James L. D'Aquisto (

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, November 9, 1935 –

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, April 17, 1995) was an American

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

who concentrated on building and repairing

archtop guitar An archtop guitar is a hollow acoustic guitar, acoustic or semi-acoustic guitar, semi-acoustic guitar with a full body and a distinctive arched top, whose sound is particularly popular with jazz guitar, jazz, blues, and rockabilly players. Typic ...

s. He served as an apprentice to

John D'Angelico John D'Angelico (1905 in Little Italy, Manhattan – September 1, 1964 in Manhattan) was a luthier from New York City, noted for his handmade archtop guitars and mandolins. He founded the D'Angelico Guitars company, where other notable luthiers lik ...

beginning in 1952 and later developed his own distinctive style.

Career

James D'Aquisto was born on November 9, 1935, into a musical Italian family. An aspiring jazz guitarist he visited luthier John D'Angelico's shop in 1951 which lead to him in 1952 becoming his apprentice. About his routine, D'Aquisto said: Jim Hall Trio - Something Special - March 1993 07

Jim Hall Trio - Something Special - March 1993 07

Later, he learned the "rough work" of the D'Angelico style. D'Angelico had a heart attack in 1959 and also parted ways with his long time employee Vincent "Jimmy" DiSerio. As a result he closed the business but soon reopened it after D'Aquisto who was unable to find work, convinced him to do so. After several more heart attacks and having also suffered from pneumonia John D'Angelico died on September 1, 1964, at the age of 59. Following D'Angelico's death the last ten of his guitars were finished by D'Aquisto. D'Aquisto bought the business but a poor business decision lost him the right to the D’Angelico name. D'Aquisto then continued building guitars under his own name. In 1966 he moved to Huntington, Long Island, then to Farmingdale in 1973, and finally Greenport in 1980. He felt he would die at the same age as his mentor, and this did occur on April 17, 1995, when he was 59. D'Aquisto's name is on many guitar models from the Fender "D'Aquisto Elite" and the Fender Masterbuilt "D'Aquisto Deluxe" (which was a similar construction to the D'Aquisto Jim Hall model) and also the "D'Aquisto Ultra" (which was a larger built model with a floating pickup) and the

Hagström Jimmy The Hagström Jimmy is archtop jazz guitar built by Hagström in partnership with the American guitar luthier Jimmy D'Aquisto (1935–1995). Original run 1969 to 1979 The Jimmy debuted in 1969 as a downsized archtop with 16" body that was narro ...

. His blue "Centura Deluxe" was the inspiration for the book ''Blue Guitar''. His guitars have sold for tens of thousands of dollars to over $500,000. One of his guitars was the first to be worth a million dollars. In 2006, D'Aquisto was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. His tools and work bench, passed down to him from D'Angelico, were given to the

National Music Museum The National Music Museum: America's Shrine to Music & Center for Study of the History of Musical Instruments (NMM) is a musical instrument museum in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States. It was founded in 1973 on the campus of the Univers ...

. In 2011, guitars by D'Aquisto were included in the 'Guitar Heroes' exhibition at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

D'Aquisto flat top guitars

D'Aquisto flat top guitars are a group of sixteen guitars made by D'Aquisto. He made sixteen flat top guitars from 1973 to 1984. He made two types, a grand auditorium and a dreadnought.Tsumura A, Guitars The Tsumura Collection. Kodansha International LTD. D'Aquisto Serial Numbers. 1987, 192. He believed the large oval sound hole produced greater projection than the typical round sound hole.Olsen T, Luthier The D'Aquisto Foundation Help complete the D'Aquisto exhibit at the National Music Museum. Guitar Player. 1978. He numbered his guitars from 101 to 116. Number 101 was a non-cutaway auditorium as well as number 111, which he made for Laurie Veneziano and

Janis Ian Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her signature songs are the 1966/67 hit "Society's Child, Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" an ...

. Numbers 102 to 110 were his dreadnoughts. From 112 to 115, are some of his most beautiful auditorium guitars and the only flat tops he made with a cutaway. Each is a radiant blond color. He used European spruce tops and European maple back and sides for all his flat tops. Ebony for the fret board, bridge, bridge pins, and headstock overlay. D'Aquisto also made a few nylon-string flat top guitars.

Notable D'Aquisto players

* Dave Baney * Mel Bay *

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American jazz fusion guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the ...

* Joe Carbone * Sal DiTroia * Mark Elf *

Grant Green Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Green has been called one of the "most sampled guitarists." Biography Grant Green was born on June 6, 1935, in St. Louis, Missouri, to John and ...

* Jim Hall *

* Mundell Lowe *

Woody Mann Haywood Lee Mann (December 30, 1952 – January 27, 2022) was an American guitarist. Biography He was born in New York, where he studied acoustic guitar with blues guitarist Reverend Gary Davis from 1968–72. From 1973–78, he continued pri ...

* Steve Miller * Joe Pass * Peter Rogine *

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

References

External links

National Music Museum exhibit and history

Long Island Hall of Fame

D'Aquisto Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Aquisto, Jimmy 1935 births 1995 deaths American people of Italian descent Musicians from Brooklyn American luthiers