Favilla Guitars Serial Numbers

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John D’Angelico (1905–1964) was a luthier from New York City, noted for his handmade archtopguitars and mandolins.

Luthiery[edit]

I, am Thomas H. Favilla,(BigTom5@aol.com), fourth generation guitar builder (now retired). Over the years I. In the late 1960's the name Aquila was used briefly on Guitars imported from Japan by Favilla. The 'H' designation after the model number was for the dreadnaught body size, actually. There is a number, “7303”, which may be a serial number, which would be important for this instrument, as compared to the great number of ukuleles that. Tom Favilla about his grandfather John, 'John Favilla built the first Baritone Uke, at the instigation of my father Herk Favilla, (he was teaching guitar.

John D’Angelico was born in 1905 in New York to an Italian-American family, and was apprenticed in 1914 to his great-uncle, Raphael Ciani, who made violins, mandolins, and flat top guitars.[1][2][3] This apprenticeship would become the basis for construction principles he later incorporated into his archtop guitars.[4] After Ciani died D'Angelico took over the management of the business, but he didn't like having to supervise the 15 employees. As a result, he left and founded in 1932 D’Angelico Guitars at 40 Kenmare Street in Manhattan's Little Italy.[5][6] Here he began making guitars initially based on the 16 inch Gibson L-5 and subsequently working on his own designs.

Instrument designs and output[edit]

Initially D'Angelico's guitars were based largely on the 1920's version of the Gibson L-5 with a 16 inch lower bout and 'snakehead' headstock design, but by 1937, he had settled on four main f-hole archtop guitar designs, heavily influenced by the GibsonL-5:[7][8]

Favilla F8 Guitar

1933 D'Angelico archtop guitar #1034
D'Angelico Excel (1950) previously owned by Chet Atkins, in the Country Music Hall of Fame
  • Style A – 17 inch body. Phased out in the 1940s.
  • Style B – 17 inch body. Phased out in the 1940s.
  • Excel – 17 inch body
  • New Yorker – 18 inch body. Approximately 300 made.[9]

Through at least the late 1930s, D’Angelico's guitar necks had non-adjustable steel reinforcement. Later models had functional truss rods.[10] By the late 40s, D'Angelico was building only the Excel and the New Yorker. All New Yorker models featured pearl inlays in the headstock and fingerboards, as well as quadruple bindings.[11]

In Texas you can be 6 - 18' from the curb. Put the vehicle in Park or N, Set the Parking Brake. Drivers test parallel parking distance. The next step is turn the wheel all the way to the right, signal, roll back until the driver and the pole are across from each other, then turn the wheel all the way to the left and roll until straight.

All of D’Angelico's guitars were hand-built, and many were customized for specific people, so substantial variation is evident in his output. D’Angelico's shop rarely made more than 30 guitars per year.[12] In all, it is estimated that he built 1,164 guitars.[13] D’Angelico also built a few round-hole (as opposed to f-hole) archtops, and a few mandolins.

While D'Angelico's craftsmanship was not always exemplary, the performance of his guitars established him as the premier maker of archtop guitars.[3] During the late 1930s, when production was at its peak, D'Angelico made approximately 35 instruments per year with the help of only two workers, one of whom was Vincent 'Jimmy' DiSerio.[3][14][4] His recognition as the 'finest builder of archtop guitars' later brought offers from larger companies, but ultimately he decided to keep his operation under his own name.[4][14]

During the 1950s, some of the instruments leaving D'Angelico's shop had mixed features, such as an Excel-sized guitar with New Yorker features created for Johnny Smith, or D'Angelico necks custom fitted to bodies customers brought in.[15] Original D'Angelico guitars are identified by a serial number punched inside the bass f-hole—the serial numbers ranging from 1001 to 2164.[15]

In 1952 Jimmy D'Aquisto joined the company as an apprentice.[3]

D'Angelico had a heart attack in 1959 and also parted ways with DiSerio, who left to work at the Favilla guitar company. As a result, he closed the business but soon reopened it after D'Aquisto who was unable to find work, convinced him to do so.[3] After several more heart attacks and having also suffered from pneumonia John D'Angelico died in 1964 at the age of 59. He had built 1,164 numbered guitars with the last ten finished by D'Aquisto.[3][16] D'Aquisto then bought the business but a poor business decision lost him the right to the D’Angelico name.[17]

The D'Angelico Guitars brand has continued under other owners.

