D'Angelico Style A Arch Top Acoustic Guitar (1938)
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Item # 9862
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D'Angelico Style A Model Arch Top Acoustic Guitar (1938), made in New York City, sunburst lacquer finish, maple back and sides, spruce top; maple neck with ebony fingerboard, original black hard shell case.
This instrument is an worn in but very stately D'Angelico Style A built in 1938, a time when John D'Angelico was flowering as a builder, moving beyond his initial Gibson and Epiphone inspiration to create truly unique guitars. While his later creations became ever more sophisticated, these earlier guitars are still exceptionally fine instruments and among the best of the swing era regardless of style.
By the time this one was built the Style A and B were firmly established as more affordable options from D'Angelico, compared to the top of the line Excel and New Yorker, the highest grade showpieces. If this Style A is not overly fancy by the era's high-deco standards, it is a flashy full 17" body carved-top guitar, quite stately and impressive by most any standard. Despite its lower original price, it is a professional quality instrument built with top-grade materials throughout.
The top is very tight grained spruce, carved thinner than some D'Angelicos and is parallel braced, unbound f-holes. The back and sides are maple, with a noticeable but subtler figure as befitting a less pricey model. The top and back are 3-ply bound in celluloid and finished overall in a beautiful blended sunburst. The neck is 5-way lamination of maple with ebony insets, carved in a slim comfortable "C" profile and 1 5/8" nut width. The bound ebony fingerboard has pearl block inlay, while the bound headstock has a whimsical pearl design with the "D'Angelico New York" script logo and "STYLE A" emblazoned on a banner below.
The tailpiece is a nickel-plated trapeze engraved "Grover DeLuxe" on the baseplate, typical of the period before John had his own pieces cast. The guitar is still fitted with its original open-back nickel individual pre-war Grover tuners; it is fairly unusual to not have had these changed over the years. The early-style curvy pickguard with the engraved "BOB" motif looks like John's work; the bridge has been replaced long ago with an older rosewood Harmony piece; ironic perhaps but fully functional!
Many Style A's and B's were originally sold to music stores for resale, not to individual players. In the D'Angelico ledgers this one is noted as shipped on 09-10-38 to Gravois music in St. Louis, John's largest account outside New York. In the 1930s and '40s Mel Bay taught at this store and eventually marketed special D'Angelicos through them under his own name. Even well before that he likely recommended John's instruments to the pro players passing through. In any case most of the guitars shipped to Gravois were Style A's.
The tone of this guitar is incisive, as Swing-era instruments needed to be, but with an overriding sweetness and balance that is the hallmark of a D'Angelico. Compared to more expensive and ornate D'Angelicos, this instrument still has a comparable sound -- indeed, some players have preferred the more basic models over the years. We don't know who "Bob" was, but he thought enough of this guitar to have his name on it! With a modicum of wear and some very old scars from a previous pickup installation this could be described as a "player's" D'Angelico. Certainly that is what it was built for, and around 85 years later it is still true.
Overall length is 41 1/8 in. (104.5 cm.), 17 in. (43.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
This venerable Style A has some general play wear and one obvious "elephant in the room": a couple of plugged holes from an ancient pickup installation. The one in the side (inside the lower waist, actually) is fairly discreet, but one in the top just below and behind the bridge is quite evident. This repair is solid but quite visible; we'd be tempted to put a vintage cowgirl or dancing girl sticker over it and call it a day, but that's a decision for the next owner! Oddly enough, there are no signs of the typical DeArmond installation on this guitar, but some scars between the bridge and tailpiece suggest an ancient Amperite "Kontak mike" may have been fitted.
Besides very local touch-up on these repairs all the finish remains original; there is no large-scale overspray anywhere. This finish shows dings, dents and scrapes but no heavy play wear to the body; some fairly small areas of lacquer on back of the neck are worn down to the wood. There are several short grain splits to the maple sides that do not appear to go all the way through the wood, other than these there are no other cracks anywhere.
The only non-original part is that period Harmony bridge, kind of charming as part of the guitar's history but of course easily replaceable as desired. The pickguard with the engraved and silver-painted "BOB" celluloid is certainly old and in the original style; as there is an area of "celluloid burn" on the inside of what appears to be the original case we are unsure if this guard was replaced at some point, or the case switched out with another D'Angelico; a mystery for the ages.
The repairs and attendant mysteries aside, this is simply a lovely guitar to play and to hear. It has had an excellent pro refret along the way with little subsequent wear and is a fine player, with the expected sublime sound. As John's creations go this may not be the top of the line, but by any other standard it is an exceptional instrument, with a tone worthy of the finest player. It still resides in that old D'Angelico HSC, waiting for a chance to swing again. Very Good + Condition.
