Di Mauro Special Chorus De Luxe Late 1940's - Mid 1950's - Sunburst w/ Hard Case

from a similar listing at Djangobooks.com:

Antoine Di Mauro was part of the mass emigration of master Sicilian luthiers (Oliveri, Anastasio, etc) who left Catania in the early 20th century. In the 1930s Di Mauro and his countrymen setup a series of shops on the East side of Paris and quickly adapted their skills to making jazz guitars in the Selmer Maccaferri style. Di Mauro was certainly one of the most successful and long lasting of these Franco-Sicilian luthiers as his guitars were widely adopted by players of many styles. Di Mauro guitars were produced continuously until the early 90s, first by Antoine and then later by his son Joseph. Notable players include Moreno, Boulou Ferre, Patrick Saussois, Samy Daussat, Jean-Yves Dubanton, and even Pat Metheny!

Of all the models Di Mauro produced, the Special Chorus is easily their most well known design. A hybrid of American archtop and Selmer Maccaferri designs, the Special Chorus combines the Maccaferri style body and bent top with archtop style F soundholes. The result is a guitar that has the acoustic power of a traditional Gypsy guitar but with the midrange focus and clarity of an archtop.

This is the de luxe version of the Special Chorus, hence it was built with the highest quality materials and features more ornate details then you'll find on Di Mauro's more pedestrian models. The back and sides are maple, the top is spruce, and the neck is built by combing maple with a rosewood spline for reinforcement. Aesthetic upgrades include the diamond shaped MOP fingerboard inlays, ivoroid side and soundhole binding, an ivoroid arm rest, and a striking sunburst finish.

This guitar is in Good "Player's Grade" condition, showing signs of heavy playwear and decades of enjoyment. We have attempted to show the extent of the wear on this instrument, however we are limited to 25 photos on this Reverb listing. Should you require more photos of the condition of this guitar, please feel free to contact us via Reverb or at the shop directly. According to our expert, Keith Holland, this guitar has undergone a neck re-set. The top of this guitar shows heavy wear in the picking area. There are holes under the strings which have been filled and there are 2 unfilled holes, one behind the bridge area on the treble side and one at the base of the neck under the D string. There are repaired cracks at the bottom of each of the F holes. The F hole binding is cracked in many places but is stable and intact. The ivoroid armrest is curling on both ends but is stable. The sides show some scratches & blemishes and thorough checking in the finish. The reverse of the guitar also shows thorough finish checking but only minor areas of chips and scratches. The binding is intact, however the front purfling layers show some cracks. We have replaced an area of missing purfling on the treble side on the bottom bout. The reverse of the neck shows wear-through in the finish, heavier on the bass side than the treble side. The instrument has been refretted and leveled some time in the past. The diamond inlay on the third fret looks to have been reglued at some point, and the tips of the diamonds on the treble side are missing their tips. We feel that this guitar has retained its original SB branded tuners and its original Di Mauro-style tailpiece. There is a large finish scuff on the reverse tip of the headstock, however the "A Di Mauro" firebrand is still visible. This package is complete with a non-original Thomann-branded hard case.

4lbs