The Synclavier Digital D'Aquisto Solid Body Electric Guitar, is the
only one of its kind in the world. Introducing James L. D'Aquisto II modeling
his father's rarest guitar of all time. Also for "Rare Guitars of
the World" the TV. Show, introducing Mr. Anthony Aliprantis displaying
this fine piece of workmanship. It was made in 1986 by D'Aquisto and designed
around a solid body electric with a real thin neck, thinner than all the
other solid bodies made. What mainly sets it aside from the rest, is the
extension of wood that harnesses the Synclavier push-button panel on the
body, and a midi pickup along with corresponding volume knobs. The tailpiece
and bridge are both made of ebony. In mother of pearl on the seventeenth
fret is the signed Aliprantis autograph. It has three connectors; a quarter
inch jack, a Roland 10-pin Midi connector, and a Guitar to Synclavier Music
Computer Interface SCSI connector. Jimmy D'Aquisto said it was the best
guitar he ever made, and took him the longest time to make.
Below is one of four 1984 Fender D'Aquisto Proto-Types sent to D'Aquisto
from the Fender Custom Shop Japan. In 1984 Fender asked him to design some
arch tops for them. He did. This particular model is called the Fender D'Aquisto
Standard natural, and has a plywood body, two pickups, a rosewood tailpiece
and a rosewood pick guard. It sat in D'Aquisto's shop since 1984 and still
has the original strings. James L. D'Aquisto II recently sold this guitar
to Anthony Aliprantis and I was there the day he brought it over. I was
lucky to get these pictures since James now lives in Florida somewhere.
Notice that the whole guitar is D'Aquisto designed, except for the neck, the missing cut-away on the headstock, and the factory Fender tag. James II said that his father wouldn't give Fender all his design's. It plays just beautifully. Also the wood was already aged for 12 years, giving it a fuller sound.
Tony could not wait to play it. Me either.
Here is a picture of Mr. Aliprantis holding the Black Book that Jimmy
D'Aquisto kept his guitar records in. Whenever Mr. D'Aquisto made a guitar
he wrote the date of completion, the model of guitar it was, the serial
number, the style, and who he made it for.
On the day that James D'Aquisto II
stopped over to deliver the 1984 Fender D'Aquisto Proto-type #4 natural(plywood), He sat down
and told us that he wanted to continue in his fathers footsteps. He also stated that
"He feels that his father is in him now, and that his father would have wanted
him, to do this". He also said that he wanted to start the same way his
dad did, and that is by making pickguards. This was great to hear.
He had already made his first pickguard for his cousins guitar, which was a
Fender D'Aquisto, and also for the same guitar he also designed a whole
new tailpiece end cover which is made of ebony, and it basically covers the
original metal end on the tailpiece. He agreed to make a pickguard
for the Synclavier Digital D'Aquisto. Here is a picture of him designing the template
that he would use to make the custom pickguard with. Once installed, the value of
the guitar will not change, since it is mounted with two sided tape, so
that no hole drilling into the neck, would happen. James also told me that there was a third
but that it was never picked up and paid for so he still has it. This
is a picture of pickguard #2
in the making.
MicroFlex Guitar Strings below by James D'Aquisto II coming soon.
James D'Aquisto II
Interview.mp3 on 4-9-2006 with Richard L'Hommedieu,
who is the Founder/Chairman of The Long Island Music Hall Of Fame,
and also has a program on WSUB 90.1 Radio Free Long Island
Here is a shot taken on the set of the first show. It features two
D'Aquisto's played by two awesome players, (from left to right) Joseph
Carter II and Peter Rogeine. The one on the left is a 1994 Centura Electric.
It is the last guitar that was made with binding, and also the last left-handed
guitar D'Aquisto made. The one on the right was one of the first guitars
made by D'Aquisto in 1972. It has a plywood body, and was just recently
restored by Tom Marcel. You could not tell the age difference between the
two guitars. They both looked and sounded marvelous. The second shot is
of the Host, Anthony Aliprantis playing his Synclavier Digital D'Aquisto
on the set at Time Warner Cable.
In my ventures as the "Reporter on the Move" for the show,
I have come across some remarkable guitars that I had to take pictures
of. The next pictures were taken in Bridgeport, Connecticut at a store
called Guitars Unlimited. Along with a one of a kind 7 string acoustic,
I also found there a Benedetto Cremona, and two Fender D'Aquisto proto-types.
