Dangelico Serial Numbers

Note that John D'Angelico died in 1964, and his apprentice D'Aquisto finished his last few models that were 'work in progress'. Serial Numbers 1932 to 1964. D'Angelico serial numbers are not strictly chronological. D'Angelico had filled many orders from jazz guitar's most accomplished players. With this interaction, John was able to build into his instruments, the construction necessary to stay current with the arch-tops ever expanding role in the orchestral setting. John D'Angelico constructed some of the finest arch-top guitars ever made. D'Angelico Guitars of America 141 West 28th Street, 4th Floor New York, NY 10001. Info@dangelicoguitars.com (646) 460 8472. Become a Dealer. Includes: D'Angelico Guitars Premier DC 6-String Double-Cutaway Semi-Hollow Body Electric Guitar with Stairstep Tailpiece - Gig Bag - D'Angelico Guitars Lifetime Limited Warranty Specifications: Logo (Front): Mother of Pearl Premier Shield Logo Logo (Back): Serial Number, Silver Screen Machine Head: Rotomatic Stairstep String: D'Angelico. D'Angelico Guitars of America 141 West 28th Street, 4th Floor New York, NY 10001. Info@dangelicoguitars.com (646) 460 8472. Become a Dealer.

John D'Angelico (Little Italy, Manhattan, 1905 – Manhattan, September 1, 1964) was a luthier from New York City, noted for his handmade archtopguitars and mandolins. He founded the D'Angelico Guitars company, where other notable luthiers like Jimmy D'Aquisto served as apprentices.

Luthiery[edit]

John D'Angelico was born in 1905 in New York to an Italian-American family, and was apprenticed in 1914 to his great-uncle, Raphael Ciani, who made violins, mandolins, and flat top guitars.^[1][2][3] This apprenticeship would become the basis for construction principles he later incorporated into his archtop guitars.^[4] After Ciani died D'Angelico took over the management of the business, but he didn't like having to supervise the 15 employees. As a result, he left and founded in 1932 D'Angelico Guitars at 40 Kenmare Street in Manhattan's Little Italy.^[5][6] Here he began making guitars initially based on the 16 inch Gibson L-5 and subsequently working on his own designs.

Instrument designs and output[edit]

Initially D'Angelico's guitars were based largely on the 1920s version of the Gibson L-5 with a 16 inch lower bout and 'snakehead' headstock design, but by 1937, he had settled on four main f-hole archtop guitar designs, heavily influenced by the GibsonL-5:^[7][8]

• Style A – 17 inch body. Phased out in the 1940s.
• Style B – 17 inch body. Phased out in the 1940s.
• Excel – 17 inch body
• New Yorker – 18 inch body. Approximately 300 made.^[9]

Through at least the late 1930s, D'Angelico's guitar necks had non-adjustable steel reinforcement. Later models had functional truss rods.^[10] By the late 40s, D'Angelico was building only the Excel and the New Yorker. All New Yorker models featured pearl inlays in the headstock and fingerboards, as well as quadruple bindings.^[11]

All of D'Angelico's guitars were hand-built, and many were customized for specific people, so substantial variation is evident in his output. D'Angelico's shop rarely made more than 30 guitars per year.^[12] In all, it is estimated that he built 1,164 guitars.^[13] D'Angelico also built a few round-hole (as opposed to f-hole) archtops, and a few mandolins.

While D'Angelico's craftsmanship was not always exemplary, the performance of his guitars established him as the premier maker of archtop guitars.^[3] During the late 1930s, when production was at its peak, D'Angelico made approximately 35 instruments per year with the help of only two workers, one of whom was Vincent 'Jimmy' DiSerio.^[3][14][4] His recognition as the 'finest builder of archtop guitars' later brought offers from larger companies, but ultimately he decided to keep his operation under his own name.^[4][14]

During the 1950s, some of the instruments leaving D'Angelico's shop had mixed features, such as an Excel-sized guitar with New Yorker features created for Johnny Smith, or D'Angelico necks custom fitted to bodies customers brought in.^[15] Original D'Angelico guitars are identified by a serial number punched inside the bass f-hole—the serial numbers ranging from 1001 to 2164.^[15]

In 1952 Jimmy D'Aquisto joined the company as an apprentice.^[3]

D'Angelico had a heart attack in 1959 and also parted ways with DiSerio, who left to work at the Favilla guitar company. As a result, he closed the business but soon reopened it after D'Aquisto who was unable to find work, convinced him to do so.^[3] After several more heart attacks and having also suffered from pneumonia John D'Angelico died in 1964 at the age of 59. He had built 1,164 numbered guitars with the last ten finished by D'Aquisto.^[3][16] D'Aquisto then bought the business but a poor business decision lost him the right to the D'Angelico name.^[17]

The D'Angelico Guitars brand has continued under other owners.

