New D'Angeleco's

Bill Cunningham · Post by **Bill Cunningham** » 10 Jun 2007 5:07 pm

Anybody have first hand experience with these instruments? The pics sure are nice. I imagine they are Korean made and not carved tops!

http://www.dangelicodirect.com/store/pc ... dproduct=7

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 10 Jun 2007 7:33 pm

Hey Bill.

D'angelico was blowing out the Excel line a few months ago for $800 each. If you check Ebay you can see the folks who bought them selling them and making a few bucks.

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 11 Jun 2007 9:27 am

I went to a NAMM show about 6 years ago with my friend Bruce Conte"Tower Of Power"guitarist and we ran into Phil Upchurch who is an old friend of Bruce's Phil was demoing these guitars,Bruce told me they were absolutely great and that Phil wouldn't endorse them if they weren't top notch.

Jerry Gleason · Post by **Jerry Gleason** » 11 Jun 2007 9:47 am

I've played a couple. They look great, play well, and are quite nicely made. They are not carved, don't have a lacquer finish, and the acoustic tone is lacking. For under a thousand, they would be a pretty good deal, but the original selling price was close to that of an Eastman, which is carved, and has a vastly better tone.

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 11 Jun 2007 12:47 pm

The company I work with, Ravenwest, is discontinuing our jazz guitar line, because for every one we sell, we sell 10 strats, and from a business standpoint, it's counter-productive to continue to offer them.

As of this morning, we have 3 left.

The tops as well as the backs and sides are laminated, and the guitars don't have a lot of tone acoustically, but when you plug them in, they sound like any other hollow body jazz guitar.

They are a tad smaller than most jazz guitars. 2&3/4 inches deep instead of the usual 3 inches, and a 16 instead of a 17 inch lower bout. The necks are maple, with rosewood fretboards.

Here is a picture of one:

If you're looking for such a guitar, you might consider getting one of these. The price is $515, and includes a form fitting hard shell case.

As I said, we only have 3 of these left, and once they're gone, there won't be any more.

Please send me an E-mail if you're interested in buying one.

Jerry Gleason · Post by **Jerry Gleason** » 11 Jun 2007 3:44 pm

I just noticed on the D'Angelico site that it says "Available July 2007", so maybe the ones I've seen are something different. Still looks like a pretty nice guitar for the money.

I've had the privilege of playing an original D'Angelico New Yorker on a couple of occasions. Surprisingly, the quality of workmanship was fairly crude, especially the inlays and binding. It might even be judged unacceptable by today's standards, but the sound... My God! It was like being handed a Stradivarius.

If only the reissues could sound like that!

Bill Cunningham · Post by **Bill Cunningham** » 11 Jun 2007 6:14 pm

Thanks guys for all the info. I'm not buying today. But I've always had a love affair with those big guitars.

A friend of mine has played Gibson's my whole life and I regularly lust over his collection. I had a late 60's Johnny Smith back in high school.

Mike, what's that Korean guitar that Vescovo plays? I thnk you picked it up for him.

Jerry, thanks for the Eastman mention. I looked at their web site. A hand carved Chinese box! Wonders never cease!

Jerry Gleason · Post by **Jerry Gleason** » 11 Jun 2007 6:28 pm

I also had a '68 Johnny Smith. Sunburst with double suspended pickups. Best neck I ever had on a guitar, but it was almost unplayable in a live situation because of feedback. I always regretted selling it.

I'm very enthusiastic about Eastman guitars. Some of the earliest examples were a little rough, but all the ones I've played in the last couple of years have been superb. I have the 17" model, the 810CE. It's louder and sweeter than any archtop I've ever had, including several Gibsons and Epiphones.

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 11 Jun 2007 6:52 pm

Where does Gretch fit in the hierarchy?

This:

is my '73 Country Gent, made by Baldwin. This is the version that was re-designed by Chet Atkins and Duke Kramer. Note the lack of a mute and the real F holes.

This particular configuration of the country gent was discontinued when Fred Gretsch bought the company back from Baldwin, and as far as I know, has not been re-issued.

Ken Lang · Post by **Ken Lang** » 11 Jun 2007 7:00 pm

Hey Mike. Want to trade that Gretch for my Guitorgan?

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 11 Jun 2007 8:27 pm

Bill,There is a Violin shop a couple of blocks from my house and he sells those Eastman guitars,those are really well made,If I had to chose I would probably get the Eastman.

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 11 Jun 2007 10:03 pm

My friend Phillip Upchurch has a re-issue D'Algelico and it's a real nice guitar.I've played it and I like it a lot. For about the same kind of money I picked up an Ibanez Pat Metheny model and it's a far better guitar in every respect. It's not at all a run-of-the-mill Ibanez. From what I heard it was created by the same luthier who made the much sought-after Ibanez "lawsuit" Gibson jazz box knockoffs in the 80s.

I just played mine last night at the Playboy Jazz Festival down at Warner Center with The Tootie Heath Band and it really projects that rich piano-like tone everybody wants from that kind of guitar. Feed back can be an issue but I put body jacks in mine and that knocks it back by 50% without affecting the tone the way stuffing it or covering the F holes will do. Anyhow in Tootie's band it's old school acoustic jazz so volume never gets real high. You can also get the same guitar with 2 pickups and a thinner body making it more versatile but I like this fat boy with the neck only hummer. If you want a premier jazz box I highly recommend it. It really speaks.

