Beautiful video! Thank you so much for appreciation and admiration of my fathers guitars ! It’s overwhelming the love and respect you and so many others have for him . He was truly given a gift from God and he was an amazing wonderful father. He is missed so much by me and my family . We are so proud of his legacy . Although he was just Dad to me , I am still in awe of the great man that raised me and how proud and blessed I am that I got to be his daughter! Thank you to all ! He is definitely smiling from heaven ♥️✨
Jamie! How nice to hear from you! Your wonderful father's encouragement and praise meant everything to me. He was so sweet and patient, treating me like a nephew. I'm not sure I would have stuck with guitar-making without it. I think of him often, usually with a chuckle, remembering something he told me in response to one of my many stupid questions. Thanks for "Smiling from Heaven". I'll do a little movie of his instructions sometime. Priceless! He cracked me up and illuminated me with one phrase. Magic! My Hero.
Sorry, I don't know how this thread got scrambled, but it's a response to Rod Parker, if that makes any sense. As I respond to comments, I'm finding that You tube has some odd glitches, ???
I am a Spanish amateur guitar builder. I cannot find a way to put in words how valuable are your videos. I can just say thank you and please, please, keep doing so.
That instrument is absolutely beautiful! Just Top Shelf in all ways possible! Regarding Archtop construction I personally feel that Jimmy D'Aquisto was one of the most talented luthiers. EDIT: I came to see the Archtop and never left -Subscribed
Your reminiscing of Jimmy's personality hits me hard, Ken. He was my friend, too, and when he passed I felt like I lost a relative. I met Jimmy after our mutual friend, Sal Ditroia, introduced us back in 1971. Sal by then had two guitars by Jimmy and he convinced me to ask Jimmy to make one for me, a 17 inch New Yorker Oval Hole Special, which I still have. Thank you for sharing your memories and for this informative video.
Micheal did you give guitar lessons in college point ?.. if it is you I remember taking lessons from you in 2 separate locations .. I also remember you being a great guitarist and teacher.
I was lucky enough to have lunch with Jimmy at a guitar makers convention in Easton, Pennsylvania back in the 80's. He was delightful to talk with, and he even brought his young son along - who continues the tradition.
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 I'd taped and watched the _A New Yorker Special_ documentary film literally a hundred times and I'm enthralled with the works of D'Angelico and D'Aquisto. I also just finally acquired the _Acquired of the Angels_ book by Paul William Schmidt and finished reading it last weekend. The book is wonderful with great photos and highly recommended.
Exceptional instrument..around 1989 my buddy and I were at the Arlington TX guitar show. Both of us were after custom colored pre CBS Fender guitars. Anyway, I was out of money but going around to all the tables. At one table stood Jimmy D’Aquisto with one of his archtops. I talked to him for around 10-15 minutes as he took me through the finer points of his archtop…there was NO PLASTIC on the guitar, it was all wood.. Later my buddy told me “….you’ve just met the greatest archtop luthier on Earth”…
What a great story! When I met him in '75, I think it was my second visit that year, I asked him why he used plastic binding that sounded, well, just dead? (If you hold up a sheet of it and bonk it, it just sounds like mush, just the opposite of the resonant wooden materials that we choose so carefully.) He said, "Ken, it just doesn't look finished to me without it." I was so happy to see him make this change, and I know he felt great about it too. What a treat to talk with him, right? Your buddy was right, he was the greatest.
It is a pleasure to observe your love and passion to Jimmy and his work. Thank you for sharing this beautiful guitar with us. Please continue to explain Jimmy’s design decisions. Seeing the reflections of that in design decisions in your guitars, hearing your thoughts, makes it really valuable!
Thanks, K! Hope you're OK over there, so many are needlessly suffering at the hand of the Mad Tsar. What a terrible time for our poor broken world. Keep the faith and do good work!
I had had the pleasure of having Joe Pass for lunch while he was on tour with Oscar Peterson in Melbourne Australia 1977 He brought his D'Aquisto . Great guitar also of course..
Beautiful guitar. Totally love the looks of the 70's style radio knobs on that pickguard, a subtle giveaway of the era it was made. I wish I had the opportunity to play such guitar for once.
I have a 1968 D'Aquisto New Yorker Special with the D 'Angelico-style, elabourate metal tailpiece, and Imperial Stairstep tuners. It also has a pretty old, floating D'Armond Rhythm Chief screwed into the lower bass side of the neck with the controls in the pickguard, like yours. The neck on mine has a deep, distinctive flame and it is well-worn with some of the finish rubbed away to the clear sealer coat. Despite the flame, it has remined straight as an arrow for all these years. I've only had to very slightly adjust the truss rod when I changed from Phosphor/Bronze .013s to Martin Monel .011s last year. I fully understand why you love this guitar so much. Nothing plays and sounds like them. Jimmy was a magician and did things with wood that no one has equaled since he passed far too soon. My NYer is at Cris Mirabella's shop right now for the ubiquitous, required celluloid-acetate binding replacement that virtually all of Jimmy's guitars will eventually need, some sooner, some later. I'll mention this vid to Cris if he hasn't seen it yet. Cheers
Great story, thanks! One time when visiting at Jimmy's shop, I asked him about the problems with using curly maple for the neck, which can drive us builders crazy by moving around with humidity changes. He sighed, saying "Yeah everybody wants the flashy wood, but we should just use straight maple, it stays where you put it!" Jimmy was a guitar whisperer, and we don't put anything past him! Nice to hear that your extra-curly neck is behaving itself the way Jimmy taught it to.