Employees[edit]

Some of D'Angelico's employees went on to become craftsmen in their own right. Among them were Jimmy Di Serio, who worked for D'Angelico from 1932–1959, and D'Aquisto who would eventually buy the business from the D'Angelico family. D'Angelico and D'Aquisto are generally regarded as the two greatest archtop guitar makers of the 20th century.^[18]

In 2011, works by D'Angelico and D'Aquisto were included in the 'Guitar Heroes' exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.^[19]

Vincent 'Jimmy' DiSerio, was commissioned by Ralph Patt to modify a GibsonES-150 (six-string archtop hollow-body guitar) to have a wider neck, wider pickup, and eight strings circa 1965; seven strings enabled Patt's major-thirds tuning to have the E-E range of standard tuning, while the eighth string enabled the high A♭.^[20]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

• Peterson, Jonathon (2002). 'Tuning in thirds: A new approach to playing leads to a new kind of guitar'. American Lutherie: The Quarterly Journal of the Guild of American Luthiers. 8222 South Park Avenue, Tacoma WA 98408: USA.: The Guild of American Luthiers. Number 72 (Winter): 36–43. ISSN1041-7176. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2012.CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

References[edit]

1. ^Bonds, Ray (ed.) (2006). 'The illustrated directory of guitars.' Barnes & Noble/Salamander Books, p. 104.
2. ^Wheeler, Tom (1982). American guitars: an illustrated history.' Harper & Row. p. 22.
3. ^ ^abcdefAcoustic Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York: Chartwell Books. 2011. pp. 38–42. ISBN978-0-7858-3571-4.
4. ^ ^abcWilliam), Green, Frank W/m (Frank (2008). D'Angelico : John D'Angelico : master guitar builder : what's in a name?. Centerstream. ISBN9781574242171. OCLC191808803.
5. ^Will Levith (January 23, 2015). 'Joe Bonamassa and the Amazing Technicolor D'Angelico Shop'. Archived from the original on April 4, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
6. ^Teddy Kim (August 22, 2014). 'Rock On! D'Angelico Guitars Is Back in Business in Chelsea'. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
7. ^Bonds, Ray (ed.) (2006). p. 104.
8. ^Achard, Ken (1999). 'The History and Development of the American Guitar.' The Bold Strummer, p. 16.
9. ^Denyer, Ralph (1998). 'The guitar handbook.' Alfred A. Knopf. p. 47.
10. ^Wheeler, Tom (1982). pp. 22-23.
11. ^Achard, Ken (1999). p. 16.
12. ^Bonds, Ray (ed.) (2006). p. 106.
13. ^Wheeler, Tom (1982). pp. 22.
14. ^ ^ab'About | D'Angelico Guitars'. angelicoguitars.com. Retrieved 2017-06-09.
15. ^ ^abAchard, Ken (1999). p. 43.
16. ^'NAMM 2015: Revived D'Angelico guitar brand shows off new acoustics'. January 23, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
17. ^Stern, Stephen (Fall 1995). 'Jimmy D'Aquisto – Luthier Extraordinaire'(PDF). Frontline magazine. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
18. ^'Images from the Lillibridge Gallery'. D'Angelico/D'Aquisto/Gudelsky Workshop. National Music Museum; The University of South Dakota 414 East Clark Street Vermillion, SD 57069. September 8, 2009. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
19. ^'Guitar heroes: Legendary craftsmen from Italy to New York, February 9-July 4, 2011'. John D'Angelico. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
20. ^Peterson (2002, p. 37)

External links[edit]

Born in New York City in 1905, John D'Angelico began working at for his grand uncle, Raphael Ciani, at the age of nine. Located in New York at 57 Kenmare Street, Ciani's shop built and repaired all manner of stringed instruments including violins, mandolins and flattop guitars.

In 1932, John opened his own shop at 40 Kenmare Street and it was here that he began building archtop guitars in earnest. The earliest recorded date for a D'Angelico guitar is 11/28/32 (serial number 1002). Reports suggest that he may have built a small number of archtops in the late 1920s.

The earliest D'Angelico guitars were clearly based on the 16-inch Gibson L-5, with similar body dimensions, a hand-carved spruce top, maple back and sides, a maple neck that joined the body at the 14th fret, a floating bridge and tailpiece and violin style f-holes.

By the mid 1930s D'Angelico was offering three models: Style A, Style B and Excel. Priced at $150, $200 and $275 respectively, these were approximately equivalent to the Gibson L10, L-12 and L-5.

