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…and was sorely disappointed. There were a few interesting vintage archtops scattered among the many solid bodies, plus a fair number of 3X5s and their ilk. There were also a lot of very nice flattops scattered around, but I didn’t see any booths for current luthiers in the archtop realm. There were a lot of well known dealers there, but I was underwhelmed with what most were offering. A few custom shop showpieces from Gibson et al were fun to look at.
The electric bass world was well represented and there were a lot of decent amps at fair prices. It appears that the demand for big, heavy iron is cooling as people discover how good the latest small amps and speakers are. Consistent with this was the surprising number of ZT Lunchbox amps at a number of booths. There were also far more pedals and pickups than I expected,
I was unable to find even one 7 string guitar of any kind, which was a surprise. With all the PRS models there, I expected at least one or two of his 7s, and I wrongly thought that a few Ernie Ball Petrucci 7s would be out as well.
There was a 1960 D’A New Yorker with a $60k price tag on it. Curiously, it had a cheap screw eye sticking out of the bass side of the neck close to the body - what could the perpetrator have been thinking??? And there were many 175s from early to recent.
The show was very well attended. I just hope sales were good enough to attract more interesting dealers and instruments to the next one. This one did not cater to jazz guitarists.
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11-05-2022 10:12 PM
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Hi, N,
It's a Rocker's World in guitar! Jazz . . . what's that?
Marinero
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The screw eye on the neck of the D’A is likely original. I have seen that on a number of D’Angelicos.
Keith
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It was a cheap wire eye like this one. But I it was dark and discolored and it looked like it had started to uncurl. It’s hard to believe it belongs there - it’s probably not even strong enough or secure enough in the side of the neck to support the guitar.
Originally Posted by floatingpickup
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I know it seems crude, but that is the way they were often done. I’m not home right now, so I can’t take a good picture of one, but I found a picture of my brother’s Excel where you can see the screw eye. Maybe some of the other D’A experts on this forum can chyme in on the originality of one of these. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
Keith
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There is a reference to John D’Angelico’s use of the screw eye (and a couple of photos) in this thread:
Strap Button on Johnny Smith's 1957 D'Angelico
Keith
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Yep, John D used cheap hardware store screw eyes in lieu of a strap button. You can see 'em in photos and sometimes see the holes where they once were.
Later this served as the inspiration for Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstein guitar, which used the same advanced technology for strap retention...
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The Philly Phall show has never catered to jazz players/builders, nor have any of the large shows. For that, you'll need to attend the Woodstock Invitational (Woodstock, NY), the Artisan show (Harrisburg, PA), the Rocky Mountain Archtop Festival (Arvada CO) and a few other smaller events.
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I used to go to the Philly show every year, the first was in a Ramada in by the airport then made it's way to Valley Forge and Oaks I believe. Every year I'd come home w/ a nice guitar or amp but since ebay and the internet came to be the amount of cool stuff dwindled to a trickle. a friend asked me to go to yesterday but I haven't been in at least 6 or 7 yrs, just a waste of time from my perspective though it was always nice to see old friends and a lot of the dealers I know.
p.s. floatingpickup is right, the screw on the DA is original
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I used to attend Philly Phall as well, with group of like-minded guitar pals. We'd rent a meeting room at our hotel, pop in and out of the show, and spend the balance of our time playing guitar in an alcohol and drug-fueled jam. One fond memory is of meeting Woody Phifer, who happened to be walking by the room (with his lovely wife), heard the antics, and popped in with a couple of his guitars. She was eventually able to drag him away from our Merry Band of Pranksters, but the fumes clearly had their effect on Woody's subsequent designs. Good times....
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Back in the 80s and early 90s, a musician's flea market was held in St. Paul, MN near the state capital.
If I went when it first opened, around 9 AM, I would encounter old guys who really played well, mostly Chet Atkins style and maybe a bit of chord melody on some decent archtops and acoustics. By noon, the place was filled with distorted, screaming guitars and other general crowd noise. It was like that every year.
The show was a general musician's fair, so whatever people brought dictated what was available. There would typically be a mix of local shops displaying wares and a lot of individuals who rented tables to sell their stuff.
Some years, there would be a better selected of archtops than other years, so it was a bit hit or miss. But it would never rival a show that focused on vintage instruments, especially archtops. I would think any such show, fair, musician's flea market would be similar unless it was intended to target a specific audience such as the archtop crowd.
Tony
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Like "Wow!", Dobie... Originally Posted by floatingpickup
Somehow, that's strangely upsetting to me. Crude isn't the word that came to mind. Foolish, reckless, dangerous, ugly, and a few others supersede crude. Suspending a great guitar by a flimsy 50 cent screw eye is just plain wrong IMO. Apart from protecting a world class instrument and in view of what the guitars cost new, a decent pair of strap buttons wouldn't have been intolerable overhead.
FWIW, there were almost always at least a few booths at the Philly shows that made them worth attending for me and I bought and sold many instruments there over the years. Dale Unger was there for years. Lou DelRosso was a regular participant, and there were always at least a few very fine instruments at multiple booths. Foley had several of his wonderful flattops there. I met Jim Soloway when he had a booth at a Philly show early in the life of the Swan 7. One year, I met Bob & Cindy Benedetto at a Philly show and got to play a few of his instruments at a booth manned by one of his friends. But this time, it was devoid of interest for me - I didn't even play a guitar or check out an amp because there was nothing that interested me.Last edited by nevershouldhavesoldit; 11-06-2022 at 09:55 PM.
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This thread went from "what is this piece of crap screw eye?" to "my screw eye is missing, where can I get a vintage replacement?".
I exaggerate for humor.
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A 5c screw eye in a muti-thousand $ guitar.
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Ok Woody, but it was less than a grand when built....and the screw was probably a penny back then Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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I was there as well, same reaction as yours. Tons of way overpriced guitars, crazy. I saw a late 40s Blonde L7 C with a Rhythm Chief 1000 in excellent, but obviously not mint. $9995.00 was list price! For any L7? I bought a 54 L7 c blonde a few months ago in excellent condition from archtop.com for thousands less. I don't think I saw one L5, no other L7s and maybe one or two 175s.
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