pickup, crazing lines, especially on the headstock, a few dings and light scratches. It is considerably cleaner than most examples – and very few examples of this acoustic model actually exist – Gibson made a total of just 14 of them in 1963 in sunburst, another 9 in natural. (If you added up all the sunburst S400C made in the decade 1961-1970 it would total only 165). Just so you know, on that Gibson warranty card a prior owner signed his name “R.A.Peterson” and he dated it has having been received 10/3/67, but if so this guitar remained in stock at the dealer for 4 years since the serial number clearly falls into 1963. This is a gorgeous-beyond-words instrument that plays easily and comfortably and sounds bigger than 6 of John McCain’s 8 or 9 mansions. $11,335 at our Discount Price, or at our Cash Discount Price, $10,995
76-8870 Gibson (used, August 1999) Super 400P “1939 Reissue,” a cutaway in lovely honey blonde, #92169003, in near mint condition with Gibson brown pink lined hard shell case.
We present to you a same-factory recreation of one of the most sought-after and desirable acoustic archtops ever made, being a replication of the 1939 Premiere Model Super 400 having that soft Venetian cutaway and the prewar accoutrements of regal grandeur. This guitar, which happens to be one of the most elegantly designed archtops in the history books, shows only a small bit of oxidation on the gold-plated parts, especially the tailpiece; the maple on the sides and back is flamed to the max – deeply etched like the best forged thousand dollar bills, and in every way extraordinary. It has the standard 1 11/16th nut width, an ebony fingerboard that is white-black-white bordered with another layer of ebony and then the white binding; the same multi-ply binding encircles the long headstock which bears the five-piece diamond and rectangle “Custom” decoration; yes, it says “Custom” on the angular, white-bordered truss rod cover; it has the fat script Gibson pearl logo, gold-plated large Grover target-back tuners; the tailpiece is the prewar style rococo trapeze etched “Super ‘400’” in old fashioned cursive script. The adjustable two-piece bridge is rosewood with a simple equilateral triangle inlaid on each side of the bridge base. Similarly, “Super ‘400’” is etched in script and blackened on the ivoroid heel cap. The back of the headstock is festooned with the triple-split large diamond and said dorsal surface is painted black in the back funneling down to a widow’s peak that merges into the walnut or mahogany back stripe. This is, in all, a nearly perfect condition example of the grandest 18” acoustic archtop of them all. If Gibson even made this 1939 Premiere Super 400 Cutaway today you can bet it would set you back about as much money as an Infinity G37X all-wheel-drive Coupe just returned from lease and certified to be immaculate. Like this guitar is. This isn’t an instrument you take out on bar gigs, nope, this is a guitar that one drives to the beach at dusk to see the late June sunset from the Huntington Beach pier, then takes to a fine restaurant to have the quarter-sized portion of filet mignon with truffled mushroom ragoût, gently seared to medium rare, and to, later on, after a shared snifter of Cognac, double distilled in oaken casks for, say, 68 years, perhaps a Ragnaud-Sabourin or a Courvoisier, share a fulfilling night of soft melodies from a padded platform of repose, lazing long into Sunday early afternoon. $13,918 or at our Cash Discount Price, $13,500.
76-8972 Mark Campellone (used, May 1991) hand-carved, solid wood 3” deep acoustic archtop, No. 5, in solidly excellent condition with original (likely) Harptone hard shell case.
Today, this model would probably be called a Campellone Deluxe – a moderately fancy full-depth 17” wide acoustic guitar that begins with a bell-curve headstock displaying white-black-white-black-white purfling around the headplate, leading to a four-ply border on the fretboard and face, with two-ply purfling on the back while the sides are bordered in single ply crème. The nut width is a much-yearned for 1 ¾”, the scale length something like 25 11/16th”. The ebony headplate is inlaid “M Campellone” in colorful pearl script, and, at center, a 5-part art deco flourish of trapezoids, and at an angle against that bouquet of pearl a mahogany rectangle of pearl etched “no. 5” with a lower case “n.” Below that is a stair step, white bordered, black plastic truss rod cover held in place by a single roundhead Phillips gold-plated screw. The ebony fretboard is inlaid with triple keystones at frets 3,5,7,9,12,15 and 17; below this bordered board is an ebony covered floating humbucking pickup attached to the four-ply black-white bordered tortoise shell pickguard with its single old fashioned radio knob for volume in the lower treble corner. The bridge is hand-carved of Brazilian rosewood and larger for acoustic density; the tailpiece is Campellone’s proprietary rosewood and gold plate trapeze with a tailpin/strap jack at bottom. Both f-holes are bound in single ply, the sides and back are radiant in highly figured curly maple; the back being beautifully book matched to bolster its unbelievable balance. Even the neck, which is bisected by a centered buttress of ebony is figured curly maple, contrasted by the six large Grover sealed-back tuners with gold-plated tulip buttons. The heel cap is crème ivoroid bound, the top, which is unbelievably select spruce, is parallel and straight-grained. The color is breathtaking, reminding one of a tawny sunset overlooking the ocean from Big Sur, on a late September evening when the air is redolent of the aromatic leaves from a nearby grove of Eucalyptus. This guitar is in extremely clean condition – yes one can search for a few minor surface scratches here and there, smudges, a few string changing marks and minute fret contact, but it is, on the whole, an extremely well-kept, rich and melodious creature of the early ‘90s. It is suitable for professional use and the ever-advancing career of the capable jazz guitarist. A new Campellone Deluxe with pickup is $5700 (and we sell new ones – in case you don’t mind the waiting time), but this one is only $4,639 or, at our Cash Discount Price, $4,500.
76-8868 John Buscarino (used, April 1998) Virtuoso, top of the line, acoustic archtop guitar, #JK1250498, in Chinery Blue finish, with a floating black humbucking pickup, housed in an original TKL hard shell plush lined case.
Here’s what the builder, himself, says about this model guitar (paraphrased, expanded and editorialized). This applies to a brand new one, but surely at least 95% of this description would apply to this guitar: The Virtuoso headstock exotic burl wood faceplate is adorned with an ornate inlay with a unique mother-of-pearl banner inscribed with "Virtuoso". This model comes standard with full binding and intricately mitered purflings. The Virtuoso comes standard with a three piece multi-laminate neck constructed from highly figured and aged seasoned rock maple. The back of the headstock is laminated with veneers of burl, ebony and maple. These veneers are sculpted to blend into the contour of the neck for a stunning effect.The Virtuoso back is carved from the finest quality quarter-sawn master-grade flame maple. The top is carved from aged and seasoned master-grade sitka spruce. European cello woods are also available at no extra charge. The Virtuoso comes standard with a true Buscarino innovative tailpiece. This superior performing tailpiece adds sustain and warmth to the performance of this and every Buscarino archtop guitar. It is sculptured from a solid block of ebony with a machined solid brass hinged bracket for coupling this tailpiece to the body. The Virtuoso normally comes with a choice of a vine or a Virtuoso tailpiece inlay. The tailpiece matches the exotic wood motif of the instrument. All Virtuoso pickguards are made in a variety of solid exotic woods depending on the motif you choose (e.g., cocobolo, ebony, snake wood etc.). This guitar has the small pickguard unbound but multi-laminated and beveled. Matching wood binding and purflings are standard throughout the instrument. Also included is a delicate inlayed purfling around the f-holes to give them a beautiful bound look. The Virtuoso comes standard with Schaller gold-plated precision tuning machines with snake wood buttons. This model also provides a floating humbucker designed by Kent Armstrong, specially tuned to maximize the performance of the archtop and enhance that classic jazz sound. This pickup was designed with special feedback reduction features and is molded into an ebonized epoxy compound for long life and superior performance.
And now – here’s what John Buscarino gets for a new one: The Base Price is a mere $22,000.00. He offers a choice of 1 ¾” or 1 11/16” neck width with other neck widths available upon request. This particular neck is nominally 1 ¾” but with the addition of the figured maple neck binding it is actually closer to 1 25/32nds”. He offers a choice of “Mahstah Grade” aged and seasoned highly-figured flame maple or aged European cello woods for back and sides. We feel that this is the seasoned and highly figured flame maple – it’s beautiful! And for the top he offers a choice of Master Grade aged and seasoned Sitka Spruce or aged European Cello wood. We, frankly, can’t tell. Either is acceptable. Whatever this wood is it’s majestic looking and closely parallel grained. He offers a body depth available from 2” to 3 3/8”. This example measures 3” at the bottom side. Of course this is finished in a custom color – Chinery Blue! This is not a blue’burst but changes of density in the grain of the wood picks up the blue in a variable manner. There is a modicum of bear-claw grain in the top and in those areas the blue can be a little lighter or darker. John Buscarino offers a choice of matching wood binding and f-hole purfling or multiples of black and Ivory-colored fine-line binding – in this case you get the former, and it’s striking beyond all description!