In his book Acquired of the Angels, Paul William Schmidt lists the earliest examples of the Style A, Style B and Excel models as dating from 03/10/36, 09/02/33 and 03/16/36 respectively. However, vintage guitar dealer Laurence Wexer (wexerguitars.com) says that there are no model listings for the serial numbers indicated above in the actual ledgers, the earliest entries for the Style A, Style B and Excel models being 1936.

Roxio Serial Numbers

John D'Angelico (Little Italy, Manhattan, 1905 – Manhattan, September 1, 1964) was a luthier from New York City, noted for his handmade archtopguitars and mandolins. He founded the D'Angelico Guitars company, where other notable luthiers like Jimmy D'Aquisto served as apprentices.

Luthiery[edit]

John D'Angelico was born in 1905 in New York to an Italian-American family, and was apprenticed in 1914 to his great-uncle, Raphael Ciani, who made violins, mandolins, and flat top guitars.^[1][2][3] This apprenticeship would become the basis for construction principles he later incorporated into his archtop guitars.^[4] After Ciani died D'Angelico took over the management of the business, but he didn't like having to supervise the 15 employees. As a result, he left and founded in 1932 D'Angelico Guitars at 40 Kenmare Street in Manhattan's Little Italy.^[5][6] Here he began making guitars initially based on the 16 inch Gibson L-5 and subsequently working on his own designs.

Instrument designs and output[edit]

Initially D'Angelico's guitars were based largely on the 1920s version of the Gibson L-5 with a 16 inch lower bout and 'snakehead' headstock design, but by 1937, he had settled on four main f-hole archtop guitar designs, heavily influenced by the GibsonL-5:^[7][8]

• Style A – 17 inch body. Phased out in the 1940s.
• Style B – 17 inch body. Phased out in the 1940s.
• Excel – 17 inch body
• New Yorker – 18 inch body. Approximately 300 made.^[9]

Through at least the late 1930s, D'Angelico's guitar necks had non-adjustable steel reinforcement. Later models had functional truss rods.^[10] By the late 40s, D'Angelico was building only the Excel and the New Yorker. All New Yorker models featured pearl inlays in the headstock and fingerboards, as well as quadruple bindings.^[11]

All of D'Angelico's guitars were hand-built, and many were customized for specific people, so substantial variation is evident in his output. D'Angelico's shop rarely made more than 30 guitars per year.^[12] In all, it is estimated that he built 1,164 guitars.^[13] D'Angelico also built a few round-hole (as opposed to f-hole) archtops, and a few mandolins.

While D'Angelico's craftsmanship was not always exemplary, the performance of his guitars established him as the premier maker of archtop guitars.^[3] During the late 1930s, when production was at its peak, D'Angelico made approximately 35 instruments per year with the help of only two workers, one of whom was Vincent 'Jimmy' DiSerio.^[3][14][4] His recognition as the 'finest builder of archtop guitars' later brought offers from larger companies, but ultimately he decided to keep his operation under his own name.^[4][14]

During the 1950s, some of the instruments leaving D'Angelico's shop had mixed features, such as an Excel-sized guitar with New Yorker features created for Johnny Smith, or D'Angelico necks custom fitted to bodies customers brought in.^[15] Original D'Angelico guitars are identified by a serial number punched inside the bass f-hole—the serial numbers ranging from 1001 to 2164.^[15]

In 1952 Jimmy D'Aquisto joined the company as an apprentice.^[3]

D'Angelico had a heart attack in 1959 and also parted ways with DiSerio, who left to work at the Favilla guitar company. As a result, he closed the business but soon reopened it after D'Aquisto who was unable to find work, convinced him to do so.^[3] After several more heart attacks and having also suffered from pneumonia John D'Angelico died in 1964 at the age of 59. He had built 1,164 numbered guitars with the last ten finished by D'Aquisto.^[3][16] D'Aquisto then bought the business but a poor business decision lost him the right to the D'Angelico name.^[17]

The D'Angelico Guitars brand has continued under other owners.

