Bucky Pizzarelli and D'Angelico

[richpiv]

Well he is talking about the original, but he is playing a new one, through a Supro. Talent is talent and tone is in the fingers and the soul.

[feet]

apparently, namm was also lousy with supros in demo booths everywhere. must be something to them. i've briefly considered them, but don't really need one now. heard not so great things about the build/design from a possible durability standpoint, but they don't seem to sound all that bad, and maybe not so derivative, either. can't say from here.

as for d'angelicos... i picked a few up and stared at a few more when i was last at guitar center. very pretty in person, but the finish was way, way too shiny, in a way that cheapened the overall aesthetic. didn't feel great to the touch and playing a few unplugged wasn't any big revelation. sort of disappointed for the price tag, but given my tastes, i'm not sure there is much i'd be impressed with under those conditions. wasn't really compelled to look further into one, but i came away with the impression that they were overpriced. it was also hard to distinguish one "tier" from the next, if such a thing exists. i'll be rooting for them, though.

but bucky sounds great, so there you go.

[Cunamara]

apparently, namm was also lousy with supros in demo booths everywhere. must be something to them.

Either provided them for free, had a deal with the organizers and/or paid a fee to the various vendors to appear in their booths. Good deal for the guitar vendors who have to lug in less equipment.

[TH]

An Aston Martin is an Aston Martin. If Toyota bought Aston Martin tomorrow, and made tribute cars that had the Aston Martin nameplate on it, they'd be nice, I'm sure. But very different in most every way, even if you did manage to get Sean Connery into one for a photo shoot.

David

[Jabberwocky]

Go, Bucky, Go. I can only hope to play as well if and when I reach his age.

[Stringswinger]

That's a good way of saying that Bucky is a sell out. He should really be ashamed of himself, linking D'As with these pseudo D'As.
Yeah, he's a great guitarist, but he's always been about the money.
John D. and Jimmy D. are rolling over in their graves, with John telling Jimmy, "Forget him Jimmy, he's just a whore..."

It is a double edged sword sgcim,

On the one hand, we have Bucky, who along with Kenny Burell and Eddie Diehl is one of the last of the "D'Angelico players" still with us, keeping the history of John D'Angelico alive.

On the other hand, Bucky is helping the Ferolito's with their enterprise of denigrating the D'Angelico name with cheap Korean laminate guitars, Japanese Press top guitars and American made carved guitars made by solid body guitar luthiers. But in all fairness, John D'Angelico denigrated his own name back in the day with those cheap electrics that were built by others (with the exception of the necks) that he put his name on and sold.

I say let's give Bucky a break. The positives here outweigh the negatives.

[Jabberwocky]

Bucky did no such thing. It is expert skillful video editing. View it again. They put a new "D'Angelico" in the old gentleman's hands and then made him talk about his old D'Angelico. Then, play us a few bars, Bucky. Edit it together with bits taken out. There you go.

He is 90 years old, you fucking arsehole. He does not deserve to be called a whore. Show some goddamned respect. Is that gratuitous character assassination bit necessary?

[greasy0015]

I would think that quite a few of us hope to be able to "sell out" at 90.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I don't care for the idea of slagging a working musician, especially one of such tremendous talent. A guy's gotta eat, and Bucky ain't no different.

[Dennis D]

The 'whore' reference was a quote of what John D. said to Jimmy D. when Jimmy visited him in the hospital to tell him that a guitarist was screwing him, big time.

I could be wrong, but if you call Bucky a sellout, and 2 lines later include a whore reference, how could you not expect a reader to conclude that the quote was meant to describe Bucky ?

A bunch of us here know who Jimmy was actually referring to in that quote. And to include that quote with the actual person's name conveniently omitted, is more than petty. ( not sure I can write chicken-sh** ).

That post was really sad to read on several levels.

Really glad some folks spoke up.

[TH]

An Aston Martin is an Aston Martin. If Toyota bought Aston Martin tomorrow, and made tribute cars that had the Aston Martin nameplate on it, they'd be nice, I'm sure. But very different in most every way, even if you did manage to get Sean Connery into one for a photo shoot.