JB offers either block inlays with abalone or ebony stripes, Virtuoso inlays or Tree of Life inlay on fingerboard – this guitar has the Virtuoso inlays which are 8 impressionistic fleur-de-lis of diminishing size on frets 1,3,5,7,9,12, 15 and 17 There are corresponding black side dots in the maple neck binding for each inlaid fret marker. The expansive headstock with the triple scallops at the top features the gleaming “Buscarino” script logo, a large (3” long) stylized flower with a banner reading “Virtuoso” in all caps; this is surrounded by six gold plated capstans and grommets, six snake wood buttons, and a small ebony truss rod cover held in place, notably confidently, by one screw. The headplate itself, bordered in three wood layers, appears to be dark, dignified burled walnut. Although the tailpiece is generally decorated with a Tree of Life or Virtuoso inlay it can also be personalized with a special scroll. In this instance the original owner elected to have the words “Baby La” inlaid into that pearl scroll in relatively small black letters. If it really distracted (it’s pretty small) a future owner could ship this guitar to John Buscarino or any competent luthier that does custom inlay, and have his or her own scroll installed.
John’s Virtuoso comes with a laminated 3-piece flame maple neck which is actually five-pieces since two stripes of walnut or ebony separate the flamed stuff. This guitar has a solid ebony fingerboard, pickguard, and smallish, abbreviated tailpiece that’s laminated with four layers of light and dark around three of its sides. The back of the headstock is finished in black and comes down to a birdie’s beak (or widow’s peak or whatever else rhymes) and the heel cap is ebony. The scale length is 25” (like a Johnny Smith), the bridge string spacing is 2 ¼”. There are 22 frets on the maple bordered board. This model is equipped with a two-way adjustable truss-rod. There are hidden volume and tone controls concealed underneath the pickguard. The Waiting Time – should you desire to order a new one of these $22,000 guitars from us, is, um, 1 to 1 ½ years.
This guitar is in excellent plus condition. Is it “dead mint?” No, but it’s certainly not far from it. Let’s over-emphasize, just for a moment. Please consider all this vastly overstated but . . . the exceedingly picky and compulsive might want to know that there’s a small minute surface indentation on the peghead over the “B” in Buscarino. There are some nicks on the back edge of the top of the peghead on the three scallops. There are at least four small dings on the top, including in the treble lower bout near the binding with another ding above that; a ding on the far treble edge of the top near the large lower bout. There is a very light key mark on the treble side above the waist, and a scratch on the treble side widest part (lower bout). On the bass side of the guitar there is a little line near the waist, right next to the maple back binding, and five light scratches on the bass side, all running more or less perpendicular to the maple grain; there is a horizontal light scratch on the bird’s beak on the back of the headstock. There is a gold-plated strap pin at the center back of the heel, provided by the builder according to the owner. The owner has provided you two rubber form-fitting f-hole covers in the pocket of the case to be used as a feedback reduction system if you intend to play in a fusion band. The guitar is best used in a jazz environment, of course. As a jazz-person’s pal it is not only beautiful beyond description but it sounds like the fully-equalized, revered recordings of the most prominent and prodigious players and practitioners whose albums we possess. With a buoyantly, bewitchingly blue guitar like this you may never feel the need to play the blues again. $17,522 or, at our Cash Discount Price, $16,995.
78-7627 Gibson 1929-’34 L-5 acoustic archtop guitar, ISI-1836, refinished sunburst (possibly by the Gibson factory), in very good plus restored condition with a worn but serviceable 1950s type brown tolex covered, faded purple flannel-lined hard shell case made by the Stone Case Company (“House of Quality”) in Brooklyn, NY.
This wonderful second period non-cutaway L-5 has just come up from the repair shop where it spent the entire summer and part of the fall (we told it it was going for a ride to a birthday party at Aunt Kathy’s house in Kinderhook, NY and then we dropped it off at the gate to the summer camp and it has finally found its way home). It emerged from the woods energized, full of acoustic vigor, with demonstrable sonic density. It sounds as acoustical, woody and winsome as a fine John D’Angelico non-cutaway – not surprising since D’Angelico’s earliest guitars – from this same exact period – were based on the Gibson L-5 of that time. The denizens of our workshop have worked wonders with this pedigreed puppy – they have executed a full refret, they recontoured the bridge to a 14” radius (just like the big boys downtown have), they closed a small rim separation; they restrung it with our favorite, D’Addario J-17 phosphor bronze, strings.This guitar has been fitted, in the past, with a triple-bound in crème-black-crème replacement tortoise shell celluloid pickguard, and that component displays the same binding pattern on the prewar, almost-snakehead style peghead that bears a straight-across “The Gibson” logo in script and a colorful torch inlay in abalone. The ebony, single-ply bound fingerboard is inlaid with 6 pearloid blocks; the bridge is a Gibson style rosewood replacement (from the ‘50s), the tailpiece is the original trapeze and bears the inscription “Patented July 19, 1910.” Tuners are replacement Kluson Deluxe (again, from the ‘50s), and it has a black bell-shaped truss rod cover held in place by two screws. The back is two-piece maple redolent of bird’s eye grain; the sides are fairly plain maple and the neck is three-piece and shows nice figure on the extremes. The back of the headstock is heavily finish-checked; there is a small repaired top crack from the bass f-hole down; there is a now-repaired seam on the back lower treble edge; there are cracks in the pickguard binding and finish disruptions along the back edge which are actually closed-up seam separations; there are areas of chipped finish here and there, especially on the edges of the fretboard. Our workshop has dutifully replaced each and every one of the frets, doing so carefully since the fingerboard was planed thinner at the time of its last refret, but that challenge does not intimidate our flock of first-class fangists. Their having re-contoured the bridge top allows for maximum playability and comfort. On the lid of the case is a nearly faded out decal that reads “Harmony Boys.” Although the history books say that the pre-late-1934 Gibson L-5 measures 16” in body width, this one measures 16 3/8” so it is a large enough guitar to provide its owner the depth, resonance and mellifluousness that the professional (tuxedo-garbed) musician at the height of the jazz age would have expected. Elegance and beauty, and a level of playability like a MagLev train suspended over chicken-fat coated rails. Prewar panache, superlative tone combined with an ineffably beautiful artistic vision – all this can be yaws for only $6,181 or, at our cash discount price, $5,995.
15-6981 Heritage (used, 11/19/89) Super Eagle, 18” wide, in sunburst, #F09601, in solidly excellent condition with original hard shell case.
The Heritage Company began doing business in 1984 taking over, on Parsons Street in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the factory buildings that formerly housed another well-known firm. Their claim was that they were continuing the heritage of the former tenant. One thing they did that is greatly appreciated by today’s musicians is to continue to make high quality archtops. This guitar bears a second interior label on the treble side that is signed by not only the supervisor/principals of the company but also by many of the workers, and bears the legend “First Acoustic Model, 11/1/1989.” It is a fancy thing, having four-ply headstock purfling, “The Heritage” in script mother of pearl inlay into a polished ebony snakehead style headplate, a large, etched, pearl eagle alighting on a leafless branch and, there under, a mother of pearl truss rod cover. Tuners are gold-plated Grover sealed-backs with stairstep buttons; the five-ply bordered ebony fingerboard, that forms a bird’s-beak at the bottom is inlaid with blocks in 8 positions, the first 6 of which are “split” in alternating instances of two-diagonal at center and one-diagonal at center, and then the last two are solid blocks. The scale length is 25.4” and the nut width is 1 10/16th”. The flame maple pickguard is four-ply bordered, the bridge is all wooden, adjustable and the trapeze tailpiece at bottom is a construction of gold-plated metal that’s etched “The Heritage,” an ebony trapezoid and a plastic crest etched “Super Eagle.” Its f-holes are single-ply bordered, back and sides are two-ply, and there are flying birds inlaid in pearl on each side of the bridge foot. The guitar shows normal signs of light use and wear, dings and things, some scratches on the heel, along with other impressions and scruffs but far less than one would anticipate seeing in a 19-year-old guitar. There is an end jack/tailpin but research reveals that there is no bridge pickup or a soundboard transducer inside. It is, therefore, “pickup ready.” The sound is warm, silky, lyrical, flowing, and very (very) acoustic, sounding more like a Martin than like a typical jazz guitar, all of which is great and wonderful. This is a considerable beauty of an 18” behemoth (the moth that does not fly); it is, as well, a professional jazzer’s joy. $4,118 or, at our cash discount price, $3,995.
78-7627 Gibson 1929-’34 L-5 acoustic archtop guitar, refinished sunburst (possibly by the Gibson factory), in very good restored condition with a worn but serviceable 1950s type brown tolex covered, faded purple flannel-lined hard shell case made by the Stone Case Company (“House of Quality”) in Brooklyn, NY.