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Yes it is. Once Jimmy touched a piece of wood, he was its master. You know, when I purchased the guitar, I got at a very good price because it was terribly stained and yellowed by nicotine smoke, which Cris completely removed with naphtha and a good, gentle, talented hand, much to the seller's chagrin when he saw it a year or so later. The yellow stain did not make it sound any less than the best guitar that I ever played, though. Anyway, when I first saw it, I thought that all that flame on the neck was a good thing. I later heard the same as what you said that Jimmy said about plainer maple being more stable. Perhaps his customer for that one wanted a more spectacular neck. Well, he certainly got it. My DA NYer's neck never moves from season to season, year to year. I suppose that it's the exception to the rule. I'll take it. :D
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 I just remembered, If you have ever seen Grant Green's D'Aquisto NYer with the RC pickup (mine is screwed to the side of the neck on the bass side), it's virtually a clone of mine, or mine of his, whatever.
William, I have consulted the Oracle for the right way to put this, and here it is, "If the shielding of the pickup and attending components is perfect, or very close to it, a string ground is not needed." Just to be clear, the Oracle is Bob Palmieri of Duneland Labs, check out his site and/or the latest issue (# 53) of the Fretboard Journal for more information.
Wow, a modern master checking out an old(ish) master's work. Thanks for this series, it's such a gift to the archtop fetishist community! Keep posting please!
I’ve just seen recently the short documentary about Jimmy daquisto , it’s really interesting it was only a couple of years since his mentor died , I would love to play one of his guitars
I'm not so sure I know exactly when this PBS film with Jim Hall was shot. Anybody know for sure? It seems like it would be in the '70s. John D'Angelico died in 1964 at the way too young age of 59.
I can really relate to the "I'm sooo busy....come Saturday" bit. I always feel, buliding guitars, there is endless things to do, but at the same time I don't really have many appointments other than the one at the bench :)
I think you've summed it up nicely for our group! John Monteleone is working on a film about his worklife called "The Chisels are Calling". Sounds about right, doesn't it? In my shop, I think all I can hear is the material calling.
Is that what it is? My friend has a wet basement, didn't use it, and so now it's been parked in my dry shop for 10 years. Once in a while it tells me if the pickup and volume knob works. My Hero!
I had a New Yorker that I ordered from Jimmy in the mid to late 70's- I picked it up from his shop on Long Island in 1980( or '81) it looked almost identical to this guitar- a little more "burst" (lighter in the middle) in the finish- it didn't have the copper foil on the tailpiece but had slots where the screws attached it to the body so you could raise or lower it a little presumably to adjust the angle of the strings to the bridge- the volume and tone knobs were made of ebony. He told me the date and signature on the inside back is the date he glued the top on. It came with what he called "set-up" strings, the D'Aquisto bronze 13's that you have there. He said play the guitar with those for a month or so - really dig in- make the top work to get it vibrating - then you can put any strings you want on it. He said Jim Hall uses 8's!! ( maybe that's why there's a set of 8's in the case).It was the best archtop I have ever played- and many of my peers said it was the best archtop they'd ever played- including the late great Tommy Tedesco. Sadly, I sold the guitar about 20 years ago and still regret it. He was truly an artist- thanks for this video- sorry for lengthy comment but thought I'd share my recollection.
Frank! Thanks for this story, and sorry for your loss, I suppose many of us have a regret or two, but I bet this one still can sting. You and Tommy seem to be corroborating the sense that Jimmy's work during this period was especially successful and satisfying. You've got lots of company on this one! Very interesting to hear his instructions about the "setup" strings! Sure sounds like Jimmy.
Hi Ken, another wonderful guitar presentation from you besides making great archtop guitars. I can't wait for your next D'Aquisto lecture. I got a well played 77 D'Aquisto NY Special, blond, from the original owner. I would love for you to tidy it up, too. I've been using D'Addario nickel bronze strings that seem to get a more even sound on its JS pickup and playing acoustic. I miss you very much, my friend.
Sounds great, congratulations! I don't do repair anymore, and I just did this one so I could get my grippers on it and show everyone what a killer piece of work it is. I'd get in touch with Chris Mirabella, who has lots of experience with these treasures, I'm sure he'll get it just right for you. Glad the NB strings are working for you!
Excellent overview! Is scraping the binding why my new Les Paul has a lip along certain parts of the binding? I was thinking it was a QA issue, as none of cheaper guitars have that issue.
