D'Angelico NYS-2 Sunburst
Small body, vintage archtop
Made in Japan by Vestax
This is a superb example of a 1994 Vestax New Yorker. (It could be a year earlier or later, I'm not positive on the age.) The NYS-2 is the small body model at 15.5" wide, 2.75"deep. This guitar has a superb jazzy tone as befits an archtop of such quality. After 20+ years its timbre has mellowed nicely - it really is sweet.
The guitar has aged well. The neck and fingerboard are beautiful and there is slight wear on some of the lower frets. Plays like a dream and stays in tune forever due to the Grover tuners. Setup is low and smooth. This guitar plays like a great archtop should and sounds great. When I bought it there was a small finish crack under the bridge on the treble side. You might be able to see it in the picture. It is just in the finish and in no way interferes with the playing or sound.
The neck is superb and this one is a joy to play. This smaller body version is so beautifully balanced - it is very comfortable to play. Its acoustic voice is remarkable and when amplified it has just as big a sound as any full sized archtop with all the tonal characteristics of the larger bodied versions.
It is all original, and in excellent condition, complete with its original case, case key and truss-rod key.
This is NOT to be confused with the current new 'Excel' models by D'Angelico Guitars of America which are made in Korea. This guitar is handmade by Vestax in Japan to the highest build quality using the finest components, and rivals many of the US made archtops I have played and owned. This is the finest guitar I have owned. Guitars like this are remarkable. The inlays, binding and fingerboard are beautiful to see and play. The fingerboard inlays are beautifully done as is the diamond on the back of the head stock. Even the tailpiece is a thing of beauty.
The guitar will be well packed, insured and shipped in the original, brown alligator style hard shell case as shown. Truss rod wrench is in the case.
Selected Maple Neck with Ivory neck binding
24.75" scaleNut Width: 1 11/16"
Ebony fingerboard
22 frets
Mother of Pearl inlays
Mother of pearl D'Angelico Logo and New Yorker inlays on headstock
Rosewood overlay with Mother of pearl diamond inlay on back of headstock
Multi-ply black and white binding
Grover Imperial Machines
Hollow Body
Small size, New Yorker Style 15.5" body with single cutaway finished in Vintage Natural2.75" body depth
German spruce top
Flamed maple back and sides
Multi-ply black and white binding on body and F holes
Electrics & Fittings
Single humbucking floating pickup mounted on pickguard1 volume, 1 tone control mounted on pickguard
1/4" output jack
Carved, compensated Ebony Bridge
Gold hardware
New Yorker style tailpiece
New Yorker style stairstep pickguard with black and white binding