Post by steinbergerstylerThe "old" D'Angelicos, as well the D'Aquisto, have so-called pressed
"solid" tops. This is basically a single large piece of spruce that
has two smaller layers of spruce laminated against it, as opposed to
"real" laminated tops, which are, I believe, seven layers, sometimes
with other types of wood, such as birch, in the mix. Also, both have
laminated backs and sides.
Apparently the new D'Angelicos have completely solid, carved tops,
backs and sides. This should make them sound signifcantly better, at
least acoustically, than the old "Vestax" D'Angelicos.
The fine print on the Walkin' site indicates that most of their current
D'Angelico and D'Aquistos are the "pressed solid" tops you describe above.
Examples of this type include:
http://www.walkin.co.jp/guitars/128881.htm
http://www.walkin.co.jp/guitars/128791.htm
http://www.walkin.co.jp/guitars/128839.htm
http://www.walkin.co.jp/guitars/128785.htm
Interestingly, this is not specified for the two models I was interested in:
the thin-body New Yorker and the Centura.
http://www.walkin.co.jp/guitars/128702.htm
http://www.walkin.co.jp/guitars/128671.htm
Walkin' is closed today. If I remember, I'll call them and ask them whether
these are solid carved tops or not.
Post by steinbergerstylerDavid, I've had my eyes on those D'Aquisto "Walkin' Special" CR's for
a while, but was worried that the extended fretboard might make it
sound too bright - does it really hold up that well to your L5? Care
to share any soundclips?
It's a different sound from the L5; as I mentioned before, more "refined".
Maybe a bit richer harmonic structure as opposed to the L5's clarity. It
does not have the harshness that we heard in Five Sharp's acoustic playing
on that Johnny Smith, nor the harshness of the sound Mark Elf gets on his
D'Angelico. The acoustic sound is very nice, and the electric sound is
surprisingly similar to the acoustic sound. It's not a bright sound at all.
But also not muddy; inner voices on four-note chords can be heard clearly.
For single-note lines, it doesn't quite have the bell-like clarity of
#####'s Johnny Smith, but it's a not a bad sound at all.
I tried the thin body D'Aquisto New Yorker and didn't fall in love. When
trying the thin body, I asked about rewiring the pickup I had installed in
my Ibanez AF105FNT (which was humming horribly) and they said they look at
it for a price I thought reasonable. So when I brought the AF105FNT in for
the repairs, I asked them to let me play the Centura while they were looking
at the AF105FNT. After two hours, I realized that I'd have to buy it or I'd
never leave the store. (They did a great job rewiring the AF105FNT, which I
also haven't touched since the Centura arrived.)
The neck is really easy to play, and I find it much more comfortable than
the L5 overall, even though it's measures the same width and thickness. The
hidden knobs are a seriously bad idea, since you have to go by feel and
can't see where they are at. The tone control has a very narrow section in
the middle of its throw where it quickly moves from brightest to darkest, so
fine adjustment is hard, and it's easy to bump while adjusting the volume.
But it looks cool not having knobs.
Also, the bridge is really silly: it has a sliding piece that's wedge
shaped, and you push it in to the high string side to raise the strings and
pull it out to lower the strings. Mine was set up quite low, and I had to
push it in almost all the way to get the top two strings high enough for my
heavy-handed playing (I practice without an amp, which really isn't a good
idea). I briefly thought about having Walkin' make me a regular wood bridge
(with screw adjustments), but the Centura sounds fine as is, and they charge
an arm and a leg for fitting the base to the top.
Another glitch: the finish almost completely obscures the black dot marks at
the 12th fret, making them effectively invisible in a dark room or if
there's a spotlight in one's face. I need to stick a white marker of some
sort at that place on the side of the neck.
But I really like this guitar.
Sorry, I don't have any recording setup here.
David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan