Al Valenti's 1937 D'Angelico New Yorker

Al Valenti's 1937 D'Angelico New Yorker

(Instrument is on Consignment)

Received in the fall of 1937 as a standard New Yorker model, Mr. Valenti  would return the instrument to John D'Angelico in 1960 to have it transformed into a "Classical-like"  instrument.
D'Angelico would thin the top, replace the original neck with a wider one, make a special bridge and tailpiece to accommodate the silk and nylon strings of a classical instrument.
It would be the only Nylon stringed Archtop D'Angelico would create.

This instrument has been repaired and restored.
For the details of all the work done through the years and recent restoration work done by Mirabella Guitars & Restorations.
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Featured in all three editions of Paul Schmidt's "Aquired of the Angels" 
It recently had a feature story in Fretboard Journal #49

As D'Angelicos first and longest standing endorsee, Serial number #1296,  Al Valenti's New Yorker is considered one of the most important D'Angelicos in the beautiful history of the guitars of John D'Angelico.

Al Valenti 

Born in New York in 1914, Al Valenti got his start in music by playing the mandolin under the instruction of his father who was a professional musician. A friend of John D’Angelico before he was building his own guitars, Al Valenti found himself an endorsee of the D’Angelico brand by the time he was 20. At that time Valenti was already regarded as a virtuoso on the plectrum guitar and touring with big bands traveling both coasts.
Though Valenti performed regularly with Joe Reichman and his Orchestra on WABC in the 30s and was employed as a studio guitarist for Decca Records where he recorded with Bing Crosby, the Andrew Sisters, Connie Boswell, and Tony Martin; he is perhaps best remembered for his pioneering of classical piano and guitar arrangements for the plectrum guitar.