Employees[edit]

Some of D'Angelico's employees went on to become craftsmen in their own right. Among them were Jimmy Di Serio, who worked for D'Angelico from 1932–1959, and D'Aquisto who would eventually buy the business from the D'Angelico family. D'Angelico and D'Aquisto are generally regarded as the two greatest archtop guitar makers of the 20th century.^[18]

In 2011, works by D'Angelico and D'Aquisto were included in the 'Guitar Heroes' exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.^[19]

Vincent 'Jimmy' DiSerio, was commissioned by Ralph Patt to modify a GibsonES-150 (six-string archtop hollow-body guitar) to have a wider neck, wider pickup, and eight strings circa 1965; seven strings enabled Patt's major-thirds tuning to have the E-E range of standard tuning, while the eighth string enabled the high A♭.^[20]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

• Peterson, Jonathon (2002). 'Tuning in thirds: A new approach to playing leads to a new kind of guitar'. American Lutherie: The Quarterly Journal of the Guild of American Luthiers. 8222 South Park Avenue, Tacoma WA 98408: USA.: The Guild of American Luthiers. Number 72 (Winter): 36–43. ISSN1041-7176. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2012.CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

References[edit]

1. ^Bonds, Ray (ed.) (2006). 'The illustrated directory of guitars.' Barnes & Noble/Salamander Books, p. 104.
2. ^Wheeler, Tom (1982). American guitars: an illustrated history.' Harper & Row. p. 22.
3. ^ ^abcdefAcoustic Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York: Chartwell Books. 2011. pp. 38–42. ISBN978-0-7858-3571-4.
4. ^ ^abcWilliam), Green, Frank W/m (Frank (2008). D'Angelico : John D'Angelico : master guitar builder : what's in a name?. Centerstream. ISBN9781574242171. OCLC191808803.
5. ^Will Levith (January 23, 2015). 'Joe Bonamassa and the Amazing Technicolor D'Angelico Shop'. Archived from the original on April 4, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
6. ^Teddy Kim (August 22, 2014). 'Rock On! D'Angelico Guitars Is Back in Business in Chelsea'. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
7. ^Bonds, Ray (ed.) (2006). p. 104.
8. ^Achard, Ken (1999). 'The History and Development of the American Guitar.' The Bold Strummer, p. 16.
9. ^Denyer, Ralph (1998). 'The guitar handbook.' Alfred A. Knopf. p. 47.
10. ^Wheeler, Tom (1982). pp. 22-23.
11. ^Achard, Ken (1999). p. 16.
12. ^Bonds, Ray (ed.) (2006). p. 106.
13. ^Wheeler, Tom (1982). pp. 22.
14. ^ ^ab'About | D'Angelico Guitars'. angelicoguitars.com. Retrieved 2017-06-09.
15. ^ ^abAchard, Ken (1999). p. 43.
16. ^'NAMM 2015: Revived D'Angelico guitar brand shows off new acoustics'. January 23, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
17. ^Stern, Stephen (Fall 1995). 'Jimmy D'Aquisto – Luthier Extraordinaire'(PDF). Frontline magazine. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
18. ^'Images from the Lillibridge Gallery'. D'Angelico/D'Aquisto/Gudelsky Workshop. National Music Museum; The University of South Dakota 414 East Clark Street Vermillion, SD 57069. September 8, 2009. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
19. ^'Guitar heroes: Legendary craftsmen from Italy to New York, February 9-July 4, 2011'. John D'Angelico. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
20. ^Peterson (2002, p. 37)

External links[edit]

Born in New York City in 1905, John D'Angelico began working at for his grand uncle, Raphael Ciani, at the age of nine. Located in New York at 57 Kenmare Street, Ciani's shop built and repaired all manner of stringed instruments including violins, mandolins and flattop guitars.

In 1932, John opened his own shop at 40 Kenmare Street and it was here that he began building archtop guitars in earnest. The earliest recorded date for a D'Angelico guitar is 11/28/32 (serial number 1002). Reports suggest that he may have built a small number of archtops in the late 1920s.

The earliest D'Angelico guitars were clearly based on the 16-inch Gibson L-5, with similar body dimensions, a hand-carved spruce top, maple back and sides, a maple neck that joined the body at the 14th fret, a floating bridge and tailpiece and violin style f-holes.

By the mid 1930s D'Angelico was offering three models: Style A, Style B and Excel. Priced at $150, $200 and $275 respectively, these were approximately equivalent to the Gibson L10, L-12 and L-5.

In his book Acquired of the Angels, Paul William Schmidt lists the earliest examples of the Style A, Style B and Excel models as dating from 03/10/36, 09/02/33 and 03/16/36 respectively. However, vintage guitar dealer Laurence Wexer (wexerguitars.com) says that there are no model listings for the serial numbers indicated above in the actual ledgers, the earliest entries for the Style A, Style B and Excel models being 1936.

Roxio Serial Numbers

D'angelico Guitar Serial Numbers

The New Yorker (earliest ledger date 09/26/36) represented D'Angelico's response to the 18-inch Gibson Super-400.

D'angelico Serial Numbers Lookup

Priced to compete with the L-7, the 17-inch A-1 (earliest ledger date 05/02/36) was added to the line by 1938 as D'Angelico's most affordable model.