You got it. It was Gibson's method of dealing with this tricky cosmetic intersection, and others followed suit. It's a proven method, but it does leave a step in the surface. Can you imagine trying to mask the binding with TAPE??? Horrors! El Cheapo must have found another method, if you're correct.
Thanks again, Ken, for this chance to learn from your perspectives on the work of a past master (friend & mentor to you). This video could perhaps be called an ‘hommage’?
Hey Mark, Sorry to be so late to answer you. This one I carefully measured at 16.3*. This guitar was built right when I first knew Jimmy, when I was pestering him with stupid questions. For example I asked Jimmy what headstock angle he liked, and he told me 14*, so perhaps there were variations. Over the 8" length of his headstock, the difference between 14* and 16.3* angle at the end comes out to be .327", but the difference seems less to the strings, as the tuning pegs are only 3.5" apart in length, for a difference of only .143". This doesn't seem like much to me. Much larger differences could be had depending on how the strings are wound on the tuning posts. Maybe we should just call it "about 15*", don't you think?
Great Video and very informative. - One question. If you had a flamed maple binding for instead a plastic and the color should be different from the body how would you paint it? Separately and after putting together add the nitro or poly finish. Or would you first put everything together and then color body and wood binding in a row? - I m just wondering because some archtops have wood binding and it looks great. - But I guess you can t just scrape the color off from it like you handle the plastic binding.
None of us are good at everything, and here, I'll admit to you that spray finishing just isn't something I've ever been very interested in. Therefore, i am not any kind of expert, so you should really ask someone who's awesome at it. I can agree that scraping finish from plastic binding is quite different than scraping finish from a wood surface. First, the plastic is homogeneous, and so doesn't have the challenges of wood, with its hard and soft places or alternating grain direction to make scraping difficult. Second, plastic binding, depending on the kind of material, of course, can be softened by the solvents in the color coat, and become a bit easier to scrape as a result. I do appreciate the difficulty of masking wood binding, and wouldn't envy this job. Good luck!
Well, that's your call, really. Some folks really like flat wound strings for jazz playing, and, while I'm not on that side of the street, I completely get it. I'm obsessed with reinventing the acoustic archtop guitar, and my comments might not apply very well to the group of archtops that are used primarily as electric guitars. Until very recently, every electromagnetic pickup installed on an archtop required the use of nickle wound electric guitar strings to drive the pickup in a balanced way.
I would love to hear your analysis of its acoustic performance. Maybe look at the thickness and loft of the top and the bracing dimensions. Do you think the back vibrates much?
Bronze strings are almost always used for acoustic guitars due to their rounder and more powerful sound, other things being equal. Since Jimmy felt he was building scoustic guitars, not electric, it just seems to be a good choice if you don't need the pickup. More sound, and prettier, will demonstrate.
Something like that! It's the "Nitro" in nitrocellulose plastics that's the problem, as it's NITRIC ACID, and boy, is that stuff Active! Properly formulated, it can work well and hang in there, but that's all over now that its become unobtanium. polymerdatabase.com/Polymer%20Brands/Celluloid.html
Maybe I am at the bottom of the guitar owner food chain, but I have a guitar and acoustic rig that will out perform any collector guitar in a live venue Pepsi sound challenge. I own a piezo equipped spruce body Parker Fly from the nineties instead of a Super 400 or Benedetto Manhattan both of which are out of my price range. But I have one up on most all collectors, even ones that have Montelones stashed in their vaults and display cases. With my Parker Fly, I have a small amp rig consisting of a D-tar Mama Bear acoustic guitar emulator, a Line 6 Helix and an AER 60 acoustic amp along with a proprietary component set up in the Helix. From that rig I'm able to make my Parker Fly play and sound, in a live venue, like acoustics from collection of coveted acoustic guitars as they would sound on a well tweaked studio recording. While these guitars are not the sound of archtops, they are acoustics and come through as acoustic in a live stage. That's something that collectors can't do with their prized guitars (even if they had a professional guitarists play them) unless they spent untold tens of thousands extra on special mics, room accoustics, PA's, sound engineers and such.
I can't tell you how gratifying it is to read this comment. My shirt buttons are spraying all over the room! First, the Fly guitar project started with the question "What kind of guitar could be designed to mimic the Archtop's best attributes without the giant, impossibly huge body size, and without an enclosed air volume that's a feedback problem?" The first prototypes in the mid - 80's were super thin and very light. One, named "The Potato Chip" by my partner-in-crime, Larry Fishman, weighs in at 2 378 pounds, or 1.079 Kg! It's a loud, expressive instrument with no bad habits, and only requires .009 - .042" nickle strings to power it up. This guitar is heavily carved and shaped, averages about 3/8", or just under 10mm thick, and largely resembles in outline and contours the Fly guitars that came to market. The "Demands of the marketplace" and the clunky dimensions of off-the-shelf magnetic pickups drove the final Fly design to be much thicker. This so called "Concert" or, later on "Bronze" model that I suspect you own (although you didn't mention the presence of magnetic pickups, which would make it an "Artist" model) was my favorite embodiment of the Fly line, as it came closest to the original design goal. I was puzzled that the guitar wasn't widely appreciated for it's Unique Capabilities, but what do I know? Kudos for assembling the right gear to make full use of its Chameleon Super-Powers! Doesn't look anywhere close to the bottom to me, are you sure you haven't inverted the model by mistake?