David

That's a good way of saying that Bucky is a sell out. He should really be ashamed of himself, linking D'As with these pseudo D'As.
Yeah, he's a great guitarist, but he's always been about the money.
John D. and Jimmy D. are rolling over in their graves, with John telling Jimmy, "Forget him Jimmy, he's just a whore..."

I'm actually shaming the name "stealers" or acquirers. I'm amused by the way a reputation built on a lifetime of evolutionary work with the toughest of beasts, the archtop guitar (there was no book on the archtop in those days; D'Angelico wrote that book) can be paid for and attached to an instrument that was birthed on a production line, finished to be consistently indistinguishable from its cloned brothers. Bucky is another name being used, only unlike John D'Angelico, he can buy some groceries and get some benefit.

I'm amused by the ruse. I'm disturbed by the consumer that doesn't know the difference. I'm in no way a detractor of John D's or Bucky's work.
I used to see Bucky and Slam. Great memories. They gave me so much and stoked my dreams when playing was just a dream. I used to go up to 48th street and play D'Angelicos, I played one at Lou DeRosso's place in Summit and it still haunts me, I wanted it so bad.
So they are the real James Bond and Aston Martins for me.
I had a D'Angelico, a Korean one. Fulfilling a fantasy like the Rolex I got on Canal Street. I also had a Toyota. Ran great! Not the same thing. Well made, reliable, handled nicely, but if someone dared to put an Aston Martin sticker on it, ...well that's asking for an accident- when I shit my pants laughing.

This whole thing about buying mystique with money instead of earning a reputation with mileage, that's a mystery to me. Know what the story is, know the truth and see the humour in the joke. That's all I was saying.
Now I've spoiled it by having to explain the punch line.

Ah well. Ha ha
David

[teleman3726]

Bucky did no such thing. It is expert skillful video editing. View it again. They put a new "D'Angelico" in the old gentleman's hands and then made him talk about his old D'Angelico. Then, play us a few bars, Bucky. Edit it together with bits taken out. There you go.

He is 90 years old, you fucking arsehole. He does not deserve to be called a whore. Show some goddamned respect. Is that gratuitous character assassination bit necessary?

I totally agree, Jab. These pinheads speaking for others. The arrogance.
In any case, I recall when the Bros. began this latest version of the D'A. I wasn't sure they were going to make. But they did, garnering some great artists to help promote their guitars, innovating with different shapes, and getting the price to where most guitarists can afford them. That's business success.

You have to hand it to them. And you're correct about the way in which the video was placed. Great marketing and a nice glimpse at one of the last masters.

I suspect in the archtop world, the old names (Gibson) will price themselves out and none of the younger players are going to give a fig about owning one. They concentrate on the music, tone, etc. Not whether they can shell out $14K for a guitar.

[teleman3726]

Bucky did no such thing. It is expert skillful video editing. View it again. They put a new "D'Angelico" in the old gentleman's hands and then made him talk about his old D'Angelico. Then, play us a few bars, Bucky. Edit it together with bits taken out. There you go.

He is 90 years old, you fucking arsehole. He does not deserve to be called a whore. Show some goddamned respect. Is that gratuitous character assassination bit necessary?

I totally agree, Jab. These pinheads speaking for others. The arrogance.
In any case, I recall when the Bros. began this latest version of the D'A. I wasn't sure they were going to make. But they did, garnering some great artists to help promote their guitars, innovating with different shapes, and getting the price to where most guitarists can afford them. That's business success.

You have to hand it to them. And you're correct about the way in which the video was placed. Great marketing and a nice glimpse at one of the last masters.

I suspect in the archtop world, the old names (Gibson) will price themselves out and none of the younger players are going to give a fig about owning one. They concentrate on the music, tone, etc. Not whether they can shell out $14K for a guitar.

[TH]

I totally agree, Jab. These pinheads speaking for others. The arrogance.
In any case, I recall when the Bros. began this latest version of the D'A. I wasn't sure they were going to make. But they did, garnering some great artists to help promote their guitars, innovating with different shapes, and getting the price to where most guitarists can afford them. That's business success.