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 11 Jun 2007 10:27 pm

Michael,That's a sweet looking guitar,What do you mean by "Body Jacks"?I own an old Silvertone jazz guitar from the late 50's and would like to get rid of some of the feedback...Can you tell me what I need?Thanks,Stu

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 12 Jun 2007 1:58 am

I've played a few of these D'Angelico reissues, and I also liked them. They were definitely lookers in-person also. Phil Upchurch is certainly a great endorsement - one of my favorite players.

I wound up with a used Yamaha AEX-1500 - aka "Martin Taylor Model" - which I like a lot. One of the nice features is the floating mini-humbucker plus a piezo pickup in the bridge. Mixing a little piezo in with the mini-hum gives a pretty nice approximation to an acoustic archtop sound at a practical gigging volume, if you want it.

Michael - when you say "body jacks", do you mean wooden posts wedged between the top and the back, like a violin soundpost? That is definitely my preferred way to cut feedback in an archtop. Like on a violin, one can move the post(s) around to optimize acoustic tone.

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 12 Jun 2007 2:00 am

Bill, the guitar you asked about is made by a company called PEERLESS. The only place I've seen them for sale is the NAMM show where I bought the guitar for Al.

I think it says something about the quality of these new Korean guitars that a guy like Al who has (among others) a Gretsch White Falcon and a Gibson L-7-C prefers to perform on his Peerless instead of the more established brands.

I've played many Eastman guitars were indeed quite wonderful. I've also played a few (very few) that were not. If I were to buy one, I'd go for the oval hole model, and I'd play several different ones before choosing one.

Brint Hannay · Post by **Brint Hannay** » 12 Jun 2007 7:40 am

Mike, I agree with you about the oval hole model Eastman. A local store has one that sounds great, better than the "F" hole models, though they sound very good too, and has a beautiful sunburst finish. The only reason the store still has it instead of me is that it unfortunately has a neck hump issue.

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 12 Jun 2007 8:02 am

Body jacks are just two 3 or 4 inch lengths of hardwood dowel about the diameter of a pencil. Then you get those add-on rubber erasers that you put on a pencil whose eraser has worn out - and put them on both ends of the dowel. With a razor blade and sandpaper you shape the eraser to a nice rounded off nub. Then you wedge the things fairly - but not too tight between the front and back of the guitar at the points right under the ends of the bridge. You can have them anywhere from perpindicular to the top to slightly splayed out by about 5 or 10 degrees. It'll take a few tries to get the dowel length just right and it's tricky to manipulate the things into position with just two fingers in the F holes but it's worth the patience and effort. What you're doing is dampening the resonant fundamentals without affecting the tone,timbre and sustain of the ax.You could also put more than two in there and experiment with locations but two under the bridge does it for me. I put them in my Gibson Trini Lopez Custom with great results also and it became a great R&B/blues guitar that you could crank up with impunity.

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 12 Jun 2007 11:04 am

Brint Hannay wrote:Mike, I agree with you about the oval hole model Eastman. A local store has one that sounds great, better than the "F" hole models, though they sound very good too, and has a beautiful sunburst finish. The only reason the store still has it instead of me is that it unfortunately has a neck hump issue.

Notwithstanding the added expense, can't this be fixed?

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 12 Jun 2007 3:14 pm

Micheal,Thanks for explaining "Body Jacks"I was wondering if you ever met Ron Anthony?I'm not sure if he is still around but he had a beautiful D'Angelico New Yorker..I think that was the model.

Bobby Caldwell · Post by **Bobby Caldwell** » 12 Jun 2007 4:59 pm

I have a new D'Angelico thin-line and it is wonderful. Can't say enough about this guitar. Great looks and sound. Check them out. Bobby

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 12 Jun 2007 5:59 pm

If Bobby likes 'em, thats good enough for me. I'm gonna have to get me one.

I really like the Ibanez Artcore archtops. Even the cheapest of the series, the AF75, looks, plays, and sounds really good. The quality for the price amazed me.

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 13 Jun 2007 12:39 am

Mike Perlowin wrote:Bill, the guitar you asked about is made by a company called PEERLESS. The only place I've seen them for sale is the NAMM show where I bought the guitar for Al.

I think it says something about the quality of these new Korean guitars that a guy like Al who has (among others) a Gretsch White Falcon and a Gibson L-7-C prefers to perform on his Peerless instead of the more established brands.

Peerlessguitars.com

Peerless are made in the same factory that makes the new Gretsch, Epiphones, and many other Korean built guitars.

This is the one I would like to get. The "Electra" for $629

How about a Gretsch style with Bigsby; The "Tonemaster" with laminate back, side, and top is $740. With solid wood it's $900

or you could spend an extra $3000 and get the same guitar, built by the same folks, with the Gretsch name on it.

Mike Perlowin RIP · Post by **Mike Perlowin RIP** » 13 Jun 2007 12:55 pm

Peerless has raised their prices. the guitar I bought for Al only cost $300. And that was in January of 2005.

I don't see that particular guitar on their web site. it was an acoustic arch top with no pickup. Al had one installed.