Ken here's a link to a Jim Hall playing the guitar you mentioned with the unscraped binding including a close up view - ua-cam.com/video/5PzshdVRavk/v-deo.html
What a genius, and what a sweet man. I got to know Jim a bit 40+ years ago when I lived in Manhattan, as I followed him around town and heard him perform many times. Thanks for this clip, what a pleasure. I think we can agree that the particulars of the binding can be set aside while we enjoy Jim at his best.
What are your thoughts on half-round strings? Doesn't D'Addario make a bronze string set in which they use a blend of nickel with the bronze? If so, would those solve the magnetic pickup issue? Thanks for your videos. Great to see a master showing a masterpiece in detail.
Oh Boy, Strings! Maybe I should do a whole segment on these fickle creatures. So many issues! In the 90's, D'Addario sent me a huge bunch of strings in assorted sizes of the Nickle / Bronze prototype strings for evaluation. Since we were making electric guitars with both magnetic and acoustic piezo pickups, it seemed like a perfect fit! These strings are made with two windings of the two alloys alternating, giving a true 50/50 blend mechanically instead of mixing the materials into a new alloy. They also look cool, like a long barber pole! I was really excited about them, and gave out strings to a wide variety of players, who, as a group, replied with a resounding "meh". I turns out that, like a lot of dual use ideas, the flying car, the mullet, the Les Paul with a strat vibrato and 3 single coil pickups, for examples, work better in the imagination than in reality. Short story, everybody missed the low end power that nickle wound strings provoke in a magnetic pickup, and didn't feel that the improvement in the acoustic response through the piezo made up for it, sadly. On my acoustic archtops, they drive the low end OK acoustically, and have an attractive and unique timbre that some folks are very happy with, but again, not enough magnetic signature from the wound strings to drive a regular magnetic pickup in a satisfying way, and tragically, also Too magnetic to balance properly with the pickups that I supply that are carefully voiced for even output with bronze strings. Bummer, but once again, you can't have it both ways with a magnetic pickup, it's one or the other. On the good foot, several of my archtop customers have found happiness with this set, and so there's another color available to us, and that's a fine thing!
The phrase "Slava Ukraini!" (Glory to Ukraine!) appeared in military formations during the Ukrainian War of Independence (from 1917 to 1921). It became part of the lexicon of Ukrainian nationalists in the 1920s. These folks have been tormented by surrounding thugs for a long time. Let's hope for peace sooner than later.
Beautiful video! Thank you so much for appreciation and admiration of my fathers guitars ! It’s overwhelming the love and respect you and so many others have for him . He was truly given a gift from God and he was an amazing wonderful father. He is missed so much by me and my family . We are so proud of his legacy . Although he was just Dad to me , I am still in awe of the great man that raised me and how proud and blessed I am that I got to be his daughter! Thank you to all ! He is definitely smiling from heaven ♥️✨
Thanks! Brother fromanothermother?
Jamie! How nice to hear from you! Your wonderful father's encouragement and praise meant everything to me. He was so sweet and patient, treating me like a nephew. I'm not sure I would have stuck with guitar-making without it. I think of him often, usually with a chuckle, remembering something he told me in response to one of my many stupid questions. Thanks for "Smiling from Heaven".
I'll do a little movie of his instructions sometime. Priceless! He cracked me up and illuminated me with one phrase. Magic! My Hero.
Sorry, I don't know how this thread got scrambled, but it's a response to Rod Parker, if that makes any sense.
As I respond to comments, I'm finding that You tube has some odd glitches, ???
I was a good friend of Jimmy.He was my son Ravel's God father
My X. wife has one of the 3 flat tops he made..It had some water Damage from Katrina..She wants to sell it..I use to play that Guitar a lot
I love Archtops-Archtops Forever!!!!!!¡!!!!!¡!!!¡!!
Me too!!
I am a Spanish amateur guitar builder. I cannot find a way to put in words how valuable are your videos. I can just say thank you and please, please, keep doing so.
Thanks for your praise, we'll keep on keepin' on!
That instrument is absolutely beautiful!
Just Top Shelf in all ways possible!
Regarding Archtop construction I personally feel that Jimmy D'Aquisto was one of the most talented luthiers.
EDIT: I came to see the Archtop and never left -Subscribed
Jimmy was my hero.
What a beautiful, resonant,radient legacy.
Thanks for listening
Your reminiscing of Jimmy's personality hits me hard, Ken. He was my friend, too, and when he passed I felt like I lost a relative. I met Jimmy after our mutual friend, Sal Ditroia, introduced us back in 1971. Sal by then had two guitars by Jimmy and he convinced me to ask Jimmy to make one for me, a 17 inch New Yorker Oval Hole Special, which I still have. Thank you for sharing your memories and for this informative video.
