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D’Aquisto Vintage Guitars

by Dawn Vogel

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James L. D’Aquisto (more commonly known as Jimmy D’Aquisto) was a luthier best known for his work with arch top guitars. He began his career as an apprentice to John D’Angelico, and was the primary person responsible for constructing many of the D’Angelico guitars as his mentor neared the end of his life. Although D’Aquisto never owned his own guitar manufacturing company, his name is attached to several models of vintage guitars which were manufactured by large corporations, and these vintage D’Aquisto guitars are highly sought by collectors.

The first guitar that D’Aquisto designed for mass production was the Hagstrom Jimmy, manufactured by a Swedish company. This vintage D’Aquisto guitar first debuted in 1969, and saw a revival of the design in 1976. One of the key features of this guitar was the f-holes, which were a signature part of Jimmy D’Aquisto’s guitar designs. The Hagstrom guitars also featured an asymmetrical headstock, which stands out in contrast with other designs by D’Aquisto. In 1977, a version of the Hagstrom Jimmy debuted with an oval sound hole, as opposed to the f-holes of the previous models. There were only about 350 of this later model produced, making them exceptionally rare and valuable D’Aquisto vintage guitars. All of these guitars were hollow-body, acoustic electric guitars, with an arch top design. The Hagstrom guitars designed by Jimmy D’Aquisto primarily came in sunburst and natural wood finishes.

In the mid-1980s, Jimmy D’Aquisto worked with the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation on another design bearing his name, the D’Aquisto Elite. Like the instruments designed for the Hagstrom Company, the D’Aquisto Elite was an arch top guitar with a hollow body. The main difference between the Hagstrom Jimmy and the D’Aquisto Elite was that the D’Aquisto Elite did not have an asymmetrical head, instead bearing a more traditional headstock. Fender also produced the D’Aquisto Standard model, nearly identical to the D’Aquisto Elite, but using slightly different materials for some pieces and adding a second humbucker.

Arch top guitars, including those designed by Jimmy D’Aquisto, are used in blues, jazz, and country music. When it comes to vintage D’Aquisto guitars, however, musicians of all genres can appreciate these guitars for the works of art that they are. Although these guitars were mass produced in the 1970s and 1980s, the Hagstrom models, in particular, remain fairly rare, and owners of D’Aquisto vintage guitars generally know that they have valuable guitars in their possession.
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