This wonderful second period non-cutaway L-5 has just come up from the repair shop where it spent the entire summer and part of the fall (we told it it was going for a ride to a birthday party at Aunt Kathy’s house in Kinderhook, NY and then we dropped it off at the gate to the summer camp and it has finally found its way home). It emerged from the woods energized, full of acoustic vigor, with demonstrable sonic density. It sounds as acoustical, woody and winsome as a fine John D’Angelico non-cutaway – not surprising since D’Angelico’s earliest guitars – from this same exact period – were based on the Gibson L-5 of that time. The denizens of our workshop have worked wonders with this pedigreed puppy – they have executed a full refret, they recontoured the bridge to a 14” radius (just like the big boys downtown have), they closed a small rim separation; they restrung it with our favorite, D’Addario J-17 phosphor bronze, strings.This guitar has been fitted, in the past, with a triple-bound in crème-black-crème replacement tortoise shell celluloid pickguard, and that component displays the same binding pattern on the prewar, almost-snakehead style peghead that bears a straight-across “The Gibson” logo in script and a colorful torch inlay in abalone. The ebony, single-ply bound fingerboard is inlaid with 6 pearloid blocks; the bridge is a Gibson style rosewood replacement (from the ‘50s), the tailpiece is the original trapeze and bears the inscription “Patented July 19, 1910.” Tuners are replacement Kluson Deluxe (again, from the ‘50s), and it has a black bell-shaped truss rod cover held in place by two screws. The back is two-piece maple redolent of bird’s eye grain; the sides are fairly plain maple and the neck is three-piece and shows nice figure on the extremes. The back of the headstock is heavily finish-checked; there is a small repaired top crack from the bass f-hole down; there is a now-repaired seam on the back lower treble edge; there are cracks in the pickguard binding and finish disruptions along the back edge which are actually closed-up seam separations; there are areas of chipped finish here and there, especially on the edges of the fretboard. Our workshop has dutifully replaced each and every one of the frets, doing so carefully since the fingerboard was planed thinner at the time of its last refret, but that challenge does not intimidate our flock of first-class fangists. Their having re-contoured the bridge top allows for maximum playability and comfort. On the lid of the case is a nearly faded out decal that reads “Harmony Boys.” Although the history books say that the pre-late-1934 Gibson L-5 measures 16” in body width, this one measures 16 3/8” so it is a large enough guitar to provide its owner the depth, resonance and mellifluousness that the professional (tuxedo-garbed) musician at the height of the jazz age would have expected. Elegance and beauty, and a level of playability like a MagLev train suspended over chicken-fat coated rails. Prewar panache, superlative tone combined with an ineffably beautiful artistic vision – all this can be yaws for only $6,181 or, at our cash discount price, $5,995.
76-8679 and 76-8678 The Loar (new) LH-600VS archtop guitar, serial #0807650140 and #0807650007, each with a semi-hard shell case.
Each guitar with case is $928 at our Discount Price or $900 at our Cash Discount price.
48-4955 Eastman (new) John Pisano Model, #C115529, with its built-in uncovered humbucking pickup, sunburst finish, Eastman hard shell case.
The Eastman List price is $3695. Our Discount Price is $2956.
78-7671 Gibson (used, 1957) L-50 acoustic archtop, U9683-20, in excellent minus condition with a newer chipboard case.
This is the standard description Gibson acoustic archtop guitar that debuted in 1932, became f-hole only in 1934, became 16” wide in 1935, and received an arched back as well as top the same year. In 1936 it received the simple trapeze tailpiece with the raised diamond, as has this, the pearloid trapezoid inlays in 8 fret positions in 1946 and the beveled edge white-black-white bordered (on 3 sides only) elevated pickguard in 1949. That was the final design change; the model was discontinued in 1971. This rather nice, well preserved, one was made during the heyday of dedication to a high ideal and creativity that occurred in the 1950s, one of the finer periods of American fretted instrument history. It has a gold decal “Gibson” postwar script logo on a black overlain headstock with the black bell-shaped truss rod cover; this example has replaced tuners – three on a plate with yellowed pearloid buttons. The fingerboard and bridge are Brazilian rosewood, the fingerboard is bound in ivoroid and so is the top and the back. F-holes are unbound; the top is tobacco sunburst, the back and sides are uniform brown. There is finish checking overall, signs of normal playing including scratches, scuffs, nicks and dings, chips, especially around the headstock. It is presently set-up to perfection – it plays easily and sounds incredible, however we would be remiss if we did not tell you that the truss rod, she is presently “maxed” and there is no adjustability in terms of further tightening; however the bow in the neck is extremely slight and the playing action, especially after our professional workshop’s set-up, is more than acceptable. There is, however, a certain “as is” nature to this presentation. Don’t let the caveats scare you – it’s a honey. WAS $1954 BUT NOW ON SALE for $1,747 at our Discount Price, or, at our Cash Discount Price, $1,695.
76-8235 Bill Moll (used, 2001) John Pizzarelli Model 6-string acoustic archtop, #2001701,
Individual number 13 of 50 made the initial run, whose second interior paper labor is signed by John Pizzarelli. This is in the violin orange finish, in “near mint ” condition showing just a few tiny dings including one notable one on the face in the lower treble bout, a couple-a small marks on the treble side and a minor scuff on the back. This is in 99.5% "nearly new" condition but there are a few very small marks. This guitar has its original Moll (super durable) logo black hard shell case. The lid of the black case is a bit scuffed up, but that’s what cases are for. The rectangular, black-bordered label in the bass f-hole erroneously reads that this is a 7-string Moll guitar, and it states "first year of production." The rectangular label in the treble f-hole has the "Certificate of Authenticity" statement that it is one of the first fifty, but it also has a signed, hand-written note from Mr. Pizzarelli that reads "You Got The Best . . . Now Practice!" We present the Bill Moll John Pizzarelli Model, in violin orange finish, with Bill Moll logo ("Your own personal bomb shelter") black fiberglass reinforced carrying case. You can see a fine photo of this style guitar by clicking on http://www.mollinst.com/ and you can read a description by clicking on http://www.mollinst.com/newweb/pizzarelli.htm. The John Pizzarelli model, which debuted in 1999, was designed for reliable performance with an eye toward style. Working together with John, Bill utilized the stability of laminated plates, within his own concepts of acoustical design, to produce a guitar that is ruggedly tough, without sounding harsh or subdued. Except for its laminated top and back plates, the Pizzarelli model is built with the exact same features as the Moll Classic Custom. Here's what Bill Moll says about this superlative guitar, which is made from laminated woods: “Admittedly, there was a time when I had no desire to get involved with “plywood” guitars...I had spent the bulk of my years in this business carving, and using only solid wood in my work. I was given to the erroneous thought that plywood meant cheap. I was wrong. While laminated plates are less expensive, they are also much more stable during climatic changes. They are less likely to swell and recede with changes in temperature and humidity, and less likely to suffer the cracks and structural damage that can sometimes happen in fully carved instruments. For the player, this means that the guitar requires less frequent adjustment, and is less likely to suffer catastrophic damage from the elements, or from hard work, night after night after night. The tricky part, it seemed, would be to make them respond, and sound good acoustically, as well as electrically. Well today, we’re told that we may just have the best sounding laminated instrument available. In fact, numerous players - even other builders - have been amazed to learn that the guitar we handed them to try out was. . .‘plywood’. We’d love the opportunity to amaze you too.” He’s absolutely right – this guitar is gorgeous beyond all description, and sounds like the finest all-solid wood carved archtops of the past and present. The flame maple back, sides and five-piece neck are radiant, the ebony fingerboard is bound in six plies of black-white on each side, the similarly bordered striped ebony abbreviated pickguard with the single volume control supports the black Bill Moll humbucking pickup, the large ebony adjustable two-piece bridge and proprietary carved ebony tailpiece are elegant, easy to use and contribute to this guitar’s luscious tone. The S-shaped sound holes are lavish, abundant and three-ply bound. The headstock is stair step, bold and makes a strong statement, but no statement is as strong as John Pizzarelli’s facsimile signature on the nearly 9” long headplate and the fact that he uses his own 7-string version of this guitar just about everywhere he plays. The fact that this example is #13 of the first 50 made, and that it is signed by John Pizzarelli, himself, is not lost, either. $4,485 or at our cash discount price $4,350.
78-7979 Gibson (used, 2006) Duane Eddy Model electric archtop, #016, in excellent plus condition with original hard shell case.
