D Angelico Guitars of America NYL-2 Custom

depends on the individual guitar you get. After being the top salesman for DA from 01-04, I know the range of quality i n the finishes all too well. I always cherry picked mine, and for friends.

When the company started making crap, the service went to ****!

Great guitars up until 04, then they are real crap.

Just what you would expect in a 17" jazz box. Carved German spruce top, volume & tone mounted on pickguard, one floating Johnny Smith-style floating humbucker. Antique natural color, lots of binding, inlays, ebony, gold hardware, etc. I'm giving it a "9" because "10" is designated as "loads of features". It doesn't have "loads of features" because it isn't supposed to. It has what it needs to be a great jazz box.

Not all that versatile, but great for jazz -- that's what is was designed for.

Just like a $6400 list guitar should be. Looks great - no flaws - absolutely stunning in appearance.

One month after I received it the top separated from the side at the lower bout. Signs of the top coming loose on sides and upper bout. MOP inly on headstock popping up. Giving it a "1" because rating system doesn not have a "0".

After nine months of phone calls, e-mails, andhaggling with D'Angelico people, the guitar is still allegedly in Japan being "repaired". Bought this guitar new with warranty -- warranty is absolutely a joke!!! The folks at D'Angelico will tell you anything to get you off the telephone. Here again, I'm giving it a "1" because rating system does not have a "0".

True rating is a big fat zero!! Doesn't matter if it looks great and sounds great if the damn thing falls apart in 30 days.

2002 NYL-2 Custom. Carved spruce arch-top with hand-carved ebony pickguard version of the NYL-2. One volume control, one tone control. Ebony fingerboard with genuine mother-of-pearl split block inlay position markers, gold-plated hardware including Grover Imperial tuners. Highly flamed maple sides and bookmatched sides and back. Ebony string saddle and case, bone nut. Fully bound body, ncek and F holes. Vintage Natural color finish nitrocellulose lacquer. Medium jumbo frets. Alligator-like hardshell case. Since D'Angelico sells only through dealers, I purchased mine from Guitar Villa in Bethlehem PA. Paid $4600

I play primarily jazz and that's why I bought this guitar. There's just no way to accurately describe in mere words what this guitar sounds like! Amazing is an understatement. I've only had it for a week and already it is "opening-up" each and every time I play it. Un-amplified, this guitar just sings with seemingly endless sustain and ring. It seems to be hypersensitive to being accurately tuned. What I mean by that is: if it's significantly out of tune, the sound is "muddy" and dead. When it's precisely tuned, it's the most incredible sound I've ever heard-bar none. Amplified, there is NO noise AT ALL. I play through a Line 6 FlextoneII so I can get any sound I want. The tonal possibilities are endless. There is nothing about this guitar I dislike. Came strung with LaBella Flat Wound 12's that are okay buy when I changed them to Thomastik George Benson Flat Wound 12's, well, I'll use NOTHING else!!!

Guitar was et-up PERFECTLY. Action was exactly where I like it-not too high, not too low. Only the high E string needed to be tuned, just slightly. With the Grover Imperial tuners, this guitar stays in tune. No matter what type of guitar you buy, don't cheap-out on the tuners! When you're paying $4600 for a guitar, you expect perfection, zero tolerance, no flaws. I wear reading glasses to see up close so I put my glasses on and went over every square millimeter and found zero flaws. No finish flaws, no binding flaws, no hardware flaws, no saddle flaws. Then, I got out my 10X power hand-held magnifying glass. Again, NO FLAWS, none! Ah, but it all sounds too good to be true, right? The case left a lot to be desired. It was severely scuffed, and had deep scratches in it on the top, sides and back, I'm convinced it was from the hard cardboard stiffeners they use for packing the whole thing in the shipping box. I spoke with D'Angelico directly and they couldn't have been nicer. They are sending me a new case.

Yes, this guitar will withstand live playing. Using only the best hardware, I have no reservation that it will last. The guitar is built like a tank, very solid. The finish is genuine nitrocellulose lacquer so it is a bit more delicate than polyurethane, acrylic and all of the other space age gunk they're slapping guitars these days but you just can't beat nitro for that classic appearance and tonal characteristics. Proper guitar care and maintenance will keep this finish looking just fine. Yes, I can depend on this guitar and would use it on a gig without a backup, just a spare set of strings.

Yes I've already dealt with CS at D'Angelico as stated above regarding the case. They are top-shelf, love guitars and know that they have a superior product that sells itself. Very refreshing actually, not the usual "hype" you get from the amrk-up kings(you know who I mean!) Standard one year warranty but who cares, I'll never need it, you can just tell. But if I did, I'm absolutely confident that D'Angelico will not only stand behind their product, they'll make it right.

I've been playing on and off for 40 years. I'm actually just getting back in to playing again after about a 7 year off-period. I currently have a Sigma acoustic, a Jay Turser JT-137CS and of course, my D'Angelico NYL-2 Custom and a Line 6 FlextoneII amp. There is nothing that I wished I would have asked before purchasing this guitar becuase ALL of my questions were answered by the kind folks at D'Angelico after several phone calls. If it were lost or stolen I would file an immediate insurance claim(I have it insured individually) but I would buy another one even before the claim was settled! What I love about this guitar is that I've always wanted an arch-top jazz box set-up with all of the features that are important to me, this is it! Other guitars came close, but not 100%, this did, for me. I seriously looked at custom hand-built luthier stuff like Monteleone, Benedetto, Buscarino, etc. but not only are they considerably more expensive, but the waiting time is just too long. There is NOTHING that I dislike about this guitar, not even a little. There is no other feature that I wish this guitar had. It answered 100% of every feature I wanted, and looks good doing it!

Same appointments of a NYL-2 but with the following up-grades: Carved top, solid piece back and sides, ebony pick-guard, bone bridge, narrower neck width and custom inscription on last inlay. Everything you would expect from a top of the line jazz box.

This guitar sounds fabulous! I have other D'Angelico NYL's and this one sounds warmer do to the carved top and solid piece sides and back. Feedbacks a little easier do to this but not as much as you wood think. Hard to believe this is a new guitar with fresh wood, this is going to have a beautiful warm tone once the wood ages a few years.

Played well out of the box but like all other new guitars it need a little bit of fret leveling to get it to play the way I like it. Major thing I loved about this guitar as opposed to my regular NYL's has to be the weight. This archtop is rediculously light! it's going to be amazing to play live/standing up with.

Like all my other D'Angelico's this guitar is well made.

What can I say Pete and the boys are excellent. I must by them a drink next time I am in New York! Give them a 10+++ if that were possible.

Like all my other D'Angelico's I love these re-issues. As I have said in the past I think you will notice allot of that valuable vintage stuff will be kept at home and replaced with some of these re-issues for gigging. There a great bang for the buck.