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NGD: Heritage D'Angelico Excel


MartyGrass

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I got this from a friend who got this from the famous Patrick, who was the Heritage New York representative until he died unexpectedly a little more than five years ago.  This is one of the first ghost built D'Angelicos that Heritage made.

JP Moats, Marv Lamb and likely Aaron Cowles built this.  Aaron built the two Gibson ghost built D'Angelicos a few years earlier.  The all worked to copy the D'Angelico originals as best they could and had Johnny Smith's D'Angelico to examine for this purpose.

D'Angelico did not make every guitar in a model the same.  They were custom built.  But here are the specs on this guitar.

Depth 3 3/8", width 17", nut 1 11/16", scale 25.5".  It is cross braced.  You can see how the braces are tapered and how thin the top is.  The plates are also tuned.  I'd call it a medium neck.  The pickup is a Kent Armstrong.

This guitar has been well taken care of.  It must be thirty years old now.  It plays very well.

 

 

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It never ceases to amaze me when I see the guitars you guys (and girls) seem to unearth. I am pretty new to the world of Heritage, and am constantly learning more about the history. Congrats!

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Wasn't Patrick that controversial fellow who sometimes rubbed elbows with fellow HOC'ers?

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18 hours ago, ElNumero said:

Wasn't Patrick that controversial fellow who sometimes rubbed elbows with fellow HOC'ers?

The pickup on the Excel is an old George Benson.  The Dearmond 1100 was recently placed on the Excel's big brother, the New Yorker.

Patrick was mostly misunderstood.  He was blunt, for sure.  But he nearly always was right on the facts.  He felt strongly about opinions yet knew the difference between facts and opinions.

He helped many people behind the scenes.  Back when he was a member the Heritage factory organization was primitive.  Orders were lost and mixed up.  Patrick would help dozens of guys get their orders through.  One guy he helped was a close friend of John Sebastian, a Heritage endorsing artist.  This guy is a professional guitarist in Germany who waited over a year only to get the wrong guitar.  Another six months later another guitar arrived in the wrong finish and with a set pickup, which he didn't want.  Patrick fast tracked the Golden Eagle he specified and salvaged a customer for Heritage.  There are lots of these stories from HOC and the Jazz Guitar Forum members, although they are not as extreme.  Patrick would help almost anyone behind the scenes.

OTOH, he was opinionated and didn't mince words.  He did clash.  That wasn't his usual MO though.

The original Heritage owners all saw him as a friend.  The day he died I called Vince Margol, Ren Wall, and Billy Paige to let them know.  He was due to pick up some guitars the next day in Kalamazoo.  The emotion in their voices was blatant.

He was a character.  But he knew guitars thoroughly.

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On 4/13/2022 at 8:47 AM, MartyGrass said:

The pickup on the Excel is an old George Benson.  The Dearmond 1100 was recently placed on the Excel's big brother, the New Yorker.

Patrick was mostly misunderstood.  He was blunt, for sure.  But he nearly always was right on the facts.  He felt strongly about opinions yet knew the difference between facts and opinions.

He helped many people behind the scenes.  Back when he was a member the Heritage factory organization was primitive.  Orders were lost and mixed up.  Patrick would help dozens of guys get their orders through.  One guy he helped was a close friend of John Sebastian, a Heritage endorsing artist.  This guy is a professional guitarist in Germany who waited over a year only to get the wrong guitar.  Another six months later another guitar arrived in the wrong finish and with a set pickup, which he didn't want.  Patrick fast tracked the Golden Eagle he specified and salvaged a customer for Heritage.  There are lots of these stories from HOC and the Jazz Guitar Forum members, although they are not as extreme.  Patrick would help almost anyone behind the scenes.

OTOH, he was opinionated and didn't mince words.  He did clash.  That wasn't his usual MO though.

The original Heritage owners all saw him as a friend.  The day he died I called Vince Margol, Ren Wall, and Billy Paige to let them know.  He was due to pick up some guitars the next day in Kalamazoo.  The emotion in their voices was blatant.

He was a character.  But he knew guitars thoroughly.

You sure summed that up accurately. RIP Patrick. 

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