Gibson’s model Duane Eddy is a highly stylized 16” wide, short scale (around 24.5”), 1 11/16th” nut width guitar with a nickel-plated Bigsby tremolo and Mr. Eddy’s facsimile signature in white on the three-ply laminated black pointy pickguard. The signature is underlined with a drawing of one-half of one guitar. The fingerboard inlays echo the shape of the end of the peghead, basically a wave in mirror image with a central detent; the headstock is plain black, gloss finished with the gleaming Gibson postwar script logo and a gold plated bell-shaped truss rod cover reading “King of Twang.” Top and back are bordered in white and black, while the sides and neck are bound in single ply off-white. It has a toggle in the upper bass bout, four black/clear cylinder knobs in the lower treble and a master control in the cutaway bout. It has twin DeArmond-style custom wound single coil pickups plus a tune-o-matic bridge which itself has an L R Baggs transducer hidden inside, fitted to a wooden base inlaid with small flowers. Said bridge pickup can be blended with the single coil pickups or used by itself. The Actual Serial Number is “D EDDY 016.” The maple top, back, sides and neck exhibit a goodly amount of tiger flame grain finished in a reddish brown finish that Gibson calls “Rockabilly Brown.” The neck is a Duane Eddy custom profile – thin and slim for faster pickin’. The gold-plated truss rod cover shows some oxidation, and if one looks very carefully there are a few minor scuffs and signs that it was held and occasionally played, but no fret wear and no indication that it was ever taken out of the home. The guitar with case includes a Gibson Certificate of Authenticity that reads “The instrument bearing the serial number above was handbuilt by Gibson’s Custom, Art & Historic Division, where highly skilled artisans are committed to carrying on the company’s century-old tradition of creating exquisite, investment-quality instruments. Like all Custom Shop instruments, this guitar boldly reflects the highest standards of imaginative design and masterful craftsmanship.” Signed, “Rick Gembar, General Manager.” This guitar is versatility and professionalism personified. $3190 at our discount price or, at our cash discount price, $3095.
15-6665 Gretsch (used, October 2005) White Falcon II, #JT05107127, a double cutaway, thin body electric arched top guitar, white finish, near mint condition with original hard shell case.
In the 1950s and ‘60s the fanciest and flashiest guitars in the world were made by the Gretsch Guitar Company of New York, NY. This guitar exudes panache from every pore – it has an 8 ¼” headstock, measured diagonally, that displays the big “Gretsch” logo in gold sparkle with the letter “T” being a roof over the letters “RE” and “SC.” The truss rod cover is gold sparkle, and so are the neck, body, heel cap and f-hole binding. The tuners are gold-plated large-back Grover Imperials; the ebony fingerboard, bordered in white-black-white on each side, is inlaid with 8 large mother of pearl blocks; the pickups are twin gold-plated Filter’Trons, the bridge has an ebony base and a tune-o-matic saddle, the tailpiece is an authentic Bigsby with a tubular tremolo arm. Two toggles reside in the upper bass bout, two rotary controls and an additional three-way toggle in the lower treble, and an additional rotary in the upper treble cutaway area. Twin gold-plated corrugated strap pins are provided by the manufacturer and the pickguard is gold with a black etched white falcon. This guitar has a 25.5” scale, a 1 11/16th” nut width and is 17” wide at the lower bout. Although this example is used, seeing it one would never realize it – it is as near mint as can be. The price is $2469 for any form of payment, or, at our cash discount price, $2395.
78-7596 Eastman (new) Model AR805CE in vintage sunburst finish (absolutely gorgeous!), #3377IMB, with hard shell case.
The Eastman List is $2395 but your cost is only $1916 or at our cash discount price, $1859.
78-7952 Gretsch (new) Country Club with Bigsby, G6196T, #JT05107034 with hard shell case.
The Gretsch List is $3725 and the Gretsch MAP is $2980.
78-7102 Bob Benedetto (used, 1982) one-of-a-kind nominally 16” arched top guitar, #8882, “Custom Made for Chuck Wayne,” in excellent condition with original Benedetto gigbag.
Chuck Wayne (Feb. 27, 1923 – July 29, 1997) was, of course, one of America’s finest jazz guitarists. Diane Wayne’s notes from his memorial service say it better than I could: Chuck was a self-taught virtuoso whose elegant legato style and rich harmonies influenced a generation of guitarists and other instrumentalists. He was able to incorporate such diverse influences as Charlie Christian and Coleman Hawkins with those of classical artists like Andres Segovia and Maurice Ravel into a unique style. In addition to his conducting, arranging and performance skills he was renowned as a singer’s accompanist working with the likes of Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Vic Damone, Johnny Mathis, Steve and Edie and Tony Bennett. He recorded with George Shearing, Dizzy Gilespie, Lester Young, Benny Goodman, Joe Puma. He played in the orchestras of Gary Moore, Carol Burnette, Ed Sullivan, Merv Griffin. Diane says: Chuck was compassionate yet disciplined, empathetic yet uncompromising, often brilliant, always driven by a commitment to excellence. Similar attributes can be said about Bob Benedetto who built this unique instrument for Chuck Wayne in 1982.It has many unusual features including the floral headstock cap, carved in relief above the tuners at the top, a radiused fingerboard with a 1 23/32nd” nut width, a short scale of 24 ¾” nut to saddle, a string spacing at the bridge saddle of 2 3/16th”. Tuners are gold-plated Schaller Minis with gold small buttons; the nut is carved of bone and is fluted (quite beautifully). The unbound fingerboard is inlaid with 9 pearl dotmarkers in 8 positions. Below the squared end, elevated fingerboard is a Gibson Johnny Smith gold-plated humbucking pickup with exposed magnets. The pickguard is the abbreviated ebony version Bob uses on his Manhattan but there the resemblance ends as this guitar has “fiddle edge” sides, in which the top and the back are built out slightly wider than the side resulting in an architectural detail worthy of inclusion in the finest museum collection. The back and sides are flamed (figured) maple while the top and back raised edges are birds-eye maple. The top is carved of close and parallel-grained spruce, the back is two-piece. The actual width at the lower bout is 16 3/8ths” because of the fiddle-edge sides; the upper bout is 12 ¼”, and the waist is 9 ¾”. The builder provided a gold-plated strap pin in the upper bass side near the neck and the tailpin doubles as a phone jack. The guitar features the Benedetto ebony harp tailpiece (a feature that Diane Wayne says was initially suggested to Bob by Chuck Wayne) and a Benedetto carved ebony two-piece adjustable bridge. A dark wood truss rod cover is pressed to the headplate by one recessed screw; a volume control depends off of the treble side of the pickguard. Large open F-holes are long and languorous measuring 6 ¾” in total length. The condition is excellent showing minor signs of use (yes, but it’s Chuck Wayne’s DNA on that fretboard), a small vinyl burn on back of headstock, some chips around the edges, bings on the bindings, dings on the dorsal and ventral surfaces. We need to point out that there is an area of split wood running horizontally, against the grain, in the upper treble cutaway bout on the side. Leroy Aiello, our head of repair, says that this can happen anywhere that wood is bent, and that, since the guitar has two raised wooden caps on the top and bottom sides, this stressed area will probably not continue to spread. Our workshop has performed masterful skills to level the frets, allowing the instrument to be eminently sonorous and easily playable. You have a guitar here with a remarkable provenance, made for and owned by a highly influential professional with a world-renowned reputation, and made by the hand of one of the finest arched top guitarmakers extant. $56,705 or at our cash discount price, $55,000.
88-1905 Epiphone (used, 1954) Zephyr Regent, blonde, cutaway, #68014, with DeArmond pickup and original brown hard shell case.
This massive missive measures 17 3/8" in body width. It bears a date stamp, on its interior back, of June, 1954, although the serial number would suggest 1955. It has one DeArmond built in single coil black pickup, surrounded by a shiny metal rectangular plate, with two clear cylinder shaped rotaries for volume and tone angled on the face - each of them glass-barreled. This is a handsome and heavy electric archtop with the enameled metal pointy plate with the Epi block print logo and the inverted World War II style Howitzer shell beneath. This is affixed with 3 screws into what might be a Brazilian rosewood head plate, a white-black bordered Conehead shaped truss rod cover, six etched rectangles inlaid into an ebony fretboard bound on both sides with ivoroid. Said ivoroid does not quite reach the nut on each side of same and also doesn't quite connect to the crème crosspiece at bottom side of the board. A strap pin has been added to the treble side of the neck heel at the cutaway. The tailpiece is a simple nickeled trapeze, the bridge a two-piece rosewood adjustable set precisely as any player would want it - not to high, not too low - just right. The top and back are bound in crème ivoroid, and the heel cap is ivoroid also. Tuner buttons are Epsilon with a V backed caramel candy shaped buttons of pearloid. F-holes are open and like Prometheus, unbound. There is a jack at the side, a deep nick on the cutaway (side) and overall it shows normal signs of use and wear including at least 3 dings on the back of the neck, other dings and finish checking elsewhere, but, overall, the guitar shows less signs of wear than most you would see from fifty years ago. There are two breaks in the binding on the bass side and minor chips out of the body binding. The hard shell case is pink-lined with an Epsilon inside of it. This guitar plays beautifully, and, plugged into a good tube amplifier, brings back memories of the era of the big band, when the guitarist was king. WAS $2778 but NOW ON SALE for $2469 or at our cash discount price, $2395.
