Guitar
Maker
John D'Angelico
Date1947
Place MadeNew York, New York, United States, North America
ModelExcel cutaway / arch top
Serial No.1752 (ledger number)
SignedInlaid in mother-of-pearl on headstock: D’Angelico / NEW YORK [incised on tail of “o” and filled with black ink]Incised and filled with black ink on white celluloid geometric inlay on peghead: Excel
Stamped in black ink on inside of back and on neck block: D’Angelico [in cursive lettering] / NEW YORK [on tail of “o”]
Engraved on tailpiece: D’Angelico [in cursive lettering] / NEW YORK [on tail of “o”]
MarkingsBranded on inside of back below signature: 1752
Branded on top block at joint with neck: 4 20 47
Stamped (vertically) on tuner gear covers: GROVER
DescriptionThis Excel was the first cutaway guitar made by John D’Angelico. The instrument was sold on May 9, 1947, to a customer, Mirko, who does not appear elsewhere in the ledger books and is not otherwise identified. The rounded cutaway of the upper treble rib originated with the Gibson L-5 and Super 400 Premier models in 1939. The design facilitated access to the upper end of the fingerboard for solo playing.
This guitar was once part of the extensive collection of Thomas G. Comeaux, who held dual careers as a pathologist and a celebrated Cajun musician. He performed for many years with BeauSoleil and other groups around Lafayette, Louisiana.
Stringing: six steel strings
Soundboard: arched, two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: wide grain broadening toward the flanks
Back: two-piece, slab-cut maple with faint medium curl descending from center joint; pith flecks; wooden pin through back into neck block on bass side of center joint
Ribs: two-piece, slab-cut maple with irregular, medium curl angled to right on bass side, angled to left on treble side; some bird’s eyes and pith flecks
Head: three-piece (wing on bass side only) maple with black-stained maple veneer; broken pediment-style with turned, gold-plated brass ornament; white celluloid binding with two-ply (white-black) celluloid purfling trim; geometric mother-of-pearl “Excel” inlay; mother-of-pearl “D’Angelico / NEW YORK” inlay
Neck: two-piece maple with irregular medium curl and bird’s eyes; wood flaw on bass side near heel; integral with head; brown-stained maple strip of inlay along center line
Heel cap: white celluloid with two-ply black-white celluloid trim layers on inside
Binding: white celluloid; trim comprised of four-ply black-white-black-white celluloid purfling strips on top and back and two-ply (black-white) celluloid purfling strips on ribs
Fingerboard: ebony bound in ivoroid with single black and white celluloid purfling strips on each side; end terminating in a point, with rounded edges on the sides; 20 nickel-silver frets; mother-of-pearl blocks behind 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, and 15th frets; imitation tortoise-shell celluloid side dots behind 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, and 15th frets
Nut: bone
Bridge: two-piece ebony (compensated) with brass screws for height adjustment
Tailpiece: gold-plated brass with “stairstep” upper edge, geometric cut-outs, engraved line decoration, contrasting polished and matte texture, and hinged lower end, secured to lower rib with three screws (one original gold-plated steel domed, slotted screw)
Pegs: six Grover Imperial gold-over-nickel-plate worm-gear machine tuners with chevron-shaped heads
Endpin: white celluloid
Soundholes: f-holes bound in white celluloid with single black and white celluloid purfling strip trim
Pick guard: later translucent dark red-brown imitation-tortoise-shell celluloid, bound in white ivoroid with six-ply (black-white-black-white-black-white) celluloid purfling strip trim, with two wider strips of white celluloid along outside, mounted on guitar with later gold-plated brass bracket and three gold-plated steel screws; rosewood volume adjustment knob with abalone eye and plug unit mounted on pickguard
Pickup: later gold-plated pickup; holes on side of fingerboard suggest a previous unit
Lacquer: golden
Linings: kerfed mahogany
Neck block: mahogany; chamfered corners
End block: mahogany; chamfered corners
Top bracing: spruce X-brace
Grafts: spruce block graft with beveled edges on inside of back near end block; spruce grafts on inside ribs at center bout; spruce block graft with beveled edges on inside of top near end block
DimensionsTotal guitar length: 1041 mm (41″)
Back length: 518 mm (20-13/32″)
Upper bout width: 304 mm (12″)
Waist width: 258 mm (10-5/32″)
Lower bout width: 429 mm (16-7/8″)
Rib height (including edging) at heel: 79 mm (3-3/32″)
Rib height, at waist: 80 mm (3-1/8″)
Rib height, at end block: 80 mm (3-1/8″)
Head length: 186 mm (7-5/16″)
Head width, top: 102 mm (4″)
Head width, bottom: 78 mm (3-1/16″)
Neck length (nut to ribs): 352 mm (13-7/8″)
Neck width, nut: 44 mm (1-23/32″)
Neck width, heel: 56 mm (2-3/16″)
Soundhole length: 171 mm (6-23/32″)
Vibrating string length (nut to bridge edge): high E: 630 mm (24-13/16″); low E: 636 mm (25-1/4″)
ProvenanceIn 1947, sold to Mirko. By 1994, owned by Fred Oster, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sold by Oster to Thomas "Tommy" G. Comeaux, Lafayette, Louisiana, of the Acadian-based group BeauSolieln, among others, in 1994. By 2005, owned by David Hussong, Fretware Guitars, Franklin, Ohio. Purchased from Hussong by the National Music Museum, 2005.
Published ReferencesPaul Schmidt and Arian Sheets. The Masters' Bench (Vermillion, South Dakota: National Music Museum, 2016)
“Museum’s Guitars Featured on Show,” Yankton Press and Dakotan (June 1, 2006).
Credit LineTony and Bonnie Vinatieri Family Trust, 2005
Object number10856
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