FS: D'Angelico NYL-2 (Vestax) Guitar

[bobframe]

I am offering my (Vestax) D'Angelico NYL-2 jazz guitar for sale. The guitar is Blue Sunburst and features:

Selected Maple, White neck binding
25"1/2 scale Ebony fingerboard, 22frets
Pearl Zig zag position marker
14°pitch peghead with pearl "D'Angelico"
and "New Yorker" inlays,multiple black
and white binding

Body Specifications
Full sized original "New Yorker"
style body(17")
Press curved solid spruce top,
5 ply flame maple back and rims
Multiple black and white body binding
F sound holes with white and black binding

Electrical / Hardware Specifications
Grover Imperial type machine head
Original dual coiled pickup mounted on pick guard
Controls : 1 volume, 1 tone
Output : 1/4 phone jack mounted on body side
Adjustable ebony saddle on ebony bridge case
Original "New Yorker" style brass trapeze tailpiece
Original "New Yorker" style pickguard
with black and white binding

The guitar is in Near Mint condition and is all original, including the original hard shell case.

Asking: $1900.00

[clem_gael]

....OMG it's tempting!

[bobframe]

...look deep into my eyes....you're getting sooooo sleepy....

[Archtop Guy]

Are you into flat tops at all? How about a 1994 Larrivee? Made in Canada LS10,small body(15') with the 10 series inlays. There about the same value.Exc

[Archtop Guy]

Forgot the photos;/Users/johnchernisky/Desktop/IMG_0237.JPG/Users/johnchernisky/Desktop/IMG_0237.JPG

[bobframe]

AG,

I appreciate your offer....but I have a couple of acoustics already.

Bob

[Steve Z]

Very sweet!

[WhoisLevang]

Gorgeous guitar!

[bobframe]

I have had several comments in PM's about wanting a guitar with a carved top vs. a solid wood pressed top, such as the top found on this guitar. Thought I'd offer a comment about this, with a caveat that I am no expert here...just relating what I have observed and read on the topic.

Without question, carving the top of a stringed instrument (such as a guitar, violin or mandolin) has long been the traditional method of constructing quality acoustic stringed instruments. "Tuning the top" through painstaking hand carving is still recognized as the hallmark of a high quality arch top instrument and is widely accepted as the key to producing a quality acoustical tone. Unfortunately, carving an arch top with premium acoustical characteristics requires the skills of a master luthier, a ton of experience and lot's of time to get each top right. You can substitue "high cost" for any one of those attributes. Choose a carved top from a luthier with a big time reputation (Montelone, Benedetto, D'Aquisto, etc.) and we are talking megabucks.


As guitars came to be amplified these highly responsive tops had one immensely negative aspect...they would often produce feedback. In modern times alternatives have emerged- which offer both lower costs and a solution to the amplified feedback problem. These alternatives utilize tops made from both laminated wood and solid wood and each feature tops that are "pressed" into the desired arched shape as opposed to carved. The result is a stiffer and less responsive top which produces a weaker acoustic output, but which produces far less feedback and a much more controllable amplified sound. This approach also takes far less time and expertise to produce and lends itself to a "production environment". As a result, the guitar are substantially cheaper at retail.

So, for applications in which the guitar is to be primarily played in an amplified situation, a pressed top can offer the compelling advantages of (1) far less feedback (2) at a dramatically lower cost. A "superior" carved top may turn out to be a performance nightmare. If we view the guitar as a tool, we should ask "which one is right for the job at hand?".

I say this simply to dispel the notion that "carved tops" are good and "pressed tops" are bad. Not so...they are different and offer unique advantages over the other. Think Joe Pass/Pat Methany and the ES-175.

[Archtop Guy]

I agree whole heartedly with you. It really depends on what you are looking for. Are you looking for an investment grade collectable,a working tool,a fine playing and sounding guitar or one for your own pleasure such as a fine old archtop in just good condition. What we have in todays market has never been seen before. This era has by far the most top of the line quality guitars ever produced.Be it carved,pressed or laminate. And it's left to the individual and the future as to which becomes the next Les Paul or D'Angelico collectable.

[stevedenver]

and..... the Barney Kessel early models were laminated pressed spruce too as i understand things

[bobframe]

Originally Posted by Archtop Guy

I agree whole heartedly with you. It really depends on what you are looking for. Are you looking for an investment grade collectable,a working tool,a fine playing and sounding guitar or one for your own pleasure such as a fine old archtop in just good condition. What we have in todays market has never been seen before. This era has by far the most top of the line quality guitars ever produced.Be it carved,pressed or laminate. And it's left to the individual and the future as to which becomes the next Les Paul or D'Angelico collectable.

Well said.