Beautiful, Michael. I'm sure your guitar is a treat. Jimmy was a force of nature and utterly unique. Still miss that guy.
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Me, too.
Micheal did you give guitar lessons in college point ?.. if it is you I remember taking lessons from you in 2 separate locations .. I also remember you being a great guitarist and teacher.
You are a nice man
Thanks. I'm trying my best. Blessings.
I was lucky enough to have lunch with Jimmy at a guitar makers convention in Easton, Pennsylvania back in the 80's. He was delightful to talk with, and he even brought his young son along - who continues the tradition.
Jimmy was a wonderful guy, and never stopped being my hero. What an honor it was to know him!
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 I'd taped and watched the _A New Yorker Special_ documentary film literally a hundred times and I'm enthralled with the works of D'Angelico and D'Aquisto. I also just finally acquired the _Acquired of the Angels_ book by Paul William Schmidt and finished reading it last weekend. The book is wonderful with great photos and highly recommended.
Exceptional instrument..around 1989 my buddy and I were at the Arlington TX guitar show. Both of us were after custom colored pre CBS Fender guitars. Anyway, I was out of money but going around to all the tables. At one table stood Jimmy D’Aquisto with one of his archtops. I talked to him for around 10-15 minutes as he took me through the finer points of his archtop…there was NO PLASTIC on the guitar, it was all wood.. Later my buddy told me “….you’ve just met the greatest archtop luthier on Earth”…
What a great story! When I met him in '75, I think it was my second visit that year, I asked him why he used plastic binding that sounded, well, just dead? (If you hold up a sheet of it and bonk it, it just sounds like mush, just the opposite of the resonant wooden materials that we choose so carefully.) He said, "Ken, it just doesn't look finished to me without it." I was so happy to see him make this change, and I know he felt great about it too. What a treat to talk with him, right? Your buddy was right, he was the greatest.
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 it was like meeting Einstein…before you finished high school physics..🎶🎶
"Come Saturday"....Beautiful!
What a guy, what an inspiration!
It is a pleasure to observe your love and passion to Jimmy and his work. Thank you for sharing this beautiful guitar with us. Please continue to explain Jimmy’s design decisions. Seeing the reflections of that in design decisions in your guitars, hearing your thoughts, makes it really valuable!
Thanks, K! Hope you're OK over there, so many are needlessly suffering at the hand of the Mad Tsar. What a terrible time for our poor broken world. Keep the faith and do good work!
I had had the pleasure of having Joe Pass for lunch while he was on tour with Oscar Peterson in Melbourne Australia 1977
He brought his D'Aquisto . Great guitar also of course..
You ate Joe for Lunch?
Super interesting and super sweet & lovely! THX Ken !!
I love this guitar.
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 I can imagine ;) !!
jimmy to me is the greatest luthier of all time.
A fantastic builder, and a wonderful mentor!
D'Angelico and D'Aquisto. Best of the Best. Gone way too young.
Aren't we all? I completely agree, losing Jimmy was a terrible thing, and way too soon. I still miss him.
I wish I could have ordered one from him. Thanks for the great videos.@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440
Thank you for this beautiful video.
I had several 1980's Mel Bay Jazz books that had Blow your mind D'Aquisto Archtops on their covers.
I had those, and the older ones, too, with D'Angelicos on the covers.
It's hard not to look good behind one of there heroines!
Thanks so much for the amazing discussion and show/tell.
It's my pleasure.
Come Saturday - just wonderful 🙂
The Best.
Beautiful guitar. Totally love the looks of the 70's style radio knobs on that pickguard, a subtle giveaway of the era it was made. I wish I had the opportunity to play such guitar for once.
It's great!
Mr Parker, thank you..
You are very welcome!
have a D'Angelico SS175 ..but made in Korea ..it was 2000.00..its good for me..I do like the history of it all..thanks for your post
Right on. A good guitar is a good guitar.
Excellent craftsman!
Thanks!
Great! Thank you!
Glad you liked it!
A wonderful piece of history together with a wonderful instrument
Really a pleasure for me to get my grippers on this fine guitar for awhile. Glad you enjoyed it.
'...come Saturday'. Awesome!
He was a lot of fun, what a great attitude, and so generous with his time. He was a huge blessing to me.
beautiful
I think so too
Thank you.
My Pleasure
What a magnificent looking guitar.
As I mentioned, many of us feel that this was Jimmy's Golden Period, and his mastery is obvious!
Beautiful guitar!
Couldn't agree more. My Inspiration!
She’s a beaut
All handmade by a genius!
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 what would u estimate it’s value to be?