You have to hand it to them. And you're correct about the way in which the video was placed. Great marketing and a nice glimpse at one of the last masters.

I suspect in the archtop world, the old names (Gibson) will price themselves out and none of the younger players are going to give a fig about owning one. They concentrate on the music, tone, etc. Not whether they can shell out $14K for a guitar.

Hey anybody know if "William Shakespeare" is copyrighted? I've got some bawdy (not bardy) limericks I'd like to make some money on. I'll buy the name and they'll read me in classrooms everywhere.

He once owned a real D'Angelico
Or maybe a knock off, who's to know?
The girls charmed into bed
By the shape of the head
Hey, it looks kinda real for less dough.
William Shakespeare (registered trademark)

David

[citizenk74]

A great upright/fretless player I got to play with gigged with Bucky. He played me some tapes that were just fine stuff. He speaks the name with veneration. Some cats have made enough deposits in the "Dues" column to occasionally get their Due. Bless 'em all.

[Dennis D]

I think David's put it three ways very well. I shouldn't put Bucky down by using the W word; I'm sorry for that.
I've seen Bucky play live many times since the days he had that great guitar duo with George Barnes, and he's a great player.

I'll delete my posts, and just say that Bucky made a mistake when he did that ad for that company.

Thanks - - any way I looked at it, I knew you were better than those posts.

Take care !

[BigMikeinNJ]

Thanks fellas, that was a great video. When Bucky first plucked his old guitar you could FEEL how special it was. The others, well they're like cheap bottle blondes. Not in the same ballpark at all...

[richpiv]

I'm still not sure which side of the argument I come down on, I just like to hear him play. Check out 5 For Freddie for real schooling. Also stumbled across this on Amazon - Ricardo Baldacci, "Brothers in Swing", from 2015 with Bucky, Martin Pizzarelli and Konrad Paskudski. That trio makes anyone sound good.

[wintermoon]

so nice to hear them playing "Snowfall" @ the end, that old Claude Thornhill chestnut.
almost a forgotten tune these days.

[Stringswinger]

I think David's put it three ways very well. I shouldn't put Bucky down by using the W word; I'm sorry for that.
I've seen Bucky play live many times since the days he had that great guitar duo with George Barnes, and he's a great player.

I'll delete my posts, and just say that Bucky made a mistake when he did that ad for that company.

That is a bit better sgcim. Remember the 11th commandment of Genuine D'Angelico players, to wit, "Thou shall not say mean things about fellow genuine D'Angelico players".

[Stringswinger]

Unfortunately, Kenny Burrell (whom you mentioned in a previous post) hasn't been a D'A player for a long time now.

He sold his NYer years ago for whatever reason. Along with the D'A that JS used on the Roost recordings, I consider those two guitars the greatest guitars ever made-period.

I emailed KB about it a couple of years ago at the college he taught at, but he never got back to me.

I consider every guitar made by John D'Angelico and Jimmy D'Aquisto to be among the greatest guitars ever made.

[Doctor Jeff]

George Benson did some of his early recordings with a D'Angelico. I thought JP played one as well, but he had one of the other DA's--D'Aquisto (who started out in D'Angelico's shop of course).

No offense, but I think people are being a little too hypercritical and concrete here. You should be able to separate out D'Angelico, the luthier, and his shop's signature products from D'Angelico, the brand. They're not the same, any more than a modern Mini Cooper was personally designed and built by John Cooper or each pair of Calvin Klein jeans is hand-sewn by CK himself. Or a 2017 Gibson Les Paul was personally carved by Orville Gibson.

(What about Zappa plays Zappa? Oops, that's complicated...)

I have a feeling Bucky knows what he's doing here. He certainly doesn't need the money, but maybe he just wants to help market a product he likes based on an iconic model? Let Bucky be Bucky!

[jorgemg1984]

I met Bucky once in NY, at one of his shows. I got to talk with him quite a bit and his daughter and Rusell Malone - it would be hard to find a more gracious and vigorous 90-year-old (87 back then). Completely lucid and still in love with the guitar - quite the opposite some people described him here... and even if he did the video just for the money, well, 90 years surviving on musicians paychecks, it seems well deserved.