Employees[edit]

Some of D'Angelico's employees went on to become craftsmen in their own right. Among them were Jimmy Di Serio, who worked for D'Angelico from 1932–1959, and D'Aquisto who would eventually buy the business from the D'Angelico family. D'Angelico and D'Aquisto are generally regarded as the two greatest archtop guitar makers of the 20th century.[18]

In 2011, works by D'Angelico and D'Aquisto were included in the 'Guitar Heroes' exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.[19]

Vincent 'Jimmy' DiSerio, was commissioned by Ralph Patt to modify a GibsonES-150 (six-string archtop hollow-body guitar) to have a wider neck, wider pickup, and eight strings circa 1965; seven strings enabled Patt's major-thirds tuning to have the E-E range of standard tuning, while the eighth string enabled the high A♭.[20]

Musicians playing D'Angelico guitars[edit]

Favilla Guitars Serial Numbers 1233951

  • Kat Meoz playing Bedford solid-body guitar

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Favilla Ukulele Serial Number

Numbers
  1. ^Bonds, Ray (ed.) (2006). 'The illustrated directory of guitars.' Barnes & Noble/Salamander Books, p. 104.
  2. ^Wheeler, Tom (1982). American guitars: an illustrated history.' Harper & Row. p. 22.
  3. ^ abcdefAcoustic Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York: Chartwell Books. 2011. pp. 38–42. ISBN978-0-7858-3571-4.
  4. ^ abcWilliam), Green, Frank W/m (Frank (2008). D'Angelico : John D'Angelico : master guitar builder : what's in a name?. Centerstream. ISBN9781574242171. OCLC191808803.
  5. ^Will Levith (January 23, 2015). 'Joe Bonamassa and the Amazing Technicolor D'Angelico Shop'. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  6. ^Teddy Kim (August 22, 2014). 'Rock On! D'Angelico Guitars Is Back in Business in Chelsea'. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  7. ^Bonds, Ray (ed.) (2006). p. 104.
  8. ^Achard, Ken (1999). 'The History and Development of the American Guitar.' The Bold Strummer, p. 16.
  9. ^Denyer, Ralph (1998). 'The guitar handbook.' Alfred A. Knopf. p. 47.
  10. ^Wheeler, Tom (1982). pp. 22-23.
  11. ^Achard, Ken (1999). p. 16.
  12. ^Bonds, Ray (ed.) (2006). p. 106.
  13. ^Wheeler, Tom (1982). pp. 22.
  14. ^ ab'About D'Angelico Guitars'. angelicoguitars.com. Retrieved 2017-06-09.
  15. ^ abAchard, Ken (1999). p. 43.
  16. ^'NAMM 2015: Revived D'Angelico guitar brand shows off new acoustics'. January 23, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  17. ^Stern, Stephen (Fall 1995). 'Jimmy D'Aquisto – Luthier Extraordinaire'(PDF). Frontline magazine. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  18. ^'Images from the Lillibridge Gallery'. D'Angelico/D'Aquisto/Gudelsky Workshop. National Music Museum; The University of South Dakota 414 East Clark Street Vermillion, SD 57069. September 8, 2009. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
  19. ^'Guitar heroes: Legendary craftsmen from Italy to New York, February 9-July 4, 2011'. John D'Angelico. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York:. Retrieved December 4, 2012.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  20. ^Peterson (2002, p. 37)

Notes[edit]