COMING SOON: “The Loar” brand Hand-Carved '20s Replica Acoustic ArchtopModeled after extremely famous American designs from the early 20th century (think: The Grand Old Opry and “Wildwood Flower”), The Loar’s new archtop guitar is hand-carved from select, graduated woods and features a nitrocellulose lacquer finish and unparalleled acoustic projection. The Loar Hand-Carved Archtop (LH-600) is an authentic replica of the original archtop acoustic guitars from the 1920s. This all-solid model features a top that is hand-carved from graduated spruce, and hand-carved back and sides made from highly flamed maple.The LH-600 also features a hand-rubbed, vintage tobacco sunburst finish with nitrocellulose lacquer for superior acoustic projection, Gotoh tuners, and a compensated adjustable ebony bridge. With its exceptionally loud tone, carved body, and vintage design, the archtop attracted considerable attention at the NAMM Show in January. The amazing part is that the LH-600 has an MSRP of only $1,195 and includes a featherweight case. The Loar, a division of The Music Link, specializes in handcrafted musical instruments inspired by the Golden Age. They also make mandolins, open back and resonator back 5-string banjos.
88-2278 Hofner (new) Thin President Hollow Body in sunburst, serial #E07122, with hard shell case.
Höfner’s handcrafted excellence and uncompromising flexibility invigorate the familiar platform of the Thin President, although we’re not sure which of our last half dozen Commanders-in-Chief was the thinnest. Solid hand-carved German AAA spruce top, highly-flamed African maple back and sides. The asymmetrically profiled crème-bound European maple neck hosts a 24-fret ebony fingerboard with genuine mother-of-pearl inlays in 10 positions – 9 of which are block and one of which is split block. All of this combines to produce great sound and feel. Although (apparently) some Hofner Presidents come with a sustain block inside the body made of a solid piece of high quality timber that’s hand-fitted to both the spruce top and the flamed maple back, this example didn’t come with it. It is thusly a true hollow body. The ebony headplate overlay is crème- bordered and inlaid with a convoluted flower, bud and vine motif. The master volume and tone controls for the Höfner standard-size humbucking neck and body pickups are tastefully covered by gold high-hat knobs. The tuners are Schaller sealed-backs with nickel-plated metal tulip buttons; the tailpiece is the three rung-ladder (like a twice rung bell) with the French curve in nickel- or chrome-plate at the top, and the bridge is a six-string version of the bridge you would find on a Hofner Beatle Bass – ebony, two piece, adjustable, with 6 individually removable and adjustable saddles. The Current List Price is $3398. Your cost however, is $2234 or, at our cash discount price, $2167.
15-6757 Gibson (used, 1963) L-7C in sunburst top, #63164, in very good plus condition with a DeArmond pickup.
There is little sonic difference between an L-7C and an L-5C. Both have the soft cutaway, the 17” wide body, and are carved, like a Boston Market sandwich, of all solid woods. The eternally sought-after 5-digit serial number is pressed into the back of the headstock below the center indent, and there are a few scrapes on the edges of the board. The neck is three-piece, stained dark walnut, as is stained the sides and back – but the center section of the back of the neck and the sides show nice flame in the maple while the back is plain. This guitar shows light normal signs of use and wear including dings on top, sides, back, head and headstock, finish checking, some buckle marks, a dent in the crème binding on the back near the tailpin on the bass side that continues into a scratch. It has had a phono jack installed in the lower treble side which resulted in at least 5 tiny cracks emanating there from, around the perimeter. The frets, when we obtained it, were worn out, and the pickguard, which is 5-ply bound, was showing signs of entropy. Our illustrious workshop will have performed a masterful refret and will have made a perfect replicative pickguard out of original materials and with matching binding. They will reinstall the DeArmond, and when you next see this piece it will not only look important, it will also play important. Its venerable tuners are original Kluson Deluxe with oil hole and amber tulip buttons. A strap pin has been installed in the center of the neck heel, which isn’t a bad place if you’re going to deface your instrument by drilling a hole in the poor mute, helpless [thing]. The side clamp (L-bracket) is likewise replaced with one that is considerably different from a Gibson original part and this resulted in new screw holes and finish damage. The truss rod cover is medium-width white-bordered and bears the word “Custom” in vertical letters down the center. The crème-bound-on-three-sides Brazilian rosewood fingerboard is inlaid in 8 fret positions with twin pearl parallelograms. The bridge is the original rosewood two-piece adjustable; the hinged nickel-plated tailpiece shows normal oxidation and it has three raised diamonds on its crosspiece. The black headplate with its nicely yellowed Gibson postwar logo, Gibson flower and truss rod cover is both crazed and scratched from string changing. It is a fine example from a great vintage period, and it has that expensive and superb sounding DeArmond pickup. They seldom get better than this. $4,639 or, at our cash discount price, $4,500.
15-6584 Ted Megas “Apollo” Oval Hole acoustic-electric archtop with two oval side ports on the bass rim, #1755, dated July 2005 at Portland, Oregon, housed in an original Cedar Creek hard shell plush lined case which lacks one latch. “Of course it has two ports, it was built in Portland!”
The guitar is in near mint condition - the top a tight grained spruce, possibly German/European with heavily tiger striped maple on the sides and back. It features a Pick Up The World transducer under the bridge, requiring only a small hole underneath the bridge center that leads the wire into the chamber, and, as well, a strap pin/tailpin on the bottom side. The head plate is jet black, reflecting the starkness of outer space whose solitude is broken only by the white Megas inlaid pearl logo. Tuners are sealed-back Schallers with ebony buttons; the fingerboard is black ebony with flame maple binding on each side, and the body, top and back, is bound in flame natural maple although the rest of the top and back is finished in a very dark, deep vintage sunburst that brings out the flame maple in a most dramatic fashion. The vertical oval soundhole is also bound in natural finish maple. Mr. Megas’ bridge is a massive ebony construction with twin corrugated gold plated elevators; pickguard is unbound ebony and abbreviated in the modern style, while the tailpiece is as bold and elegant a statement of architectural beauty as has ever been used to capture one’s balls on the southern terminus. The heel cap is finished in blonde flame maple; back of neck is painted black leading to a single black line down the center of the back of the headstock. The gold jack pin is the end pin. This is an extremely fine sounding, most unusual looking, golden-toned instrument whose voice and appearance will impress both the player and the listener. $6701 or at our cash discount price, $6500.
15-6581 Epiphone (used, 1941) Deluxe, acoustic archtop, blonde, #16481, in very good condition with a period or slightly later Gibson style brown leatherette pink-lined hard shell case.
The Epiphone Deluxe is one model below the famous Epiphone Emperor. It is a fancy guitar having 6 large mother of pearl cloud inlays in the fretboard starting at fret 1 and then a block at the 15th fret, and a small but robust vine inlaid in pearl with leaves, vine and flowers on the black ebony headplate, under the large, script, pearl inlaid Epiphone logo. The ebony fingerboard, that nominally measures 1 23/32nds” at the nut, bears two lines of white-black-white on its surface. The string spacing at the bridge is 1 15/16”. This is a spruce top instrument with figured maple sides and back. It has a protozoan-shaped replaced pickguard of tortoise shell celluloid with white-black-white border, that has been fitted with an EMG pickup and two knobs – one for volume, one for tone, in the lower treble quadrant. The top is bordered in four-ply white-black with crème outermost on both sides; the back, oddly, is bordered in 5-plies of black and white with crème outer, the heel cap in three-ply, the back of the maple neck is five-ply; the tuners are gold-plated, sealed gear, caramel shaped buttons with the Epsilon and diamond etched on they respective back The back of the neck shows more than normal hand wear (rendering the space between nut and 12th fret rather dull and gray – appearing similar in color and texture to Vlad Lenin in his tomb when he was still receiving visitors.
There is what appears to be a small hairline crevice on each side of the base of the neck near the pickguard, of no consequence in terms of longevity. There is a long repaired vertical crack under the treble foot of the bridge, a small seam separation at the treble waist on the back. On this guitar you will note that both the pickguard and the the two-piece rosewood adjustable bridge is replaced, the back and sides are oversprayed and a modern EMG floating humbucking pickup has been installed off of the pickguard and hangs down a little to the bass side. This pickup is cleverly powered by a watch battery under the pickguard and there is a phone plug off the lower treble bulbous portion of the pickguard. There are small holes in the lower bass side of the fretboard suggesting that, in the past, somebody glommed the DeArmond pickup it used to have. The f-holes are single ply bound, the tailpiece is the original gold plated “Frequensator; Patent. Pend.” There are indications of a slight but not moving seam sep at both the top and the bottom of the back seam. It shows dings, nicks. Scruffs, mars, indents, pick erosion, wear or wens (just like the cabaret standard by Rodgers and Hart) overall; there are small cracks in the binding, one tiny piece of replaced binding at top of the back. It is a player, and, even though “only” in very good condition, a possible collector for the person desiring a classy, venerable Epiphone from the New York Factory days, made during the heyday of orchestral jazz and band performance. THIS WAS $5563 but is NOW ON SALE for $5149 or, at our cash discount price, $4995.