I have a 1968 D'Aquisto New Yorker Special with the D 'Angelico-style, elabourate metal tailpiece, and Imperial Stairstep tuners. It also has a pretty old, floating D'Armond Rhythm Chief screwed into the lower bass side of the neck with the controls in the pickguard, like yours. The neck on mine has a deep, distinctive flame and it is well-worn with some of the finish rubbed away to the clear sealer coat. Despite the flame, it has remined straight as an arrow for all these years.
I've only had to very slightly adjust the truss rod when I changed from Phosphor/Bronze .013s to Martin Monel .011s last year.
I fully understand why you love this guitar so much. Nothing plays and sounds like them. Jimmy was a magician and did things with wood that no one has equaled since he passed far too soon.
My NYer is at Cris Mirabella's shop right now for the ubiquitous, required celluloid-acetate binding replacement that virtually all of Jimmy's guitars will eventually need, some sooner, some later.
I'll mention this vid to Cris if he hasn't seen it yet.
Cheers
Great story, thanks! One time when visiting at Jimmy's shop, I asked him about the problems with using curly maple for the neck, which can drive us builders crazy by moving around with humidity changes. He sighed, saying "Yeah everybody wants the flashy wood, but we should just use straight maple, it stays where you put it!" Jimmy was a guitar whisperer, and we don't put anything past him! Nice to hear that your extra-curly neck is behaving itself the way Jimmy taught it to.
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Yes it is. Once Jimmy touched a piece of wood, he was its master.
You know, when I purchased the guitar, I got at a very good price because it was terribly stained and yellowed by nicotine smoke, which Cris completely removed with naphtha and a good, gentle, talented hand, much to the seller's chagrin when he saw it a year or so later. The yellow stain did not make it sound any less than the best guitar that I ever played, though.
Anyway, when I first saw it, I thought that all that flame on the neck was a good thing. I later heard the same as what you said that Jimmy said about plainer maple being more stable. Perhaps his customer for that one wanted a more spectacular neck. Well, he certainly got it.
My DA NYer's neck never moves from season to season, year to year. I suppose that it's the exception to the rule. I'll take it. :D
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 I just remembered, If you have ever seen Grant Green's D'Aquisto NYer with the RC pickup (mine is screwed to the side of the neck on the bass side), it's virtually a clone of mine, or mine of his, whatever.
Miss that guy, he was a one-off.
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 +1
No ground? That should be fun! Awesome about the strap button!
William, I have consulted the Oracle for the right way to put this, and here it is, "If the shielding of the pickup and attending components is perfect, or very close to it, a string ground is not needed."
Just to be clear, the Oracle is Bob Palmieri of Duneland Labs, check out his site and/or the latest issue (# 53) of the Fretboard Journal for more information.
Wow, a modern master checking out an old(ish) master's work. Thanks for this series, it's such a gift to the archtop fetishist community! Keep posting please!
More to come on this Red Hero!
I’ve just seen recently the short documentary about Jimmy daquisto , it’s really interesting it was only a couple of years since his mentor died , I would love to play one of his guitars
I'm not so sure I know exactly when this PBS film with Jim Hall was shot. Anybody know for sure?
It seems like it would be in the '70s. John D'Angelico died in 1964 at the way too young age of 59.
Cool stuff!
Thanks, Guillaume!!
I can really relate to the "I'm sooo busy....come Saturday" bit. I always feel, buliding guitars, there is endless things to do, but at the same time I don't really have many appointments other than the one at the bench :)
I think you've summed it up nicely for our group! John Monteleone is working on a film about his worklife called "The Chisels are Calling". Sounds about right, doesn't it? In my shop, I think all I can hear is the material calling.
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 "caaaarrrve meeee"
Thank you. Beautiful guitar. We’d like to hear it with bronze strings :)
I promise!
As it turns out, I'll have one of Jimmy's guitars on the bench, on Saturday.
It's always an honor and a pleasure! Enjoy!
Is that a Peavey special 130 in the background? Loved those.
Is that what it is? My friend has a wet basement, didn't use it, and so now it's been parked in my dry shop for 10 years. Once in a while it tells me if the pickup and volume knob works. My Hero!
I had a New Yorker that I ordered from Jimmy in the mid to late 70's- I picked it up from his shop on Long Island in 1980( or '81) it looked almost identical to this guitar- a little more "burst" (lighter in the middle) in the finish- it didn't have the copper foil on the tailpiece but had slots where the screws attached it to the body so you could raise or lower it a little presumably to adjust the angle of the strings to the bridge- the volume and tone knobs were made of ebony. He told me the date and signature on the inside back is the date he glued the top on. It came with what he called "set-up" strings, the D'Aquisto bronze 13's that you have there. He said play the guitar with those for a month or so - really dig in- make the top work to get it vibrating - then you can put any strings you want on it. He said Jim Hall uses 8's!! ( maybe that's why there's a set of 8's in the case).It was the best archtop I have ever played- and many of my peers said it was the best archtop they'd ever played- including the late great Tommy Tedesco. Sadly, I sold the guitar about 20 years ago and still regret it.
He was truly an artist- thanks for this video- sorry for lengthy comment but thought I'd share my recollection.
