1940 D’Angelico Style B ArchTop Tobacco Burst

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VINTAGE VERIFIED BY ISH GUITARS

Authenticity: 

This is the real deal, a 1940 D’Angelico Style B.  After reaching out to Rudy’s of NYC (often seen as the authority on D’Angelico) they graciously checked their records and confirmed that the serial number (and placement of serial number) correlated to D’Angelico’s ledger book as a 1940 D’Angelico.  The color, feel, quality, wood types, finish type, carving, headstock, inlay and binding all prove to be absolutely authentic. 

Setup:

This guitar is an incredible player with medium/low action and minimal relief.  It truly is the pinnacle of jazz guitar.  We set this up with 12-52 D’Addario Chromes Flatwound strings. The neck angle is set properly and there would be no trouble bringing the action up or down from where you are now. 

Electronics:

At some point in this guitar's long life, a replacement tailpiece was installed with an output jack.  There is a cable coming from the output jack gently set inside the instrument, so that if someone would like to install a pickup down the road, the cabling is there to span up to the pickguard. 

Fretting:

There is very little fret or board wear from what we can see, it appears to have had a refret at some point in its life and it was well done.  

Repairs: 

It appears as though there were a few small repairs done to it, especially noticeable in blacklight.  The first I notice is around the upper waist of the instrument there is an evident repair and refinish attempt of a slightly cracked top.  After scoping the inside of the instrument I do not see any evidence that the crack is all the way through. Perhaps the top puckered slightly and someone filled it and did a touch up refinish.  This appears stable and is only a few inches long. 

Additionally, (see the blacklighting photos) there appears to be a crack that was repaired extremely well that (again does not appear to be present all the way though) that stems from the waist on the lower side to the upper bout.  Truly this crack may have been done by D’Angelico himself as it is so well done I would doubt it could be seen without a trained eye or blacklight.  

Lastly, The headstock has had some refinishing as well on the front, back and sides of the headstock.  The headstock has experienced absolutely no breaks or structural repairs, just a bit of finish work (light sanding, spraying and buffing) and again is most evidently seen under blacklight.

Modifications:

This guitar was owned by a D’Angelico enthusiast who built archtops inspired by D’Angelico; his guitars are called Inselacos. He was the second owner of the instrument. He says that there was a DeArmond pickup installed at one point that broke. The headstock refinish was done by him, as well as the pickup install (since removed) a Bill Lawrence A-400 (which we will leave disconnected and in the case if the new owner would like it).

The tuners were at some point replaced with Grover Sta-Tite Gold tuners and they really work wonderfully and do a great job of keeping the instrument in tune. 

It appears the tailpiece may be a replacement (see the screw holes below the tailpiece).  It appears the tailpiece is extremely well made and the previous owner believes that the tailpiece is either an original D’Angelico tailpiece from another model or a Japanese replica bridge made by Shidesato Shiino who has made some of the finest D’Angelico copies. However, it could be original with a pickup or other mounting piece around the tailpiece now since removed.  It is very tough to tell with how few consistencies there are between D’Angelico Models.

Lastly, the pickguard that we received on it upon purchase was a cheap replica that was improperly made.  We decided to reach out to the best of the best, Chris Mirabella at Mirabella Guitars and Restorations. He makes incredible replacement D’Angelico pickguards, and so we had him make a perfect pickguard, slightly aged to fit it.  We modified the pickguard arm to fit it perfectly and it really looks and feels authentic and wonderful. With that the pickguard screws are all replacements as well. 

Photos:

Our photos are professionally lit and edited to accurately represent the instrument's true colors. We never embellish, oversaturate or misrepresent our images. We understand that purchasing a guitar online can be difficult. That is why, unless otherwise noted, Ish Guitars always individually photographs and lists each instrument with painstaking precision so that you can be confident in your purchase. ** Due to photo upload limits, we can't include every photo of the internals of this guitar or every blacklight photo. They can be provided upon request, just send us a message! **

SPECIFICATIONS

Weight: 6.5 lbs 

Case: Hardshell Case

Make: D’Angelico

Model: Style B

Year: 1940

Serial: 1464

Nut Width: 1 ⅝”

12th Fret Width: 2.04”

Depth at Nut:   .91”

Depth at 12th: 1.02”

Fretboard Radius: 

Truss Rod Action: non adjustable 

Scale Length: 24 3/4”

Fret Size/Shape: medium/wide

Describe Neck Profile: C Shape