15-6170 Gary Mortoro (used, May 1999) thin-body "Free Bird," archtop, #4399, blonde, in excellent minus condition with tweed color gigbag.
Gary Mortoro is an archtop guitar builder in Miami, FL. About his own Mortoro guitar, [he still owns another Mortoro] the famous guitarist Rodney Jones says: “Gary Mortoro makes a player's guitar. They have a great feel, beautiful tone and are finely crafted. There is no finer archtop available today. Simply put, they are the D'Angelicos of tomorrow. I love mine." Rodney Jones has been the guitarist for the Rosie O'Donnell Show and for Lena Horne, recently played on Billy Joel’s All My Life album and has toured with Queen Latifa., About Mortoro, George Benson said: “Gary's guitar has a lot of acoustic value; more so than the standard electric guitar. He's one of the few guys that has given a nice acoustic sound to the instrument. It's value, for me, is that it has both electric and acoustic elements. A friend of mine was playing it recently - fingerstyle. He was going 'Wow! Wow!'” The Free Bird (Uccello Libero) is described by the builder as follows: “’Bird’ soundholes occur in places where f-holes usually are, as well as a "bird" cutout on the side of the upper bout facing the player.” This model guitar is free of binding, it has a traditional pickguard. It has the options of having twin gold-plated humbucking pickups with four controls for volume and tone in the lower treble bout, block inlay fingerboard markers at frets 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15 and 17, and ebony buttons on gold-plated Schaller large, sealed tuners. The headstock is overlaid with a beautiful, highly figured two piece book matched wood, the black ebony fingerboard seems to be bound in polished ebony and the pickguard is ebony and unbound. In the Bob Benedetto tradition it has an ebony cello style bridge, a beautifully hand carved two piece ebony bridge, and a strap pin that doubles as a jack at bottom. There is, on this guitar, a mute toggle switch in the lower treble bout, but we note that when engaged, like so many who are presently engaged, it hums. We consider this a minor aberration and cannot, ourselves, do not desire to try to trouble shoot it because the bird shaped f-holes will not easily allow the removal of the potentiometers and wiring (please forgive us). The guitar is quite clean but there are normal light signs of use including chips of finish around the wooden bindings. Otherwise it works fine and sounds really good. One more story: the owner, who is an illustrious jazz guitarist known to players and listeners worldwide, once, um, sat on the guitar while it was in the recording studio. “You know that sound you hear when you sit on your guitar?” he says wistfully, “Well I heard that sound and cringed.” He sent the guitar back to the maker who glued the three areas on the east side of the bass bird-hole and touched them up, put a sound post inside to make sure the top remains upstanding until the end of time, and also touched up a tiny hairline crack at the bottom of the treble bird-hole. We should point out that there is a port, in a bird shape of course, on the upper treble side, to allow the player to hear his or her mistakes far faster than the audience does, which gives the guitarist time to correct the note before the audience hears it. This is a marvelous music machine, formerly owned by a master, and a guitar that may open up doors for you that you never thought possible, especially if you turn the door handle first. Its interior paper label reads “Custom made for my friend, Rodney Jones.” WAS $4221 BUT NOW ON SALE for $3706 or, at our cash discount price, $3595
Advance Notice -- On Order from Hofner: “1959 Hofner Club 40” John Lennon Signature - Anniversary Model.
For the first time since the Beatles era Hofner is offering the famous Club 40 – an electric guitar in a natural blonde finish, having a single pickup, a hand-carved top, tortoise shell color pickguard with the John Lennon Signature/Motif. This instrument will be made in a limited run of only 120 pieces (we have two of ‘em on order). The reason it is both a Signature and an Anniversary edition is because Hofner is celebrating its 120th year in business. This guitar will be accompanied by documentation including a Limited Numbered Certificate, a copy of John Lennon’s original “hire purchase” agreement from when he bought his (we understand that the project and the provided copy of receipt are both courtesy of Yoko Ono) and a special signed copy of Andy Babiuk’s book Beatles Gear, in which a photo of the original guitar appears. John first played his Club 40 with the Beatles at the Casbah Club in Liverpool. You can see a photo of this type of guitar, in John’s hands, by clicking on http://www.thecanteen.com/lennon2.html (that text and photo is ©2000, 2006 by John F. Crowley). For more information, price, expected delivery, or to reserve one just email or phone us. Thanks.
15-5915 Gretsch (new) Anniversary Model in tone-tone green finish, Model G6188T-LTU, JT06105669, lacquer finish, with plush lined hard shell case.
The Gretsch List is $3300 and the Gretsch MAP is $2640.
15-5765 Jimmy Foster Model AT3-7, 7-string acoustic archtop guitar, #211, in excellent plus condition with apparently original hard shell case.
Jimmy Foster builds guitars in Covington, LA. There is an interview with the builder at Mel Bay’s Guitar Sessions (www.guitarsessions.com/jul04/guitar_maker.html) which lists the players who use Foster guitars, and this includes Paul Simon, Howard Morgan, Alan DeMause, and mentioned that he was, at the time, making a 7-string for Howard Alden. Well, friends, this guitar is the very guitar he made for Alan DeMause -- a gorgeous 17” wide acoustic archtop with a floating Kent Armstrong pickup that bears the Foster logo, having a long scale of around 25 ¾” and a nut width of 2 1/16th” (remember, it’s a 7-string). The single-ply white bound headstock has a polished ebony head plate with a single carat at the center, there under the script Foster logo, and under that two C-shaped squiggles, one facing east and one facing west, with a dot in between. Under that is a rosewood truss rod cover held in place by one counter-sunk screw. The fingerboard is single ply bound ebony without markers, though there are side markers; the pickguard is single white bound rosewood with a single volume control; the bridge is two-piece carved rosewood, the tailpiece is a rosewood harp with a metal U-shaped violin attachment at bottom that surrounds the tailpin/jack. The sides and back are quilted maple, the neck is one piece of tiger stripe flame maple; heel cap is ebony and so is the underlay on the back of the headstock, into which the serial number is pressed above the gold plated “Foster’s” logo sealed back tuners with small metal buttons. Said underlay terminates in a sharp point behind the nut. Top and back are bordered in four-ply, f-holes are unbound. Alan DeMause is a famous author of jazz guitar instructional materials and superb musician, so he did (actually) play the instrument, which shows a few dings and signs of normal wear, but nothing too obvious or painful. A copy of Alan’s book, How to Play the 7-string Guitar, is inside the case and will be provided the next owner. A hexagonal strap pin is mounted to the center of the back of the neck heel and there is normal finish checking. It is an instrument that’s 99% free of the usual signs of wear and was just recently set-up by Jimmy Foster himself – so it plays great and sounds beyond wonderful. $6181 or at our cash discount price, $5995.
15-5571 Bob Benedetto (used, 1983) 7-string chambered electric guitar, #9783, dark sunburst, a singular guitar, hand-made by Bob Benedetto, in excellent condition with apparently original hard shell case.
Bob made his first 7-string back in 1977, a piece that the Dean of the American Archtop Guitars built for his own personal use. He constructed it with a dual truss rod system to allow full adjustment on an expanse of fingerboard that measures 2 5/32nd” at the nut, wide enough for you to use as the deck of an aircraft carrier when you play with your toy planes. This guitar, made 6 years later, is a double soft cutaway instrument that has twin Kent Armstrong humbucking 7-string pickups plus an added (by a former owner) Roland Synth pickup between the bridge pickup and the “stop” bridge with its ebony contoured saddle suspended by two gold-colored corrugated edge risers. Below this is a hand-carved Benedetto harp style ebony tailpiece inlaid with a single three-leaf flower. On both the back of the headstock, in what appears to be an ebony back plate, and also below the strap pin that is mounted in the back of the heel, are two more pearl inlaid flowers. There’s one thing about Bob Benedetto – he sure likes little inlaid flowers. A similar flower buffers a curled banner on the headstock under the inlaid script “Benedetto” banner that reads “DeMause,” since this guitar was made for illustrious jazz guitarist/writer Alan DeMause of New York City. The nearly 8 ½” long headstock with the two protuberant bumps at the top bears a headplate of quilted walnut, and is bound with crème on the outside and the tiniest 8-ply black-crème purfling you ever saw. The crème bound fingerboard is likewise bordered and so’s the top. On each side of the fingerboard is found three-ply binding. A former owner has introduced the Roland Synth hexaphonic pickup and converted the two rotary knobs on the bass side and the toggle switch positioned in between to Roland ware; in addition the toggle switch underneath turns the Roland on and off or configures the guitar, in the upper position, for humbucking use. The large three-way toggle and the two rotaries on the treble side, control the hums. The guitar has an unusually shaped ebony pickguard on the treble side of the pickups, and the tuners are large-striped-back, gold-plated Grovers with stair-step buttons. The neck is curly maple, 5-piece; the back is figured walnut; the top is spruce. The owner says she will deliver the Synth that goes with this guitar so that its future owner can play it either way (or both ways). You, too, can be a string section or a tuba. The neck has a rounded low profile and even though wide it is comfortable and easy. This guitar shows normal light signs of playing time and use. There is an area on the back of the neck behind the third string (approximately) in the lower positions that’s worn, plus some crazing, some buckle marks, some chips and some dings. This is to be expected on an instrument that has had a professional career. With this guitar we will provide the buyer a home-burned CD of the music of Alan DeMause. If you play the CD for the guitar it may purr for you. Indeed, you may, yourself, purr. $18,042 or, at our cash discount price, $17,500.