Frank! Thanks for this story, and sorry for your loss, I suppose many of us have a regret or two, but I bet this one still can sting. You and Tommy seem to be corroborating the sense that Jimmy's work during this period was especially successful and satisfying. You've got lots of company on this one! Very interesting to hear his instructions about the "setup" strings! Sure sounds like Jimmy.
Hi Ken, another wonderful guitar presentation from you besides making great archtop guitars. I can't wait for your next D'Aquisto lecture. I got a well played 77 D'Aquisto NY Special, blond, from the original owner. I would love for you to tidy it up, too. I've been using D'Addario nickel bronze strings that seem to get a more even sound on its JS pickup and playing acoustic. I miss you very much, my friend.
Sounds great, congratulations! I don't do repair anymore, and I just did this one so I could get my grippers on it and show everyone what a killer piece of work it is. I'd get in touch with Chris Mirabella, who has lots of experience with these treasures, I'm sure he'll get it just right for you. Glad the NB strings are working for you!
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Hi Ken, thank you! When you first met Jimmy in 1975, which shop was he in then? G
Excellent overview! Is scraping the binding why my new Les Paul has a lip along certain parts of the binding? I was thinking it was a QA issue, as none of cheaper guitars have that issue.
You got it. It was Gibson's method of dealing with this tricky cosmetic intersection, and others followed suit. It's a proven method, but it does leave a step in the surface. Can you imagine trying to mask the binding with TAPE??? Horrors! El Cheapo must have found another method, if you're correct.
Thanks again, Ken, for this chance to learn from your perspectives on the work of a past master (friend & mentor to you).
This video could perhaps be called an ‘hommage’?
Well said, Thanks!
could you please tell us what the headstock angle degree is
Hey Mark, Sorry to be so late to answer you. This one I carefully measured at 16.3*. This guitar was built right when I first knew Jimmy, when I was pestering him with stupid questions. For example I asked Jimmy what headstock angle he liked, and he told me 14*, so perhaps there were variations. Over the 8" length of his headstock, the difference between 14* and 16.3* angle at the end comes out to be .327", but the difference seems less to the strings, as the tuning pegs are only 3.5" apart in length, for a difference of only .143". This doesn't seem like much to me. Much larger differences could be had depending on how the strings are wound on the tuning posts. Maybe we should just call it "about 15*", don't you think?
Great Video and very informative. - One question. If you had a flamed maple binding for instead a plastic and the color should be different from the body how would you paint it? Separately and after putting together add the nitro or poly finish. Or would you first put everything together and then color body and wood binding in a row? - I m just wondering because some archtops have wood binding and it looks great. - But I guess you can t just scrape the color off from it like you handle the plastic binding.
None of us are good at everything, and here, I'll admit to you that spray finishing just isn't something I've ever been very interested in. Therefore, i am not any kind of expert, so you should really ask someone who's awesome at it.
I can agree that scraping finish from plastic binding is quite different than scraping finish from a wood surface. First, the plastic is homogeneous, and so doesn't have the challenges of wood, with its hard and soft places or alternating grain direction to make scraping difficult.
Second, plastic binding, depending on the kind of material, of course, can be softened by the solvents in the color coat, and become a bit easier to scrape as a result.
I do appreciate the difficulty of masking wood binding, and wouldn't envy this job.
Good luck!
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 thanx for the reply. I will give it a try.
are you saying bronze strings dont work as well as steel strings for a smooth jazz sound
Well, that's your call, really. Some folks really like flat wound strings for jazz playing, and, while I'm not on that side of the street, I completely get it. I'm obsessed with reinventing the acoustic archtop guitar, and my comments might not apply very well to the group of archtops that are used primarily as electric guitars.
Until very recently, every electromagnetic pickup installed on an archtop required the use of nickle wound electric guitar strings to drive the pickup in a balanced way.
Epic pointy headstock.
Epic is right. We used to call it the "tone control".
Any chance guitar is for sale?
Sorry, not at this time. But Who can blame you? I want it for myself, just like everyone else who has played the little sweetie.
I would love to hear your analysis of its acoustic performance. Maybe look at the thickness and loft of the top and the bracing dimensions. Do you think the back vibrates much?
Looking forward to doing this, stay tuned.
Just curious, why bronze strings? Will the guitar sound more lively that way? Really great videos Ken.
Bronze strings are almost always used for acoustic guitars due to their rounder and more powerful sound, other things being equal. Since Jimmy felt he was building scoustic guitars, not electric, it just seems to be a good choice if you don't need the pickup. More sound, and prettier, will demonstrate.
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 Thanks Ken!
The binding on the guitar was celluloid but stopped making the guitars with it because it shrinks with age
Something like that! It's the "Nitro" in nitrocellulose plastics that's the problem, as it's NITRIC ACID, and boy, is that stuff Active! Properly formulated, it can work well and hang in there, but that's all over now that its become unobtanium. polymerdatabase.com/Polymer%20Brands/Celluloid.html
Perhaps you'll cover this at a later date, but...where is the input jack? That is a lovely guitar.
stay tuned!
