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. Original D'Angelico guitars are identified by a serial number punched inside the bass f-hole—the serial numbers ranging from 1001 to 2164. D'Angelico Archtop Guitars| D'Angelico Guitars. John D'Angelico built 1,164 guitars, all by hand. With the individual attention paid to each instrument, and the variations driven by custom orders, this led to differences.
(Image: © D’Angelico Guitars) GOLD AWARD Way back in the Golden Age of jazz (we’re talking about the Thirties through the late Fifties), a D’Angelico guitar was the guitarist’s equivalent of a Rolex watch or a Mercedes-Benz. It was an expensive status symbol instrument that proved you were a “made man” who probably had a high-paying gig at the Copacabana where you were handsomely tipped by Jimmy Goodfella and his wiseguy pals. When old guitars suddenly became “vintage” in the late Seventies, D’Angelico guitars were amongst the most expensive and most coveted objects of desire. The guitars offered by the recent reincarnation of the D’Angelico brand aren’t nearly as expensive as they were when a fussy little old Italian man crafted them from a workshop on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, but they still cost enough to be “aspirational” instruments for most players. With the introduction of their new Premier Series guitars, D’Angelico now offers a wide variety of instruments that sell well below the $1,000 price barrier. Even more amazing is that the Premier Series guitars offer similar elegant styling, playability, and attention to detail as their more expensive predecessors. The D’Angelico Premier Series consists of nine different models that include various semi-hollow and solidbody guitars as well as a true hollowbody.
We took a look at a single-cutaway, semi-hollow Premier SS (PSFBSSSP) and a double-cutaway, semi-hollow Premier DC (PSDCSP) to see how they compare to previous D’Angelico models we know and love. FEATURES Our Premier SS and Premier DC models share numerous features in common, so first I’ll describe the features of each that aren’t the same. The Premier SS PSFBSSSP has a very distinctive semi-hollow body design that measures 15 inches wide and 1.75 inches deep and has no f-holes. Its neck has a 25-inch scale length. The Premier DC PSDCSP has a shallower body (1.625 inches deep), greater width (16 inches), traditional f-holes, and a 24 ¾-inch scale length.
It also has a stairstep-shaped floating pickguard, while the Premier SS has none. Beyond that, both models have identical features. The bodies are constructed of laminated maple and the necks have three-piece maple construction, 22 medium frets, rosewood fretboard, block pearloid inlays, and a shallow C-shaped profile. Characteristic D’Angelico styling includes the signature fancy large headstock with decorative cupola, aluminum skyscraper truss rod cover, and chrome-plated Rotomatic stairstep tuners. Our examples both have stop tailpieces, but D’Angelico offers the trapeze chrome stairstep tailpiece as an option. Electronics on both models consist of a pair of D’Angelico humbuckers each with their own volume and tone controls plus a three-postion pickup selector switch. Hardware includes a Tune-o-matic bridge, black speed knobs, and an EG-2P output jack.
PERFORMANCE The biggest differences I noticed between the Premier Series guitars and D’Angelico’s previous Standard and Deluxe Series instruments are that the hardware is chrome-plated instead of gold-plated, the knobs on the Premier Series guitars aren’t as fancy, and the binding and various other decorative elements are slightly more plain. There are also fewer finish options to choose from—each Premier Series guitar is available with a choice of either a black, white, or wine finish. However, if I were to take a blindfolded test drive I don’t think I’d notice much of a difference between the two different series, if any. The attention to detail in the construction of both Premier Series guitars is impressive, and the playability is identical to previous new D’Angelico guitars I’ve reviewed. The Premier SS PSFBSSSP is a powerful rock and roll animal that delivers fat, dynamic tone with signature semi-hollow resonance and aggressive midrange, but the completely closed top allows players to rock harder and louder without feedback.
The Premier DC PSDCSP is a classic double-cutaway semi-hollow guitar through and through, with tone that works for pretty much any style of music where an electric guitar is welcome. While the D’Angelico humbuckers may not be quite as “refined” as the Kent Armstrong pickups featured on D’Angelico’s more expensive models, they have their own attractive personality that some players will probably prefer. The Premier Series guitars are the most affordable D’Angelico guitars ever, making the distinctive D’Angelico sound and style available to pretty much everyone. MAP: $750 MANUFACTURER: D’Angelico Guitar,. Most Premier Series models are available with a selection of either a traditional stop bar tailpiece or the fancier stairstep trapeze tailpiece. Signature D’Angelico styling includes the stairstep truss rod cover and Rotomatic tuners and the fancy headstock shape.
