Music

2006 D’Angelico NYL-4 18” ArchtopFrom the Crews era of D’Angelico Japan, this is an impressive 18” acoustic archtop. I generally like fully hollow body archtops for their acoustic charm, and this one really delivers. While the specs most likely would indicate a pressed solid top, my opinion is that you might be convinced it’s a fully carved guitar once in hand. Even setup with flats, it has such a big, open, articulate sound.Specs / Measurements2006Solid pressed spruce / layered figured maple~1.72” nut~25.5” string length~2.06” string spacing at saddle~18” lower boutFloating pickup w/ Volume and ToneOriginal alligator skin hard caseCondition / Setup NotesThe guitar is in fairly clean shape for its age and retains its overall luster, with minor superficial wear throughout. The frets are in excellent shape, showing basically no wear. Currently, the string height is an easy-playing ~4.5/64”- 3/64” with just a touch of relief.***This is a really great example of the D’Angelicos that were made in Japan during the 2000s. I would remark again that it has a beautiful acoustic voice, surprisingly so if it is indeed a pressed top with a laminated body. I personally would be inclined to play it as an acoustic guitar with round wound bronze strings, although that is generally my preference with acoustic archtops. Adding to this, 18” archtops in general are not the most common things out there, and rarer still in the style of D’Angelico. I would be remiss if I didn’t high light the faux-alligator skin hard case, which itself is nice given its size. Thanks for looking, uncompressed pictures are available at essentialguitars.comStock updates on Instagram @essentialguitarsny