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So the talk on the 1934 Gibson RI suggesting some acoustics shouldn't be amplified got me thinking...about a less invasive way to place a floater on an oval holed acoustic archtop.
Then I stumbled upon this D'Aquisto New Yorker Special with oval soundhole, 1978 model at Gruhns.
AR4401 D'Aquisto New Yorker Special with oval soundhole 1978
I've never seen this floater configuration on an oval hole. sure it looks funky, but how often has this layout ever been done on other guitars?
Yes, and in case you're wondering, there's an oval hole, sort of, that I'm contemplating about how to amplify without using the usual oval amplification suspects, but instead a standard jazz floater. Here's the D'Aquisto with the oval hole floater design and a JS style floater:
Last edited by 2bornot2bop; 05-30-2015 at 07:17 PM.
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05-30-2015 07:15 PM
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Desecration!
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Agreed, I think that is horrible - for tonal, aesthetic, originality, and ergonomic reasons. Basically everything.
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Does that mean you two don't like it?
And here I thought only audiophiles were purists
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Pickup isn't in a good place either aesthetically or for sound.
Oval holes have become my favorite style archtop. So far I've been using acoustic guitar approaches for amplification that work OK in some settings and not in others. I think if I wanted to drop in a purely electric pickup I would mount off the neck.
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Yeah, a little harsh perhaps, but it's more than purism. I think it won't sound very good... and it's in the way of one's picking hand. Add to those practical things that it also doesn't look right and it cut up an original pick guard from a super rare instrument, and you have big goose eggs.
The cool thing to do would have been to attach it to the fingerboard, suspended over the sound hole. Tiny holes in the neck required, but no pick guard cutting, and it would both sound and look right.
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Oh, so you don't feel the "cutting" of the fretboard was originally done by D'Aquisto? I assumed it was...maybe a bad assumption. I simply assumed it was a custom Jimmy D. did.
Originally Posted by rpguitar
So, I've given thought about floating a pickup over the oval hole on mine...but then I derailed the thought thinking that the pickup base had to be in touch with the top....which is also why I presumed that was theory behind the position of the floater on the D'Aqustio oval.
Am I completely off base thinking that a floater must touch the guitar top? And if that is NOT the case wouldn't a floater with a monkey stick be the perfect mount? Thanks in advance!
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Look...I'm basically a capitalist, at heart. You buy it and you can use it as a planter, if you like. OTOH, I think that Jimmy D'Aquisto's guitars were essentially playable works of art--maybe as close as the guitar community is going to get to something on the order of A. Stradivari.
I think that the acoustic archtop guitars of D'Aquisto are the paradigms of the artform. The oval hole examples may be THE best ones. I, personally, am not in favor of electrifying them, any more than I would be in favor of electrifying a Loar-made, Gibson L-5. (Even though Lloyd Loar was very much in favor of electrifying the guitar and quit Gibson because the company didn't believe the project worthy of pursuing.)
The world is FULL of electric guitars, including electric archtops--which I enjoy owning and playing immensely. I just hate to see the finite supply of great, vintage acoustic archtop guitars reduced. This isn't because I don't think that buyers haven't the right to modify them. Rather, I sorely wish that buyers would _take up_ the art of acoustic archtop playing, which covers the gamut from swing music to country rhythm playing to solo lap piano.
Acoustic archtop playing is not the same as flattop guitar playing. It probably won't happen, but I would like to see the art of acoustic archtop playing be revived.
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Hey, you left out Bossa Nova...C'mon now!
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If it were mine I'd probably have a second guard made without the "oval cutout" and attach the floater to the pickguard in the usual spot...
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Floaters float. Whether mounted from the pickguard or from the neck they don't touch the guitar.
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Spot on! Originally Posted by Greentone
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It's pretty obvious huh. Originally Posted by seafoamer
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Yes, but I was referring to having the wood resonating beneath a floater vs an oval hole. Wouldn't there be a tonal and volume difference above the top vs above a hole? Originally Posted by Spook410
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When you enlarge the picture you can see it is actually a neck mounted JS pickup, with the mounting arms cut off. So wether originally done by DAq or not, at least very likely period-correct. At that time, no JS pickups with the side mounting lip were available. Here is my 71 DAq with the same pickup yet mounted in the correct spot
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Its a lousy place for a pickup. But I don't think the pick guard is the original one, it's an excellent reproduction, why do I say this ??? Heck even nearly blind old me can see that the binding on the pick guard is pristine white while the binding on the rest of the guitar has that patina and mellow aged look to it. No I don't think it's the original guard, of course a quick call to Gruhn's might solve that mystery...
If I were wanting to amplify a guitar like that, and I probably would, it would be with something like a KK Pure that is mounted inside the guitar under the bridge, endpin jack to a preamp. Something entirely removable if I were to sell it. At 45k though I don't think owning that guitar is in my near future anyway. LOL...
A very interesting piece, that's for sharing BNTB...
Mike
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>even nearly blind old me can see that the binding on the pick guard is pristine white while the binding on the rest of the guitar has that patina and mellow aged look to it.
That is pretty much normal !!! As the guitar bindings are lacquered over, and the pickguard bindings are not. When the clearcoat ages over time, the bindings on the guitar look much more yellowed than those on the guitar. You see that on many vintage guitars. It is the same on my Daquisto which has the original guard.
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This is how a floater is normally installed on an oval hole guitar.
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B2B, as long as you are calling up Gruhn's you could save a pile of dough and get a great oval hole Benedetto with the floater in the right spot! I'm always looking out for forum members
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I've owned about six archtop round- and oval-hole guitars over the years, ranging from 1920s Gibsons to a modern Eastman AR604CE (which sounded like the box it shipped in FWIW).
One strength of that kind of guitar is the enormous flexibility it allows. You can use archtop-style floaters, flattop-style soundhole mounted pickups, a soundhole mic, a piezo bridge, or any combination.Last edited by Sam Sherry; 06-01-2015 at 12:43 PM. Reason: Get it right, boway!
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I am having an oval holed archtop made with a flat top style, ladder braced back made. It will be primarily an acoustic instrument, but I am have a Barbera Soloist installed at the bridge in case I ever want to plug in. I should arrive next Spring.
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Not a D'Aquisto nor a Benedetto but may have inspired both designs possibly? 1966 Epiphone Howard Roberts Custom:
Last edited by Jabberwocky; 05-31-2015 at 02:28 PM. Reason: Edited "My" out. Sounds twattish.
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Bob's Sinfonietta is listing for $40 000.00 without a pickup. For $10 000 used at Gruhn's, this is quite the steal. Originally Posted by SierraTango
B2B, as long as you are calling up Gruhn's you could save a pile of dough and get a great oval hole Benedetto with the floater in the right spot! I'm always looking out for forum members
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Remind that John Dangelico had also made several oval hole instruments in the 1940s and 50s. It was not a new design at all. Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
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Although apparently not to everybody... Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
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