The PSFBSSSP features a 15-inch single-cutaway semi-hollow body and a completely closed (no f-holes) top that eliminates feedback. The PSDCSP has a classic 16-inch double-cutaway semi-hollow and dual-humbucker design that makes it ideal for any style of music. THE BOTTOM LINE D’Angelico’s new Premier Series guitars make a new D’Angelico guitar more affordable without sacrificing the construction, playability, sound, and style that made D’Angelico guitars so desirable in the first place.
No matter who you are in the jazz guitar world, this D’Angelico is worth a serious look, if only to alert you to the intense battle that is going on for the $1100–$1500 segment of the jazz archtop market. If you are a serious practicing and gigging jazz player, this guitar will do everything you ask of it – except be a U.S.-made vintage guitar (which it looks like at a glance).
What kind of values you have as a jazz player and archtop collector – combined with how much spare cash you have in the bank – will determine whether this guitar is of interest to you. The EXL-1DP will be most appealing to players wanting to step up to a better instrument with a traditional look, great playability and good adjustability. I found this D’Angelico to be a comfortable size that does a good job of replicating Gibson’s older archtop feel. The neck is the Gibson-standard 1 11/16” wide (the current trend is to go wider than this, which I find to be too wide) and I found the neck to be hinting in the direction of the early sixties’ wide/flat profile, which I consider the best possible profile. The laminated body measures 17” wide by 3” deep with a significant arch in both the top and back, and the EXL’s scale length comes in at a standard Super 400/L-5-equivalent 25.5”.
It has the right dimensions, the right pro-level refinement in adjustability and it can recreate bop and post-bop timbres in the Johnny Smith style. Given its price range, it is a huge value. After going over this guitar with a jeweler’s loupe, putting it through my aggressive, daily practice routine and finally rehearsing with it, I can tell you that this is a serious contender in the new niche that has emerged in the jazz guitar world – well-made instruments that, to varying degrees, copy what has been established as the epitome of the American jazz guitar. I was very impressed with how well the guitar played and how easily it adjusted without any serious alterations. I put the bridge down for close action and it accommodated me without buzzing.
The neck was straight – almost flat – and it appears to me that with a pro-luthier doing the tweaking, you could put the action anywhere you want on this instrument, something I have found more expensive instruments sometimes not capable of. This may be due to its more sophisticated U-channel truss rod design. 'After going over this guitar with a jeweler's loupe, putting it through my aggressive daily practice routine and finally rehearsing with it, I can tell you that this is a serious contender in the new niche that has emerged in the jazz guitar world.' Jazz Economics Spend over $10,000 and you should be getting a hand-carved solid spruce top with tight grain. In contrast, the D’Angelico offers a laminated spruce top and laminated maple sides and back to stay within its price range. That’s not to say that this is a negative – many excellent- sounding jazz instruments, including the Guild X-500 and the Gibson Barney Kessel models, use this method of construction – but only that this laminated construction is a major point of departure from original D’Angelicos, reminding us that it is a manufactured copy of a piece of Americana.
It would be like comparing Zirconium to a real diamond; they are both nice but have different purposes. Indeed, the EXL is a fine-sounding instrument.
The Kent Armstrong pickup is a good compliment to the guitar, reproducing a warm and convincing tone suitable for jazz contexts. The Johnny Smith-style pickup and guard are well designed and the rim-mounted jack is a plus. The only qualm I found was that the tone pot turns and turns without effect until you reach that sudden point where it becomes bassy all at once, although this is an easy fix with a higher quality, smooth-taper pot. The guitar is definitely easy on the eyes, using an abundance of abalone inlays and art-deco designs, although I would have settled for a little less flash if the quality of the joinery and finish work could have been bumped up.
The EXL does a great job of capturing the artistic design and luxurious stature of the original D’Angelicos, but begins to falter when looking closely at some of the finish details. The f-hole binding is inconsistent in thickness; there are small binding flaws throughout; the rear headstock stinger shape is a little off and the pickguard binding has some issues. These are all minor imperfections, but my chief complaint is one that is suffered by most Asian (and some American) manufacturers: the clear coat is unabashedly thick. The guitar already has finish checking and is barely out of the womb. It is so heavy in places that it almost gives some areas a plastic feel. Don’t dismiss the EXL for these little finish flaws; most Gibson archtops, even those residing in the higher brackets, seem to have the same little finish peccadilloes that make the guitar scream, “I was made in a factory!” This is the price that is always paid for choosing a manufactured instrument over a handmade one. The Final Mojo Within this market niche, the D’Angelico gets high marks for professional-level playability and precision setup potential.
Sacrifices in construction and detail finish work had to be made in order to remain in this price range, but even these do not hinder the instrument’s looks and performance. Overall, this offering provides a very good dollar value for an appealing custom copy.
You want a traditional style archtop with solid jazz tone, all on a limited budget. You demand greater finish-work perfection and prefer US construction.