15-5448 M Campellone (new) Standard Series, 17” acoustic-electric hand-made, carved archtop in tawny red sunburst, #3060806, with hard shell plush lined case.
We cannot, try as we might, find a finer American builder of attainable hand-crafted archtop guitars, each one made by one person, working late at night in a lonely workshop with nothing for company but a radio, a cat, and a headlamp than M Campellone (no period, please). If you’ve heard the song “Rhode Island is Famous for You” by Pizzarelli and others (the lyrics, written by Howard Deitz and set to melody by Arthur Schwartz, originally celebrated Coney Island and not Rhode Island), then you probably already know about M Campellone, who hails from the town of Greenville. The instrument is made from personally selected parallel-grain book matched Sitka spruce and three-dimensionally curly figured maple on the sides & back, trimmed with white celluloid around top, back, neck, f-holes, pickguard and headstock, plus a matching border on the pyramid-like stair step truss rod cover. Its top is purfled in white-black and its strings attach to a gold and ebony tailpiece resembling an oversized cigar-cutting guillotine, while its two-piece adjustable ebony bridge is beveled and compensated for improved intonation. A gold-plated Kent Armstrong humbucking pickup attaches to the tortoise shell color bound pickguard, which platform provides a volume control in the southeast corner. The fingerboard width is 1 11/16th at the nut, scale length is 25.5” and the string spacing at the bridge is 2 1/16th”. The sound, in case you are wondering, is wide-open, full flavored and silky with considerable chop and melodious mids to please any chord thumper while retaining a palette of warmth and articulation that will drive a soloist delirious with the unceasing desire to come home and play this guitar. And the price? You can substitute: This one’s sold but phone us and find out how you can reserve a future delivery.
48-4299 John D'Angelico (used, 1932) Style B acoustic archtop guitar, #1020, equipped with a floating DeArmond pickup for amplified playing, housed in a later hard shell Gretsch style high-end wooden case, formerly white (now aged to crème) with leather trim.
This guitar was originally owned by the current owner's grandfather, Vince Finaldi, who is thought to have lived in Clifton, NJ when he would have purchased it, and then, in later years, in Denville, NJ. The serial number is #1020 and the exact date of manufacture was October 20, 1932. According to D'Angelico's Logbook the name Robert Lesser is associated with this guitar. It was a sunburst finished instrument that was, later on, refinished in a lighter sunburst finish, in our opinion, by John D'Angelico. The top is carved spruce, the sides and back highly flamed maple. It is a tone-bar braced instrument; the top and back are each bordered in three-plies of purfling, The tailpiece is extremely interesting - we feel that it was designed by John D'Angelico but that this very striking part replaced the original tailpiece that this guitar had (possibly a Grover) by utilizing the same three holes on the bottom side. This tailpiece is chrome-plated and moderately ornately etched with filigree on all three vertical areas; the curved area that comprises the top of the "harp" and the cross-piece was, etched "Vince" for the owner's granddad. The bridge is ebony with small wheels, whose top and bottom sections were shaved down, possibly to affect a lower playing action. Our head of repair, Leroy Aiello, rebuilt the original bridge, he reglued any and all loose binding, performed a fret dress and glued some rim separations. It is now ready for the next hundred and eleven and a half years.The pickguard is the original three-ply bordered - fascinatingly, it does not show deterioration of the celluloid which is considered nearly miraculous - but the earliest D'Angelico guitars most often do not show such chemical breakdown. The D'Angelico pickup depends off of the pickguard with the triangular box in the lower treble edge. A jack was added to the bottom treble side, which apparently once broke out since it was repaired, again we believe by John D'Angelico, with an aluminum plate. The neck is five-ply laminated and shows medium flame grain. The fingerboard is three-ply bound, and ebony, with 20 frets. The neck binding is loose. This board is inlaid with solid block mother of pearl inlays at frets 1,3,5,7, 9, 12, 15. There are no side dots. The headstock is pediment style with the "D'Angelico, New York" logo, banjos inlays including a banner with "Style B" etched and bordered in 3-ply binding. The tuners are gold plated Grover G-98s; the nut is original, the 20 frets are original.
And now, the dimensions:Body width, lower bout . . . 16 3/8" Scale Length . . . . 24 ¾"
Body width, upper bout. . . 11 7/16" Neck width at nut . . 1 ¾"
Body depth, lower bout . . . 3 ½" Neck width at 5th fret . . 1 7/8"
Body depth, upper bout . . . 3 ½" Neck width at 12th fret. . 2 1/8"
Body length . . . 20 ½"
There are ancient cracks on the bass side, some of which were too close to the kerfing, inside the guitar, to get glue into, but others of which have been properly glued by our crack repair staff; nevertheless, the cracks still show. There in a rectangular section of wood fitted to the area behind the side jack, and an aluminum plate. This is a wonderful sounding Style B D’Angelico, a guitar you can sink your teeth into (but please don’t). WAS $18,553 but now ON SALE for $15,981 or at our cash discount price, $15,500.
15-5057 Steven Andersen Model O-17 Archtop guitar – the O stands for Vertical Oval Soundport, the 17 stands for 17” wide, #388, in excellent plus condition with original hard shell case.
Something entirely out of the ordinary – Steve Anderson of Seattle, WA makes what he calls Specialty Archtop Guitars, and they are built in either 17” or 16”. He says that these only mildly arched models convey “The projection and playability of an archtop with the added warmth of a flattop” and he’s right about that. Modern, exciting touches abound including a carved contour at front and back sides of the cutaway, rosewood body bindings, a matching Macassar ebony truss rod cover, abbreviated pickguard, 2-piece adjustable bridge and harp-shaped striped ebony tailpiece. The top is closed-grained German spruce with a modicum of bearclaw, the sides, back and one-piece neck are fiddle-back maple that would do John D’Angelico proud. Tuners are black chrome Schaller label with black buttons, the back of the headstock is under laid with dramatically striped Yourcassar ebony and the heel cap is likewise ebony. A black-plated strap pin is affixed to the bass side in an accessible place. Another black plated strap pin depends from the butt. Even without markers on the front of the jet black ebony fretboard that may even be bordered in polished ebony, you get eight white dots in seven positions on the side. The oval sound port, in the upper bass bout, is generous to a fault, measuring 4.5” by 3” and it allows one to observe the interior cavity the way a sociologist might look at the aboriginal natives of a south sea island, or Superman might look upon his City in a Bottle. A hybrid instrument with a tone all it’s own, it may well be a tone that inspires one to play music of a type he or she has never thought about playing, midway between jazz and folk, gaining fret position access without the vertigo. $7,108 or, at our cash discount price, $6,895.
48-4841 Sam Koontz (used, c. 1972) Model SK-1 archtop guitar, #2030, 3-tone sunburst, in excellent condition with black hard shell, presumably original plush lined hard shell case.
Sam Koontz was a guitar builder who was decades ahead of his time. Regrettably, he died while young but his instruments, in extremely short supply, have become legendary. This is a large body standard design acoustic archtop bearing a DeArmond gold-plated floating pickup in the position just below the end of the 5-ply bordered ebony fingerboard. The pickup is attached, by a sliding metal dowel, to the bass side bottom edge of the bound fretboard. The thick elevated ebony pick guard, against which this DeArmond abuts, is 9-ply bordered and has affixed to it two white conical knobs, one for volume and one for tone. The headstock on this instrument is, like the reputation of its builder, extraordinarily big, being 8 ¾" in height, 4 5/8" wide at its widest point; said headstock is inlaid "Koontz" in large script pearl and has a medieval type crest below the logo. The truss rod cover looks like a ghost with its arms lifted and is held in place by two parallel gold plated Phillips head screws at "chest" height. Tuners are large striped-back Grovers with stair step buttons. The nut is polished bone and there is a zero fret under the nut; the fingerboard is inlaid with eight split block mother of pearl markers - alternating one diagonal ebony line and two diagonal lines. Each of the highly stylized and large f-shaped soundholes, diagonally measuring around 6" apiece, is bound in four-plies of white-black binding. The adjustable bridge, like everything else, is massive, with a split block inlaid on each side of the carved ebony base and a carved bulbous saddle. The bridge is current set to a high setting while the action remains comfortable. The hinged gold-plated trapeze tailpiece has a floral pattern in relief under the wave shaped cross-piece. The condition of this example is overall excellent, although the guitar shows a small amount of fret wear, a few crazing lines here and there. The instrument shows a number of small dings and scratches indicting signs of playing. All of this is completely normal, doctor, and in fact the guitar shows only a light amount of them. A gold-plated strap pin has been added to the bass side near the neck heel. WAS $41,234 NOW ON SALE FOR $31,955 or, at our cash discount price, $30,995.
