1967 D'Aquisto Excel Archtop Guitar

Here is a beautiful piece of history. 

This is a 1967 Excel Archtop guitar built by Jimmy D'Aquisto. This was custom built for professional guitarist Michael Caruso only a few years after John D'Angelico passed away. This particular guitar, #1019, was used by guitarist Chuck Wayne at his 'Town Hall' concert while his guitar was being repaired by Jimmy D'Aquisto. Completely original including gold Grover Imperial tuners, Hi-A pickup, CTS pots with Sprague Orange Drop capacitor, & early 'D'Aquisto' brass tailpiece. 

This fine guitar has a wonderful warm tone and great action.

This guitar is in excellent condition with the original hard shell case.

Specs: Body Width: 17 3/8' Body Depth: 3 1/8' Overall Body Length: 20 5/16' Neck Length: 21' Nut Width: 1 11/16' Neck Width @ 12th Fret: 2 1/16' Neck Thickness @ 1st Fret: .865' Neck Thickness @ 11th Fret: .943' String Spacing @ Bridge: 2 1/16' Scale Length: 25' Electronics Original Hi-A Humbucker Pickup w/ Volume & Tone controls Original CTS mini potentiometers Original Sprague Orange Drop capacitor Original 1/8' input jack.

James L. D'Aquisto, also known as Jimmy D'Aquisto, was an American luthier who specialized in building and repairing archtop guitars. He was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1935 to an Italian American family. D'Aquisto began apprenticing under John D'Angelico in 1952 and developed his own distinctive style.

Following his untimely death at age 59 in 1995, the market for D'Aquisto guitars exploded, the more so because he only made about 370 guitars. Collectors, particularly in the U.S. and Japan, were soon paying as much as six figures for his guitars. A Model “Centura”, was auctioned off at Christie's New York. One of only 10 Centuras in existence, it is also the last guitar D'Aquisto ever made. Inside, it is signed: James L. D'Aquisto and bears the date 2/21/95. D'Aquisto died several months later in April.