One of The Most Beautiful Instruments Ever Built.  [SOLD]...

One of just five D'Angelico 'TearDrop' guitars specially built by Hidesato Shino (Japan's top Luthier) in 2000.
This incredible guitar is a near exact reproduction of the original 'TearDrop' guitar built by John D'Angelico for Peter Girardi of the 'Tear-Drops' in 1957, which is currently on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (catalog # 67). This single Venetian (round) cutaway with extended treble bout forming a teardrop shape weighs just 6.30 lbs. Seventeen and a half inch-wide, three and one eighth inch deep body, with a carved one-piece close-grained spruce top with two triple-bound 'f' holes. Two-piece carved curly 'highly flamed' maple back and sides. The top and bottom of the body feature an amazing seventeen-ply white and black binding. Three-piece highly-flamed maple neck with two ebony strips. The neck is triple-bound, and the headstock has five-ply binding. Unique D'Angelico carved headstock with Brazilian mahogany laminated face. "D'Angelico / New York" and "New / Yorker" elaborately inlaid in pearl, 'Skyscraper' shaped pearl truss-rod cover with three screws and brass 'dome' on top of headstock. Black laminate headstock back with pearl diamond inlay. Individual Grover 'Rotomatic' tuners with 'stairstep' metal buttons. Bound ebony fretboard (with double white lines on either side), 22 jumbo frets, a comfortable nut width of 1 11/16 inches and a really nice medium-to-thick neck profile. Inlaid pearl split-block position markers. Unique Brazilian rosewood 'teardrop' shaped pickguard with twelve-ply binding. Pre-compensated, height adjustable rosewood bridge on unique 'teardrop' shaped ebony base with five shaped pearl inlays. Specific Ebony tailpiece secured to the end of the body by four screws (including strap-pin), Rectangular light-gray label inside the bass f-hole, with "D'Angelico / New York" "New York Model: NYL-1 TearDrop" / Serial: "00/022619" (written in black ink) and "Vestax Corp. Tokyo" signature of "H.Shino" in black ink. All hardware gold-plated. This guitar is in mint (9.50) condition and is housed in it's original D'Angelico 'teardrop' shaped seven-latch brown imitation crocodile hardshell case with cream plush lining (9.50).

The only visible differences between this Hidesato Shino version and the original Peter Girardi guitar are as follows:
1. The inlaid pearl headstock logo has "New Yorker" instead of the initials "PG"
2. The pearl fretboard markers are split-parallelogram instead of plain block
3. The tailpiece is made of Ebony instead of brass engraved with the D'angelico name

"One day in 1957 D'Angelico received the strangest request ever for a custom guitar. Into the shop walked Peter Girardi, a local player who worked as a musical entertainer in various nighclubs in the neighborhood. He wanted a guitar that customers would remember, he told D'Angelico: something that would make Girardi stick in the audience's minds and hopefully, keep them coming back so that his employers would continue to book him. D'Angelico worked hard to come up with a design that would fit Girardi's request. Eventually, he devised a New-York type guitar, but with an extra projection from the lower half of the body to create what he called a "can opener" shape, pushing the body out to a pointed tip on the lower bout. One can almost hear D'Angelico saying, "Well, Peter, they'sure will remember this guitar!" Years later, the guitar would turn up and be purchased by Scott Chinery, who in 1993 had D'Angelico's protégé Jimmy D'Aquisto build a modern reinterpritation of the unique guitar that has come to be known as the D'Angelico Teardrop." (Tony Bacon. The History of the Americana Guitar from 1833 to the Present Day. pp. 96-97).

"Even before anyone had ever seen this instrument, collectors knew that it existed: it was one of those enigmatic "out there somewhere" guitars. When it surfaced it was an incredible experience to see it for the first time. Inside the guitar on the back are a number of interesting inscriptions. The main one reads: "Specially designed and made for Mr. Peter Girardi" and it's then signed by John D'Angelico and dated June 18th 1957. It has two serial numbers: D'Angelico's sequential #2032, as well as a special # 1 stamped separately. Peter Girardi …wanted something that his audiences would always remember. He certainly got it! But little did he know that the design would really have a sonic importance: It really does open up the sound and it's one of the most powerful archtop guitars that I've ever heard. When I purchased the Teardrop for $150,000 it was the most money that had ever been paid for a non-celebrity guitar. The very next day I was offered $250,000 for it. Since then, an early Fender guitar sold for $400,000, so I would say that this D'Angelico is worth at least $400,000 today. It is quite possibly the best known and most prestigious vintage guitar anywhere" (Scott Chinery - The Chinery Collection, p. 98).

In 1988, Jerry Berberine, President of D'Angelico, signed a deal with Japan's master guitar maker, Hidesato Shiino (b.1947), to launch a line of D'Angelico classic model re-issues, including the New Yorker, to be manufactured in Japan to the same high standards of craftsmanship and attention to detail as vintage D'Angelicos. Shiino succeeded.

When he was a teenager, Hidesato Shiino heard The Ventures. Inspired, he learned to play the guitar, and after high school went to work for Yamaha Musical Instruments. He later joined the staff of Fujigen, designing guitars which they produced for Kanda and Aria under the Greco brand name. Visiting guitar manufacturers throughout the world, he learned all he could about design and production. A few ventures later, he decided to concentrate on design and manufacture, establishing Shiino Musical instruments Developing Corporation, which evolved into Vestax. Considered the Leo Fender of Japan, Shiino and Vestax manufactured guitars until 2004.