88-2508 “The Zeidler Project,” a new acoustic archtop guitar, in quilted maple and Adirondack spruce top, with white Calton case. Mandolin Brothers, Ltd. has been chosen by the builder group to represent this unique guitar to the world.
All of the proceeds of sale will benefit the family of one of our most honored suppliers: the late Master Guitar Builder, John Zeidler. Here’s the background: “When fourteen of the world’s finest guitar makers decided to honor and support a colleague, they produced a unique and remarkable instrument - The Zeidler Project guitar. J. R. Zeidler was well known in the community of archtop makers. His instruments, and the man himself, were greatly respected by players and his peers. When he was hospitalized with acute myelogenous leukemia, undergoing debilitating and expensive therapy, his fellow builders came together in support. They decided to make a collaborative guitar incorporating many of Zeidler’s touches and even using wood he chose. The guitar will be sold to defray some of John’s medical expenses, and to help his family.” The Zeidler Project was coordinated by the Canadian luthier, Linda Manzer. It was a spirited, bold project - never before had a group of so highly respected instrument makers attempted such collaboration. Manzer said, “This was a chance for the archtop guitar building community to come together and focus all our skills on this one instrument to help our friend, John, and his family. These builders were just incredible to work with and we were all honored to be part of this truly unprecedented event. It was a very emotional and truly amazing experience. The end result is a guitar imbued with our collective spirit.” The entire group, paying tribute to Zeidler’s style and preferences, worked out details of the design. The guitar traveled across the continent to the shop of every builder - each of them adding his or her own touch to it, then passing it to the next builder.The soundboard, carved by John Monteleone, is Adirondack (red) spruce chosen by Zeidler at the beginning of the project. Tom Ribbecke carved the maple back, also provided by Zeidler. The rim/frames/sides bent by Steve Andersen who also attached the top and back to the sides. Steve Grimes made and installed the koa binding; John Buscarino made the neck. Mark Campellone detailed the headstock and added binding to the fingerboard and headstock. Bob Benedetto and several others carved the neck. Ted Megas did the fretwork. Bill Comins provided the fingerboard and made the tailpiece, using a Buscarino-supplied hinge. The pickguard was designed by Bill Collings and Paul Smith, the tailpiece by Bill Collings and Matthew Needham. The pickguard and tailpiece on that guitar were designed by Bill Collings and Paul Smith. Mark Lacey made the truss rod cover, “Z” peghead inlay and nut. Linda Manzer made the bridge, and also the original body mold with assistance from Tony Duggan-Smith. Tom Cerletti applied highly unusual gilding to the headstock that was especially requested by JR - the headstock appears to be kaleidoscopic - hypnotic -- refracting color and texture in ways that no headstock has, to date, done. The guitar then went to Richard Hoover of Santa Cruz Guitars, with assistance from Addam Stark and Stephen Strahm). Al Williams of Calton Cases of Canada supplied the professional travel case that houses the instrument. Professional photos were taken and donated by John Peden.
What a collection of signatures are found inside this instrument! Their individual waiting lists are often years long; their output limited -- yet they all took time to contribute to this project. John Monteleone says, “It’s kind of an impossibility that this could happen. Just the concept of pulling all these people together, who had the highest regard for reach other and for John. We all felt very close to him, attached to his sense of style, his natural abilities.” “A wonderful tribute to one of our finest” says Bob Benedetto. The result is an instrument that surpasses all expectations,” Linda Manzer reflected. “There was a magical thing happening as it was passed from builder to builder. Many of them wrote to me telling me how special it felt to have it in their shop and to be able to do this for John and his family.” J. R. Zeidler would approve it. He discussed the project with many of the builders and lived to see it partly completed. He died while the project was underway. The funds raised from this guitar will go to his family.”
Mandolin Brothers, on behalf of the group, seeks to find an individual buyer (or business, or museum, or a music café) that would wish to own, and perhaps display to the public, perhaps take on tour (send around to all of its cafés?). Or perhaps (if the buyer would so wish) it could be loaned to the world’s finest archtop musicians to perform or record with, a buyer who will embrace the instrument, as we all have, and join us in celebrating joy and jubilation in the commemoration of the life of one of the one of the finest fretted instrument crafters the world has ever seen. The price of the guitar with Calton white case is one hundred thousand dollars.
48-3708 John D’Angelico “Orpheum” (used, circa the 1940s) “Style E” acoustic archtop, #1087, whose neck and bridge were built (as original equipment) by John D’Angelico,
in very good plus condition with original hard case. John D’Angelico, the Wizard of Kenmare Street, seeking an opportunity to make less expensive guitars for the wartime or postwar player, purchased bodies from outside contractors, and did the rest of the work himself. This guitar has a spruce top and presumably laminated maple sides and back. The tightly grained and appears to be good quality. The maple back is one-piece and, like the sides, shows only an Imodium of curl. The spruce top hosts three hairline repaired top cracks plus one actual repaired crack to the right of the treble f-hole, the last of which is related to the debacle on the lower treble side, where you will observe around 12 cracks in a formerly crushed but reasonably well repaired and cleated area which old repair is probably what necessitated the overspray that the body received. Both f-holes are bound in celluloid and there is an area of discoloration around each sound port. The guitar has a John D’Angelico celluloid bound neck including a black ebony fingerboard embellished with large pearl block inlays in seven positions – from first fret to fourteenth; the headstock is inlaid with an “Orpheum” banner etched in a trapezoid with a black border, and an etched “Style E” in an inlaid pearl keystone. The guitar is acoustic only, and comes with no pickup, although there is a semi-circular cut-out on the pickguard where a floating pickup once resided. In addition it is bestowed with a gold-plated Oettinger style (but not Oettinger brand) “six-finger” adjustable tailpiece that’s missing 5 of its six individual angle-adjustment screws, and this is stamped, at its bottom “Pat. Pend.” The top binding is black-white-black, side and back binding are just black; there is a strap pin in the bass side near the neck. Its tuners are Grover large-back with stair-step gold buttons. The fingerboard width is a penurious 1 9/16th, but we still find it to be quite comfortable, and the scale length is a perfect 25”. The width of the body at its lower bout is 16 3/4”; it has 20 frets total and the string spacing at the bridge is 1 15/16th”. The two-piece adjustable bridge is a hand-made John D’Angelico construction out of what appears to be a Brazilian rosewood base and an ebony saddle. The top is bound in black-white-black, the sides and back in black.This instrument was owned and played professionally by guitarist Frankie Little who lived in Valley Stream, NY and played nightly in the The Frankie Little Trio from the mid-‘50s to the mid-‘70s. He contracted parties for the stock exchange, weddings, the San Gennero Festival, and had a steady gig at Mama Leone’s restaurant. He also played in “The Chefs” band whose musicians all wore the chef’s outfits and moved from table to table in the restaurant (hey, that’s show biz). Mr. Little started his professional career in vaudeville, playing the Paramount Theatre in Manhattan. He played in a group called The Red Jackets and he performed on the CYO circuit in canteens during World War II. He hung around with people like Boris Karloff, Burns and Allen when they were working in vaudeville, Jackie Cooper, Betty Boop (yes, there actually was such a performer) and Bob Crosby, Bing’s brother, who also had a band. Mr. Little’s 45-RPM recordings included “Redhead” and “Monkey Doodle Polka.” In the guitar’s case is found the sheet music to “Swinging on a Star,” copyright 1944. There’s a box containing a somewhat dried out fake nose, complete with box, copyright 1961, titled “The Snoz” – “Most natural looking of all” – with the instructions: “When smoking the smoke can be blown thru nose holes to make it look real.” On a collection of index cards, in the case, are the handwritten words to songs such as “Red Roses for a Blue Lady” and “Did Your Mother Come from Ireland.” There is a box of “Blitz Cloth” – “wipes away tarnish.” In addition there is a 10-cent Collegian spiral notepad with handwritten song titles, and, lastly an unused white matchbook that reads “Nancy and John, June 12, 1971.”
Our head of repair, who can smell a D’Angelico from two-blocks away, Leroy Aiello, himself, performed a needed neck reset and fret dress and this guitar now plays like the melted spread itself. Even before it was restrung, we could tell that this was going to be one colossal-sounding chord thumper and it turns out to be quite amazing sounding. It is truly the affordable D’Angelico-made alternative. WAS $8243. NOW ON SALE for $6180 or at our cash discount price, $5995.
If you would like more information on MANDOLIN BROTHERS' products and services, please write, phone, fax or email to mandolin@mandoweb.com.
