D'Angelico???????

Dominic

I see the famous Jazz box brand is marketing quite an expanded range these days together with a budget line and varies from hollow body to semi and even some Jazzmaster types
Anybody got one ........? any good ?
They seem to do some great colours

Corvus

I got me an EXL1 when Coda were knocking them out 2/3rds price, I can't really fault it. At first the pickup sounded iffy with the roundwounds on and was looking to change it, but swapping to flatwounds after advice on here transformed it. Got them with the top two nickel wound. It sounds way better. Haven't had to do a thing to it though the p/g has to go at some point when I can be arsed. I did age the inlays a little bit and darken the board slightly after this pic, they were a bit bright & spangly but that's it

http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/misc/da.jpg

Dominic

How do you age inlays?

Corvus

Don't know how other people do it, but I very lightly scuff them and use different colour stains. The right stains on the right plastics stays put.

MichaelWatts

I'm expecting one in for review any day now. It's one of the solid bodies apparently.
Obviously I imagine this has nothing to do with the original D'Angelico company

dazzajl

I had a little play with a few at Andertons last time time I went for a mooch. Nothing wrong with any of them at all, typical Far East solid build and finish. 

Nothing about that fabulous looking big box or the solids made me need to take one home though. That honour went to a Supro. 

Dominic

guy in Anderson told me they were American built ,even the budget ones but I think he has his wires crossed
Would be very surprised.............not that it matters to me

oh_pollo

All that gold on the Deluxe models is an acquired taste.

dazzajl

Dominic said:

guy in Anderson told me they were American built ,even the budget ones but I think he has his wires crossed
Would be very surprised.............not that it matters to me

Nope, they’re definitely better than that.

DB1

The £1000 plus models were Korean (I had a couple) and the budget range is Indonesian, I think - from the examples that I saw, anyway. I was under the impression that there was a 'master build' edition as well, which was built in the USA. I had a couple of EXL-1's - I thought they looked lovely, but felt a bit 'dead'. Anyway, I didn't keep either for very long, but that probably says more about me than the guitars.

It's a bit of 'sleight of hand' though - or clever marketing. I think the headstock says 'D'Angelico New York', but 'Korea' or 'Indonesia' on the back. The head office is in New York I think, so technically it;s correct, if a bit shifty. 

Dominic

That's the world today.....
You buy a German dishwasher etc but they dont tell you that 90% of the component parts are made in China, Vietnam , etc etc

Corvus

Mine's Indonesian, chose it over a Peerless costing 3x the amount, but didn't play a ton of other makes. There are some hand-made US ones still at very fancy prices, the rest are Korean or Indonesian I think.

It's just a name best put aside when trying them out, since John D passed away in the 60s anything afterwards would be pretty tenuous anyway esp factory-made things like these.

Sassafras

People whinge about the Epiphone headstock yet no-one mentions the D'Angelico one?

Branshen

Sassafras said:

People whinge about the Epiphone headstock yet no-one mentions the D'Angelico one?

You can hang keychains off the headstock. what's not to like?

vonLayzonfon

When I saw this in the shop I fell in love with it a little bit.  And I'm more of an 80s superstrat kind of guy.  So despite it being about three times more than I would normally consider paying for a guitar I allowed myself to be persuaded to give it a try.

Meh.  It was okay.  I guess with it not being my usual sort of thing and way out of my normal price range it was fighting against the odds to impress me and it didn't really come across as any better than anything I already own.  YMMV, of course.

Bebopper

Corvus said:

Mine's Indonesian, chose it over a Peerless costing 3x the amount, but didn't play a ton of other makes. There are some hand-made US ones still at very fancy prices, the rest are Korean or Indonesian I think.

It's just a name best put aside when trying them out, since John D passed away in the 60s anything afterwards would be pretty tenuous anyway esp factory-made things like these.

I understand that the rights to the D'Angelico name have passed through a few hands in the last couple of decades.

John D'Angelico was an individual luthier (with some apprentices) hand building guitars out of a tiny shop in NYC. He died in 1964. His name, designs and order book were left to his last apprentice, James D'Aquisto (himself one of the great luthiers of the 20th century). 

D'Aquisto might have finished any outstanding D'Angelico orders but then built under his own name, with his own designs, until his death in 1995. By the '80s, someone else had ownership of the D'Angelico name.

There were a small number of high-end, luthier-built replicas commissioned by the brand owner in the '80s and '90s.

In the 2000s Vestax in Japan were producing authorised D'Angelico guitars and introduced new designs such as the NYLSS-3B, which became a classic modern jazz guitar due to its use by Kurt Rosenwinkel for most of that decade. The Vestax instruments are high quality and very desirable by archtop players and collectors. They were never cheap, ranging around £3000 to £4000.

The current company launched in 2011. They are based in New York with a very impressive showroom. Their current lineup is produced in Korea and Indonesia. As well as the original archtop shape and the Vestax-era semi-hollow design, they have introduced solidbody and flattop acoustic designs that have nothing to do with the original D'Angelico.

They have on occasion commissioned luthiers to ghost-build high-end replicas of some original D'Angelico models. Carved woods etc. Luthiers Victor Baker and Gene Baker have at different times been involved with those projects.

PhilKing

A few years ago I was at a Christmas party at their showroom.  They have a bar in there which is made to look like Marshall half stacks under the counter.  They have all the new and used guitars available to test (which sounds really risky when you have an open bar).  They also have some original D'Angelico's there as well, which you play if you get their manager to agree to it (I think you have to look like you are a serious buyer).

They do seem very committed to making good guitars and actually they were very nice people there and knowledgeable about the guitars.

dazzajl

So what did you think @Dominic?

liftman

I just bought a Premier SS with the stairstep tailpiece and love it! Really resonant and dynamic, great neck and even the Duncan Designed pickups sound great. Been on a big search for a slimline recently and I preferred it to Eastmans, Epiphones  and even some Gibsons I tried ( except my mate's 2002 Sheraton which is fantastic ) . All the Deluxe and Excel range have slimmer necks so no good for me but  Thomann is selling Deluxe SS at almost half price at the mo.

Voxman

Sassafras said:

People whinge about the Epiphone headstock yet no-one mentions the D'Angelico one?

I like 'em! 

WindmillGuitars

We're stocking most of the new 2021 Premier range of solid bodies and the new Bedford SH -been really impressed with them in terms of bang for buck. The Oxblood colour in particular is beautiful!