Dedicated to jazz music performed (mainly) on archtop guitars.
Nicolai Foss
Here is a great offer: The D’Angelico EXL-1SH at a Buy It Now price of 1,049 USD. While these guitars may not be quite as good as the Aria D’Aquisto copies, they are very nice players indeed and the posted price is remarkably low. The auction ends Jan 10 17:29 PST, so you got to hurry.
Nicolai Foss
Ibanez’ mid- to end of the 1970s copies of mainly Gibson archtops have an excellent reputation. This is reflected in the amount of praise that the seller, Archtop.com, of this Ibanez FA-510 is able to mobilize, advertising it as an “Ibanez L5CN,” indeed, “the most faithful L-5 clone anyone’s going to build, as long as Gibson has lawyers.”
Oh well. I bought my FA-510 in 1984 as new at (then) appr. 1,200 USD. I regretted the purchase, but was only able to sell it it about three years ago (at the same price that I paid twenty years earlier :-(). Acoustically, this was the most dead archtop I have ever played. Only slightly better than a solidbody guitar. Part of the explanation was that the tonewood — at least on the specimen I owned — was extremely thick and the guitar was therefore very heavy and non-responsive. But it was pretty (though nothing unusual on today’s standards), and plugged into an amp it certainly sounded allright.
However, the experience gave me a distinct distate for Ibanez lawsuit archtops, and my distrust in them has largely been confirmed by the other specimens I have occasion to try out. IMHO Ibanez only really got its archtop act together with the GB-10 and, particularly, the lovely GB-20. And the Joe Pass model was excellent value, but that is a different story.
Nicolai Foss
Here are some examples of sellers who think they can get away with pricing their stuff way above what is the normal market price (and perhaps they can). First, a Biltmore. Second, a Harmony Cremona. Third, a Regal. Finally, a Gibson L-37.
Nicolai Foss
Buffalo Bros. seems on their way to beating Archtop.com as the premier dealer of vintage Epis. Not only do they offer a stunning Emperor, they also offer a beautiful Broadway. Wow!
Nicolai Foss
I had no idea that the Gibson Custom Shop apparently still produces the occasional ES-150, but here it is. Nice low starting bid.
Nicolai Foss
I have noticed that this Aria D’Aquisto Centura has been offered for sale for a very long time. At the price quoted by archtop.com, 1495 USD, this is excellent value! I am the owner of an Aria D’Aquisto Avantgarde, and this is the best guitar I have owned and one of the 3 – 4 best guitars I have ever tried. I have tried a Centura once and it had almost exactly the same excellent tonal characteristics as my Avantgarde (i.e., loud, very well balanced, deep bass). If it weren’t for the fact that domestic problems would arise in the case of another addition to the guitar stock, I would happily buy the Centura. Somebody, buy it. You won’t be disappointed.
UPDATE (August 12): The guitar has now been sold. Somebody may have followed my advice. Good luck with this wonderful guitar.
Nicolai Foss
Frequent readers of this blog will know that I am sucker for vintage Epiphones. I am the proud owner of a 1944 Triumph, but my dream is, of course, to some day own The Big One, that is, an Emperor. Emperors are seldom offered for sale, but here is a current offer from Buffalo Bros. Very, VERY beautiful! At 8k USD Emperors are now up there with the best and most rare vintage Gibsons.
While you are at Buffalo Bros., take the opportunity to check out some of their other cool offerings. At 2,250 USD the 1953 Triumph with McCarty Pickup seems to me to be very much a bargain. Another obvious bargain is the very pretty Hofner 477 which sells for 1,299 USD.
Nicolai Foss
Here is the 1934 Selmer D’Angelico now offered by archtop.com at about 20k USD. Here is part of the story, as told by Joe:
In the handwritten ledgers of John D’Angelico, the luthier recorded his output of instruments each with its serial number, date of completion and purchaser. While most of his creations were sold directly to individual customers, a small number of guitars were commissioned by retailers like Gravois Music and Silver and Horlund. Three of D’Angelico’s earliest instruments share an particularly intriguing designation. Built over a seven month period between November 1933 and May of 1934, they are noted in the builder’s hand as produced for a single notable customer: Selmer.
Best known for their superlative woodwinds, the Selmer name is renowned among guitarists for the distinctive acoustic jazz guitars made famous by Django Reinhardt and his followers. Barely a year after Selmer Paris produced the first of the Maccaferri design guitars in 1932, Selmer New York apparently contracted with John D’Angelico for a similar venture: to produce a number of archtop guitars under their prestigious name. For whatever reason, the arrangement was short-lived, and only three instruments were produced under the partnership. The whereabouts of the first two Selmer D’Angelicos remains unknown to us at this time. The third and final example, #1062, is presented here.
Nicolai Foss
One doesn’t often come across (real) Epiphone Emperors on Ebay. Right now there are two offers that look rather interesting, one is for an Epi Emperor 1939 (#15747) with a buy now price of 5,000 USD (item # 270094129543) and the other is for a 1945 model with a buy now price of only 4,400 USD (item # 280088562620). The latter price is low for Epi’s topmodel, but is clearly caused by a couple of plugged holes. With Epis selling from vendors at around 6,000 USD both prices are, however, very reasonable. Your chance to earn one of the most stylish and loud archtops ever!
Jazz&Archtops 