D’Aquisto Avant Garde BRUGT

BRUGT

Very rare 2003 MIJ D’Aquisto. Well used, but also well looked after and in great playing condition. Guitar has been gigged regularly, and has the general cosmetic wear and tear that that usually brings. Weight is 2810g. All mechanical items are in good shape. Original Gotoh tuners work flawlessly, bridge and tailpiece likewise. Recently dressed frets are in good shape, and guitar is very playable.

Neck joint has a bit of lacquer cracking, see photo. The neck is completely stable, and the finish damage is factored into the price of the guitar.

Electronics are not original, this guitar was never made with factory electronics. They’re a very common addition, however. This one has a floating Kent Armstrong humbucker installed, which has a very nice and clear tone. The pickguard is custom-made in the same style as the original, and the original is included with the guitar so it can be put back to original if so desired.

MODEL HISTORY

Jimmy D’Aquisto was the last and most celebrated apprentice to the legendary John D’Angelico. In an abbreviated career of just three decades, D’Aquisto created a peerless body of work, instruments that are now the most costly and sought after archtops ever made.

The Avant Garde is a faithful recreation of one of D’Aquisto’s most innovative designs. Prototyped in 1988, the Avant Garde is one of Jimmy’s rarest designs, one of which was built for Jim Hall the following year. Only a handful of these models had been produced at Jimmy’s untimely death in 1995.

Today’s Avant Garde retains Jimmy’s signature open soundholes, open headstock, and contoured ebony tailpiece and finger rest. In addition, the AG utilizes 21st century technology to produce an instrument of exacting fit, finish and performance. The medium jumbo frets are tall and smoothly crowned for easy fingering, and the double acting truss rod allows for feeler gauge adjustment for effortless low string action and accurate neck relief. The solid spruce top is X- braced for warmth and sustain, the back and sides crafted of vividly figured flame maple, and the neck profile is finely balanced for ease of play.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Natural finish
• 17″ double bound body (maple binding)
• Solid spruce (carved) top
• Large oblong soundholes
• Laminated maple sides
• Maple back
• 1 piece maple neck
• Bound ebony fretboard
• Side dot markers
• 22 frets
• Ebony tailpiece with maple trim
• “Acutone” adjustable ebony bridge
• Floating humbucking pickup and volume control mounted on ebony pickguard (also features maple trim)
• Endpin jack
• Semi-slotted headstock
• Gold Gotoh tuners with ebony buttons
• 1-11/16″ nut
• 25-1/2″ scale
• 3-1/8″ body depth at side