D'Aquisto DQ-CR

I will be adding to this review as the CENTURA opens up and matures..

Made in Japan at Aria's custom shop, Made: 12/2004, 22 frets, pressed tuned archtop of solid AAAA Sitka Spruce, full acoustic 17 inch body with flamed maple binding, AAAA select maple sides and bookmatched arched back, rock maple one piece neck with rosewood caps on front and rear of headstock, ebony fretboard with flamed maple binding, 25.5 in. scale and 1.75 in. width at nut, D'Aquisto "Acutone" bridge, Gotoh deluxe tuners with ebony keys, HSC.
Looks like a work of art in its Violin Glow finish. The futurist-retro styling will have everyone drooling before you strike a note.

The neck is perfect for my "medium" hands and I understand it's great in larger hands. Smaller hands might have a reach with the 25.5 inch scale, but the neck is almost perfect for me. 9.5 on this part. Medium jumbo frets.

List price is $4500. Street price is quite less.

I play mostly blues/country/new wave if you can follow that. I was looking for an acoustic that would bridge the gap between a flat top and a big jazz box and this baby does just that. It cuts through noise like a Maccaferri "Django", yet just a flick of the wrist and it's almost as rich and full as my dreadnaught Washburn D-66SW Prairie Song Custom that just turned 23 yrs. old. This baby should mellow just fine, but I believe it will retain a lot of the brightness as well. It's wonderful now, but you can just tell it will get much better. 9 here with room for improvement.

(I'm also planning to install some sort of sound amplification at some point.) Will advise as and when...

Action set up way too high and a couple of scratch marks on the head from them using electric winders. Should buff out of the urethane easy enough.

Adjusting the action on this instrument is the easiest thing I've ever done to any guitar. I am a hobbyist just turning professional songwriter and I am NOT a techie by any means, but I loosened the strings a bit and lowered the action to "superfast" and with a few knuckle raps, set the intonation and was playing within about ten minutes. It now plays as I wanted it...sweet and looow and not a single buzz. Gotta rate it a 10 here just for the sheer ease of the whole operation. You can't expect every guitar to be set up the exact way you want it before you even get it, but this saved me a luthier bill that I can use on another guitar of mine!

There were no flaws that I could see in the finish, wood quality, fittings, etc... Beautiful.

The back is even more beautiful than the front, especially under proper lighting. The matching is perfect. Almost too pretty to play.
ALMOST! But once you get your hands on her since I lowered the action, you will not be able to put her down. This is a player's guitar.

Seems strong enough to withstand a lot, but it is an archtop and one must be just a bit more careful than with a flattop or solid body, but I would gig with it in certain conditions. Certainly not outside during a Chicago winter, but an industry showcase or small venue would pose no problems. Besides, Aria may only make a few of these a year, but there will be others. I'd rather have an accident with the CENTURA than my irreplaceable Prairie Song Custom.

The hardware, finish, strap buttons, etc... are all very high quality and should last for decades. The finish is very well done and durable.
Got to give it a 9 here though, for personal reasons. I have an Aria PE SPL DLX SD solidbody electric that has little pieces of felt under the strap buttons. It cost far less than this Centura, but I thought it was a very "classy" thing to do. Not that it's of any real practical worth, but it just shows that the builder CARES enough to do something like that. Since they have the same size tiny felt pads under the pickguard to protect the archtop, there is no reason why the CENTURA doesn't have these on the strap buttons as well. (Unless they're just being VERY faithful to the original D'Aquisto.) Oh, and the strap buttons are really too small, so I'll be replacing them with gold strap locks and putting a little piece of felt under them myself.

Gig without a backup??? What, are you nuts??!! I suppose you COULD, but if you've ever owned an archtop, you know how fickle they can be sometimes so that's your call. But it's VERY dependable even in a semi-stable environment. It's the extremes you have to watch out for.

www.rivendellguitars.com is the BOMB! Arni Katz is one of the coolest, most understanding and demented critters you'll ever meet! You can tell he LOVES guitars as much as you do and will move heaven and earth to get you the instrument you're looking for. After checking out "boutique" guitar shops here in L.A., I got the distinct impression they really weren't too interested in helping me. Was it my breath? Did I stink? I don't think so. I probably look like the struggling actor/musician that I am and I guess they could tell. Too bad. I was even close to getting a Hofner Jazzica at a little shop in Santa Monica (NOT McCabes's, they're very nice), and this OTHER shop seemed more interested in chatting up some guy on the phone looking for an ES 335 than they were in taking my money, so bummed out, I went home and contacted Arni through his website and I wound up buying a much more expensive guitar, sight unseen. The Jazzica is an electric and really can't touch the CENTURA for tone and versatility. Also, the Jazzica would have required a neck planing and fret job just to be playable! For the amount they were asking, the CENTURA was by far the better value of the two, electric or not. Email Arni! He's not a snob!

I've been playing... OMG!... just realized this is my 30th year of guitar playing! I am sorry it took me this long to find an instrument as nice as this Centura, but it really wasn't until somewhat recently that they were available to regular Joes like me. If you can find an original DQ Centura, the six-figures might make you shed a tear or two. I've previously owned a Gibson ES175 and it fed back so much on stage, I got rid of it. I now have a collection of 13 ranging from a wonderful $299 Agile AL-2500 12-string electric, to this incredible CENTURA.
(You can see them at; www.soundclick.com/thecoastalcowboys)

This is my first acoustic arch top and I had PLENTY of questions before, during and after I bought it. Arni has been just superb in educating me as to the possiblities of this angel of a guitar. I'm sure I'll have more questions in future.

If it were lost, I would probably use the insurance money to get a D'Aquisto SOLO as it is in another class altogether, but for now, the CENTURA is opening an entirely new sonic pallette for me to learn and I really couldn't be happier.

What do I love about it? Everything! Looks like a piece of art, a vintage retro cutaway with unique soundholes, (not the regular "F" holes), that makes me sound like I never have before. Another thing I like is the "status" it confers. Yeah, I know, whining about "snobs" one minute and then raving about "status" the next, but let me explain... When you get that chance to finally meet one of your guitar heroes, you will actually have something to talk about other than an autograph or what projects he's working on. It's not about the price. This instrument is a steal for the quality and sheer ingenuity of it. But the experience of learning about fine quality archtops and the process of acquiring and playing one will educate you enough to know what you're talking about. Your hero will recognize and probably relate to your experience. At least mine did.

How does it compare to other guitars? It doesn't. It's in a class of its own. I'm sure there are better, but they are in a much bigger price range!

Lke I said, this is only the first of a report that I will update as and when it's needed. Thanks for listening, but if you're in the market for a premium quality archtop, DO YOUR HOMEWORK, then contact Arni. You'll be glad you did.