Of the two, one was the 1984 proto-type #2 sunburst, and the other, a 1994
proto-type #2 cream. The 1994 proto-types were made in California by Fender
Custom Shop USA and James L. D'Aquisto himself. D'Aquisto had hands on
in the building of the 1994 proto-types. The 1984 proto-types were made
by Fender Custom Shop Japan only. The first shot is of the owner playing
his favorite guitar in the store, the 7 string acoustic. Also in the same
picture you can see the Benedetto, the Fender D'Aquisto's and various others.
The second is of me holding the 1984 Fender D'Aquisto Proto-Type #2 sunburst.
I chose to have a picture taken of me with this one because of its age
and rareness. It sounded better and looked better. Both of the Fender D'Aquisto's
are owned by Dave Comtois of Connecticut, whom I met at the Buffalo Friendship
Guitar Show. The third and fourth pictures below are of the Fender D'Aquisto's
but the flash did not go off.
The next pictures below are what's left of an archtop collection, that
belongs to Chris Burrel of Honeoye Falls, New York. He had at one point,
over 60 archtop guitars. Now he only has a select few that he kept. In
this select few was a 1984 Fender D'Aquisto Proto-Type #3 blonde, the Gibson
Chet Atkins model Proto-Type #1; signed by his friend Chet Atkins, a 1967
Gibson Custom L-5 burghundy(rare), and a 1972 Guild Artists Award. When
interviewed he said that he was inspired to play archtop guitars by his
guitar teacher, Dick Longale of Rochester, New York. I had to have a picture
of me holding the Fender D'Aquisto Proto-Type #3 blonde. This one was supposed
to be the best of the four Fender D'Aquisto proto-types, since it was natural
blonde. Mr. Longale owned it, and at death willed it to Mr. Burrel.
The next place the Rare Guitars of the World crew went too is 48th
Street Custom Guitars. They had a few rare pieces but mainly just about
every guitar in this store was customized in some way or another. By this
I mean that the paint jobs were customized, and so is the artwork that
goes into them. They were really cool paintjobs. This store also had a
ton of stock looking guitars too, as you can see.
Another place I went to is Geneseo, New York . The home of the one
and only, the big "B" Buzzo, or Buzzo's Music Store is what it's
more commonly referred too as. I had the chance to interview the owner of
the store Al Bruno(formerly of NYC). He was the coolest person on the planet. He hooked me up with other great interviews that led to very rare pieces indeed. Although pictures inside did not come out, here is a picture of me and him in front of the store. He's very friendly and kind to everyone, and I only hear the best of things about him.
Meet the Crew behind the making of the
show.
The is me, Joe Tripodi the Reporter on the Move. I go on the road and
film people that are not in N.Y.C. , and I make sure that everything in the Control Room is correct. I also do the Audio.
This is Charlie Davi of The Dead Astronauts Society. When he is available
he contributes his time to help us all out at the studio's.
This is the Stage Manager, Paul Adomopoulis. He is in charge of communicating
with the live talent, and us in the Control room.
This is the Producer of the show Anthony Aliprantis at home in his
recording studio, making sure that the audio is close to perfect when being
transferred from live footage on 8mm cassette to 3/4 inch video.
The next pictures were taken at Time Warner Cable in Flushing, Queens.
They include pictures of the Audio side, and the Video side, of the Master
control room.
On our way to shoot footage for the show, we always manage to pass
by allot of cool places. The first picture is of the producer and myself
standing in front of the Warner Brothers Store, on 57th Street and 5th
Avenue. The second picture is of me standing on the edge of the fountains,
across the street from Radio City Music Hall, and the RCA building on 50th
Street and Avenue of the Americas(6th Ave); both pictures were taken in
the heart of beautiful Manhattan, N.Y.C..
This Page is Dedicated to:
The Greatest Archtop Guitar Maker that ever Lived!
If you have questions, or want to Sponsor us
E-mail Joe Tripodi at
alcohol@rochester.rr.com
Learn
more about Jimmy D'Aquisto by clicking on the headstock to the left. This
is a great write up on the master himself, written by George Gruhn for Guitar Player Magazine's Rare Bird Column, April 1983.
Click here to return to my Home Page.