This instrument is an worn in but very stately D'Angelico Style A built in 1938, a time when John D'Angelico was flowering as a builder, moving beyond his initial Gibson and Epiphone inspiration to create truly unique guitars. While his later creations became ever more sophisticated, these earlier guitars are still exceptionally fine instruments and among the best of the swing era regardless of style.
By the time this one was built the Style A and B were firmly established as more affordable options from D'Angelico, compared to the top of the line Excel and New Yorker, the highest grade showpieces. If this Style A is not overly fancy by the era's high-deco standards, it is a flashy full 17" body carved-top guitar, quite stately and impressive by most any standard. Despite its lower original price, it is a professional quality instrument built with top-grade materials throughout.
The top is very tight grained spruce, carved thinner than some D'Angelicos and is parallel braced, unbound f-holes. The back and sides are maple, with a noticeable but subtler figure as befitting a less pricey model. The top and back are 3-ply bound in celluloid and finished overall in a beautiful blended sunburst. The neck is 5-way lamination of maple with ebony insets, carved in a slim comfortable "C" profile and 1 5/8" nut width. The bound ebony fingerboard has pearl block inlay, while the bound headstock has a whimsical pearl design with the "D'Angelico New York" script logo and "STYLE A" emblazoned on a banner below.
The tailpiece is a nickel-plated trapeze engraved "Grover DeLuxe" on the baseplate, typical of the period before John had his own pieces cast. The guitar is still fitted with its original open-back nickel individual pre-war Grover tuners; it is fairly unusual to not have had these changed over the years. The early-style curvy pickguard with the engraved "BOB" motif looks like John's work; the bridge has been replaced long ago with an older rosewood Harmony piece; ironic perhaps but fully functional!
Many Style A's and B's were originally sold to music stores for resale, not to individual players. In the D'Angelico ledgers this one is noted as shipped on 09-10-38 to Gravois music in St. Louis, John's largest account outside New York. In the 1930s and '40s Mel Bay taught at this store and eventually marketed special D'Angelicos through them under his own name. Even well before that he likely recommended John's instruments to the pro players passing through. In any case most of the guitars shipped to Gravois were Style A's.
The tone of this guitar is incisive, as Swing-era instruments needed to be, but with an overriding sweetness and balance that is the hallmark of a D'Angelico. Compared to more expensive and ornate D'Angelicos, this instrument still has a comparable sound -- indeed, some players have preferred the more basic models over the years. We don't know who "Bob" was, but he thought enough of this guitar to have his name on it! With a modicum of wear and some very old scars from a previous pickup installation this could be described as a "player's" D'Angelico. Certainly that is what it was built for, and around 85 years later it is still true.
Overall length is 41 1/8 in. (104.5 cm.), 17 in. (43.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
This venerable Style A has some general play wear and one obvious "elephant in the room": a couple of plugged holes from an ancient pickup installation. The one in the side (inside the lower waist, actually) is fairly discreet, but one in the top just below and behind the bridge is quite evident. This repair is solid but quite visible; we'd be tempted to put a vintage cowgirl or dancing girl sticker over it and call it a day, but that's a decision for the next owner! Oddly enough, there are no signs of the typical DeArmond installation on this guitar, but some scars between the bridge and tailpiece suggest an ancient Amperite "Kontak mike" may have been fitted.
Besides very local touch-up on these repairs all the finish remains original; there is no large-scale overspray anywhere. This finish shows dings, dents and scrapes but no heavy play wear to the body; some fairly small areas of lacquer on back of the neck are worn down to the wood. There are several short grain splits to the maple sides that do not appear to go all the way through the wood, other than these there are no other cracks anywhere.
The only non-original part is that period Harmony bridge, kind of charming as part of the guitar's history but of course easily replaceable as desired. The pickguard with the engraved and silver-painted "BOB" celluloid is certainly old and in the original style; as there is an area of "celluloid burn" on the inside of what appears to be the original case we are unsure if this guard was replaced at some point, or the case switched out with another D'Angelico; a mystery for the ages.
The repairs and attendant mysteries aside, this is simply a lovely guitar to play and to hear. It has had an excellent pro refret along the way with little subsequent wear and is a fine player, with the expected sublime sound. As John's creations go this may not be the top of the line, but by any other standard it is an exceptional instrument, with a tone worthy of the finest player. It still resides in that old D'Angelico HSC, waiting for a chance to swing again. Very Good + Condition.