Maybe I am at the bottom of the guitar owner food chain, but I have a guitar and acoustic rig that will out perform any collector guitar in a live venue Pepsi sound challenge. I own a piezo equipped spruce body Parker Fly from the nineties instead of a Super 400 or Benedetto Manhattan both of which are out of my price range. But I have one up on most all collectors, even ones that have Montelones stashed in their vaults and display cases. With my Parker Fly, I have a small amp rig consisting of a D-tar Mama Bear acoustic guitar emulator, a Line 6 Helix and an AER 60 acoustic amp along with a proprietary component set up in the Helix. From that rig I'm able to make my Parker Fly play and sound, in a live venue, like acoustics from collection of coveted acoustic guitars as they would sound on a well tweaked studio recording. While these guitars are not the sound of archtops, they are acoustics and come through as acoustic in a live stage. That's something that collectors can't do with their prized guitars (even if they had a professional guitarists play them) unless they spent untold tens of thousands extra on special mics, room accoustics, PA's, sound engineers and such.
I can't tell you how gratifying it is to read this comment. My shirt buttons are spraying all over the room!
First, the Fly guitar project started with the question "What kind of guitar could be designed to mimic the Archtop's best attributes without the giant, impossibly huge body size, and without an enclosed air volume that's a feedback problem?" The first prototypes in the mid - 80's were super thin and very light. One, named "The Potato Chip" by my partner-in-crime, Larry Fishman, weighs in at 2 378 pounds, or 1.079 Kg! It's a loud, expressive instrument with no bad habits, and only requires .009 - .042" nickle strings to power it up. This guitar is heavily carved and shaped, averages about 3/8", or just under 10mm thick, and largely resembles in outline and contours the Fly guitars that came to market.
The "Demands of the marketplace" and the clunky dimensions of off-the-shelf magnetic pickups drove the final Fly design to be much thicker.
This so called "Concert" or, later on "Bronze" model that I suspect you own (although you didn't mention the presence of magnetic pickups, which would make it an "Artist" model) was my favorite embodiment of the Fly line, as it came closest to the original design goal.
I was puzzled that the guitar wasn't widely appreciated for it's Unique Capabilities, but what do I know?
Kudos for assembling the right gear to make full use of its Chameleon Super-Powers!
Doesn't look anywhere close to the bottom to me, are you sure you haven't inverted the model by mistake?
Ken here's a link to a Jim Hall playing the guitar you mentioned with the unscraped binding including a close up view - ua-cam.com/video/5PzshdVRavk/v-deo.html
What a genius, and what a sweet man. I got to know Jim a bit 40+ years ago when I lived in Manhattan, as I followed him around town and heard him perform many times. Thanks for this clip, what a pleasure. I think we can agree that the particulars of the binding can be set aside while we enjoy Jim at his best.
What are your thoughts on half-round strings? Doesn't D'Addario make a bronze string set in which they use a blend of nickel with the bronze? If so, would those solve the magnetic pickup issue? Thanks for your videos. Great to see a master showing a masterpiece in detail.
Oh Boy, Strings! Maybe I should do a whole segment on these fickle creatures. So many issues!
In the 90's, D'Addario sent me a huge bunch of strings in assorted sizes of the Nickle / Bronze prototype strings for evaluation. Since we were making electric guitars with both magnetic and acoustic piezo pickups, it seemed like a perfect fit! These strings are made with two windings of the two alloys alternating, giving a true 50/50 blend mechanically instead of mixing the materials into a new alloy. They also look cool, like a long barber pole!
I was really excited about them, and gave out strings to a wide variety of players, who, as a group, replied with a resounding "meh". I turns out that, like a lot of dual use ideas, the flying car, the mullet, the Les Paul with a strat vibrato and 3 single coil pickups, for examples, work better in the imagination than in reality.
Short story, everybody missed the low end power that nickle wound strings provoke in a magnetic pickup, and didn't feel that the improvement in the acoustic response through the piezo made up for it, sadly.
On my acoustic archtops, they drive the low end OK acoustically, and have an attractive and unique timbre that some folks are very happy with, but again, not enough magnetic signature from the wound strings to drive a regular magnetic pickup in a satisfying way, and tragically, also Too magnetic to balance properly with the pickups that I supply that are carefully voiced for even output with bronze strings. Bummer, but once again, you can't have it both ways with a magnetic pickup, it's one or the other.
On the good foot, several of my archtop customers have found happiness with this set, and so there's another color available to us, and that's a fine thing!
@@kenparkerarchtoppery9440 thank you for your comprehensive reply.
Slava Ukraini.
The phrase "Slava Ukraini!" (Glory to Ukraine!) appeared in military formations during the Ukrainian War of Independence (from 1917 to 1921). It became part of the lexicon of Ukrainian nationalists in the 1920s.
These folks have been tormented by surrounding thugs for a long time.
Let's hope for peace sooner than later.