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D'Angelico For Sale, NYL-2, NYL 2, New Yorker, NYL, archtop, jazz, guitar,

	#105 D'ANGELICO NYS-2 PS. 1997. Very Rare. Superb.

	A little background.
	John D'Angelico first made a small-bodied cutaway New Yorker archtop in 1950 (Ledger #1850) and a special guitar for Don Arnone (a top studio guitarist) in 1951. The Arnone guitar had a different body shape from the usual D'Angelico profile, a little like a Les Paul, rounded at the bottom with a typical LP cutaway.. When Hidesato Shiino designed the original Vestax range, he elected to use a common 14.75" body shape for both the NYS-2 (small archtop) and the NYSS-3 (small semi), trying to get as close as possible to the 1951 guitar. So the early NYS-2 was, in fact, a Les Paul size archtop. There is much more info available as a Special Feature on "The Small Body D'Angelico Archtops" in Highlights on the Home page.


	The early NYS-2 is the smallest bodied New Yorker archtop. Stunning .... and great tone. It sounds really good - much better that I had expected from a 14.75" archtop.


	I expected it's tone to be rather bright with a pronounced treble. It turns out to be very well balanced and those early D'A pickups are so warm. A delightful little jazzer and so easy to play.


	Perfectly proportioned - a Les Paul sized archtop. Isn't that what Robert Conti is getting close to in 2015?


	Great depth of colour in the Vintage Sunburst. Only four colours were available on this model.


	I have seen only one Vestax D'Angelico dated 1996. It was a NYL-2. This one, at 1997, is from the first year of NYS-2 production. Quality is excellent.


	Superb book-matched Flame Maple.


	The Vestax version comes close to the original.


	Catalogues and website of the day all show this model as the NYS-2. I am unsure what the PS suffix refers to. Ongoing research on this! Note the early "Script" style of Vestax label.


	The warrantee also confirm this as a PS model!!


	The current model NYS-2 is on the left and the early model on the right. The early model is narrower at the waist and narrower at the Upper and Lower Bout than the model that followed it, and its waist is higher, with a Les Paul style cutaway. The new shape is flatter at the bottom with a more ES-335 style cutaway.


	Here you can see clearly the differences in the shape of the cutaway. The modern NYS-2 cutaway is ES-335 shape, whereas the early NYS-2 is Les Paul Shape.

	So, how do the early models differ from the guitars we know?
	The revision to the NYS-2 body was significant (I believe sometime around 1998). It had an all-new shape, lower bout was increased from 14.75" to 15.5" and it had an ES-335 style cutaway. It also had a lower, wider waist and a flatter bottom (more than all the other Vestax models) I don't know why these changes were deemed necessary but I believe it was to do with the difficulties initially experienced when trying to press solid spruce into such tight contours. The revised NYSS-3 also had the ES-335 style cutaway but otherwise retained the 14.75" shape but was re-engineered as an all spruce laminate construction. Having only known about these early models from catalogues, I have been looking for one of these around 2004. Imagine my joy at finding this one in the US some 11 years later. Now I want to find an early NYSS-3b to go with it.


	The early NYS-2 shown in the Vestax website and Catalogue.



	This is a superb example of a 1997 early model Vestax NYS-2 New Yorker. It has a 14.75" body that is also smaller at the top-bout and in the waist than the revised shape that came later. Like the current model the body is 2.75"deep with a short scale 24.75". Many top jazz guitarists are now playing small body archtops - just another reminder of how innovative John D'Angelico was. Similarly, the NYS-2 was ahead of its time. This guitar has a superb jazzy tone as befits an archtop of such quality. After 18 years its timbre has mellowed nicely - it really is sweet. All the Vestax D'Angelicos feel the same in your hands. The neck is superb and this one is a joy to play. This smaller body version is so beautifully balanced and is very comfortable to play. Although its acoustic voice is a little less powerful than the NYL-2, when amplified it has just as big a sound as the full sized model with all the tonal characteristics of the larger bodied versions. It is all original, and almost in Mint condition, complete with its original case, case key and truss-rod key and warrantee card. Spec: Selected Maple neck with Ivory neck binding 24.75" scale Nut 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 14.75" body with single cutaway finished in Vintage Sunburst 2.75" 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 pickguard 1 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 For more details please go to Special Features in Highlights on Home page.


	More pics available on request.

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