As well as creating some of the world's most highly regarded hand carved, all solid, archtop guitars, James D'Aquisto also made a number of partially laminate models in coalition with a number of manufacturers, starting with bodies made by United Guitars (who had also been a patronized by John D'Angelico) and moving through a number of partners, winding up with the same undisclosed manufacturer that pressed tops for Gibson's laminate archtops, amongst other companies.
Very similar in appearance to the D'Aquisto Jim Hall model (one of which can be seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art), in fact sporting a sunburst color known as "Jim Hall burst", this 16" Centura is a prime example of the "New Model" Centura from later in Jimmy's career, some of which sported the partially laminate construction that this one features. The top is laminate spruce, the back is laminate maple, and the sides are hand carved/formed solid maple to add a little bit of resonance back into the guitar. The neck is an incredible piece of hand carved solid maple, with a tight grained ebony fretboard that is nice and smooth. The scale sits between 25 and 25.5".
This particular guitar comes with a single volume and tone matched to a Guild-style HB-1 humbucker, which has aged in beautifully over time. It's a warm, transparent sound that is sure to please the pickiest archtop player. This is an incredibly "archtop" sounding archtop, so to speak.
The hardware (tailpiece, pickguard, and the signature "accu-tone" bridge) is in incredible condition, and is hand carved from unbelievable Macassar ebony, a signature of Jimmy's. The headstock overlay is a great piece of ebony as well. This guitar's gold Schaller tuners (as opposed to the usual Imperials) place it squarely in the mid 1990's.
This guitar is in great condition, with mild checking on the headstock and binding finish, and the occasional ding on the body, along with some finish color bleeding into the binding as well. All of this is expected for a now vintage guitar, especially for something finished so lightly by Jimmy, which just accentuates the sound.
There is a little bit of fret wear along the B string, and the truss rod cover is missing. This guitar is a serious piece of history, noted in the Ledger as "New Model Centura" #128, and it comes with a vintage padded gigbag, along with, incredibly, the original order form for this guitar, handwritten by Jimmy D'Aquisto himself.