  • Peterson, Jonathon (2002). 'Tuning in thirds: A new approach to playing leads to a new kind of guitar'. American Lutherie: The Quarterly Journal of the Guild of American Luthiers. 8222 South Park Avenue, Tacoma WA 98408: USA.: The Guild of American Luthiers. Number 72 (Winter): 36–43. ISSN1041-7176. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2012.Cite uses deprecated parameter deadurl= (help)

External links[edit]

  • D'Angelico Guitars.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_D%27Angelico&oldid=913835756'

Favilla Guitars, Inc. was a family-run musical instrument company which produced quality string instruments for approximately 96 years until 1986. Originally called 'Favilla Bros.', the company built guitars, mandolins, banjos, ukuleles, and violins.[1]

Company history[edit]

Brothers John (ca. 1871-1956) and Joseph Favilla, after having emigrated from Italy to New York City, formed Favilla Bros. (or Favilla Brothers, predecessor to Favilla Guitars, Inc.) either in 1890[2][3] or 1894.[1] By the 1920s, the company had expanded to over 50 employees. The company produced instruments in various New York locations, but around 1930 settled into the West 16th Street location where it would remain until 1959. At that time, Hercules (“Herk”) Favilla, son of John Favilla and a former vaudeville performer,[3] took over the business and renamed it Favilla Guitars, Inc.[1] Herk’s older brother Frank had been running administrative affairs for the company since the late 1940s. John Favilla died in 1956, and when his son Herk took over in 1959, the company was moved to a larger facility in Brooklyn.[2]

In 1965 the company relocated again, this time to Long Island. Around this time, guitar production peaked at 3,000-3,500 per year. Herk’s son Tom (b. 1942) worked for the company, and in 1970 began importing guitars from Japan under the Favilla name. (These instruments can be distinguished by their having the Favilla name in script on the guitar, instead of the full Favilla crest.)[2][4]

Due to a shift in the guitar market from acoustic instruments to electric instruments, the Favilla company ceased production in 1973. However Herk and his son Tom continued building custom instruments until their retirements, in 1980 and 1986, respectively.[1]

Instruments[edit]

Over almost a century, the Favilla family produced a wide range of instruments in America. Some of these bore names such as “Favilla Bros.”, “Favilla”, and “Marca Aquila.”

  • Guitars (including classical, archtop, dreadnought, and tenor)
  • Mandolins (including “bowl back” and “flat back” models)
  • Ukuleles (including “Teardrop” models, soprano, concert, tenor, baritone)
  • Other
    • Dulcet Guitarette
    • Wimbrola

Publications[edit]

In the 1950s and 1960s Herk Favilla was involved with music publication as well. In 1951[3] he authored and published a two-volume baritone ukulele method, one volume for self-taught beginners, the other for students and professionals.[5] He also published a collection of arranged guitar music in 1965.[6]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ abcd'Those Fabulous Favillas'. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  2. ^ abcWheeler 1992, p. 41
  3. ^ abcBeloff 2003, pp. 102–103
  4. ^'Favilla Acoustic Guitar Values'. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  5. ^“The Baritone Ukulele” (c. 1958 by Herk Favilla in Brooklin, NY.; c. 1962 by Favilla Guitars, New York, NY) (OCLC numbers 428979358 and 20191514, respectively). Book one: A Self-teaching Method for the Beginner; Book two: A Practical Method for Students and Professionals.
  6. ^'World Classics for the Guitar' transcribed and edited by Howard David (c. 1965 by Herk Favilla Publications) (OCLC number 79822350).

References[edit]

  • Beloff, Jim (2003). The Ukulele: A Visual History (Rev. & expanded). San Francisco: Backbeat Books. ISBN978-0-879-30758-5.
  • Wheeler, Tom (1992). American Guitars: An Illustrated History (rev. and updated ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. ISBN978-0-062-73154-8.
  • Cagnetta, Andrew (2017) Favilla Familia: A History & Guidebook ASIN: B073ZNMT1K

External links[edit]

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Favilla_Guitars&oldid=847901966'