ksdaddy Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Let's go back to 1989. I went to a local music store owned by a Syrian gentleman with a thick French accent (such is the rich tapestry of the county in which I live). He clapped his hands together Chuck Barris style and said he had a guitar that he knew I'd appreciate. Some guy had traded a 1985 Fender D'Aquisto towards a new keyboard. It looked mint other than the missing pickguard. I played it a little, liked it, but the price tag of $750 didn't stack up with the fact I could have gotten a new ES-175 for a few hundred more or my pick of many fat Gibson, Guilds, and whatnot. It was 'nice' but not something I would have foregone a Gibson for. Bump ahead to the summer of 1990, I stopped into the music store driving my 1973 VW bus accompanied by 2 nieces and a wife that was 8.9 months pregnant. The subject of the D'Aquisto came up again and the price had dropped to $550. It was MORE tempting but the only way I could have made it happen was to put it on a credit card. I had a problem then and I have a problem now with it's lineage. I know it was designed by Jimmy D'Aquisto in collaboration with Fender and at that time there was NO USA production of Fender guitars. They were made in Japan along with the Esprit and Flame series (and many mainstream Tele/Strat solid bodies, for that matter). People have raved about the D'Aquisto line of Fenders and I have never heard one negative comment, ever. All. My. Life. I have held Gibson up as the King of jazz boxes. I mean that in the production line, "buy one off the rack" King of the jazz boxes as opposed to having Bob Benedetto carve me one. I'm talking ES series mainly. And then in the early 80s I saw Fender, the icon I grew up with, almost die a horrible death and "Fender Japan" was cranking out guitars with the magic F name on the headstock that were twice as good as any Fender to ever come out of California. I was very resentful for that; to point of hating anything that said "Made in Japan" on it... I knew their workmanship was superior to ours and as an end user consumer I should have been happy about that but I was hateful that "the name" was not being used on California guitars, warts and all. I saw it as a death knell for any US Fender production and I almost had a (happy) heart attack when I heard of the new American Standard Series coming out of Corona in '87. Sour grapes probably. Japan beat us. They not only put out a better product, they used our own name on it. You know what I mean. I thought about that D'Aquisto off and on over the years. I thought about the fact it was designed by Jimmy and was built with (I'm sure) some level of his supervision, and it was built during a time when Japan was really hitting their stride wth beautiful, well made guitars such as the Washburn Tour series, Ibanez Roadstars, etc. I still could never get the notion out of my head that there were production workers in Japan snickering at us for "losing" the Fender name and them having to "rescue" us. Irrational. Making no sense. I didn't claim otherwise. My turmoil is emotional, not something measurable. About 10 years ago I was asked to check over a Fender D'Aquisto, restring it and make any needed adjustments. I was told I did it. I'm sure I did. I don't remember it at all. I have a letter here from the owner thanking me for working on his beloved D'Aquisto. I do remember talking to him about it and determining it was indeed the one from Ezzy's Music. This gentleman bought it and it has been babied ever since. I don't think it came out of the case if he ate garlic that day for fear the smell would get into the finish. It was so bad that last year he bought an Ibanez Artcore so he wouldn't damage or even leave a finerprint on the D'Aquisto. A little extreme I would say. He did concede that if it was so precious he couldn't bring himself to play it, then it should go away. He put it on consignment for (I think) $1500. It didn't sell. Not in this area, in this economy. I emailed him a couple times over the past six months and he was a little protective of his ownership, saying he thought he'd keep it for a while. The latest email from a couple days ago however, said he would sell it to me. He asked that I not reveal the price but it's somewhere between $900 and $1100. I have the cash and I can own it tomorrow. If I buy it and end up hating it, I will be okay with that. Not the first time I've bought impulsively and sold almost immediately. If I buy it and love it...I will be forced to take back any irrational and unfounded resentment towards some highly talented people. In additon, maybe the ES-175 will cease to be the Standard by which all others are judged. I'm afraid. Afraid this will be really great. It shouldn't be this way. Can you imagine being an employee at Gibson's Kalamazoo factory and after the factory closed it's doors you tried a new 335 made in Nashville and you found it to be twice as good as the guitars you were gluing the necks onto a year before? I'm sure there are Hagstrom and Framus ex-employees that get a little sick when they see the shiny new Chinese versions of their guitars. Okay, I'm getting tired and I'm rambling. It just confuses me to consider buying a guitar that people have considered to be one of the sweetest jazz boxes ever, I can afford it, it's local, but it may mean I have to drop a lot of biases that are ingrained and admit that what people have said about Fender Japan was right. Not that there was ever any doubt, it's just not something I ever wanted to admit. I had this argument with myself in 1990 too. It would be maddening to discover I should have bought it 25 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevDavidLee Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Holy Mother of.... that's beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you going to buy it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Don't know what is crazier, the guitar or the story around her. I guess her tone would justify playing her ... including touching her with glacé kid gloves only, of course. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshall Paul Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Buy it right now, and then just keep fooling yourself over your irrational ideas. Simple. People do it all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 A Fender Master Series D'Aquisto Standard with the same Schaller-made hb pups as (for instance) my MIJ System III Strat from the same era. See bridge pup in pic. I too could not believe that Fender guitars would never again be 'Made In U.S.A.' - which as it turned out was thankfully not what happened. The Fender models from that MIJ era include Ultra, Esprit, System I/II/III Strats, HM Strats, Teles and more - also I think the weird-shaped Performer, and possibly the Katana too. All these were very well-made even if not all were that well-designed. Fender - by then under new management - needed product in a hurry. The Japanese factory was the Fuji Gen-Gakki factory in Matsumoto, which already made Ibanez and Greco guitars. http://www.masterseriesguitars.com/ I will be interested to hear how you get on with it; have to say I don't think it will be better than the Heritage or the thinline ES175 you have shown in these pages previously...... Regards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Well, you live and learn and I had never heard of such a guitar before. It looks splendid and if it plays well (I am sure it will) then go for it! In terms of jazz boxes my dream is a Super 400 leaving aside a lottery win and an order to Bob Benedetto! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny V Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Great story. That guitar has kept reappearing in year life. You are meant to own it, even if it ends up not being everything you have imagined it to be. Kenny V Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturn Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 That's a very pretty and unique guitar. Interesting story too. Although I do think you're over thinking the whole "Made In Japan" thing. But then you know that too. :) I also find the sellers logic to be a little odd. It's so precious I won't even touch it, but it's only worth $1100? Is it super fragile or something? Anyway, after all this history, you almost have to buy it now. B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share Posted April 19, 2015 The guy is an odd duck. This is not my first encounter with him. He's supposedly an electronic tech but one example of his work is the Peavey Bandit that was "not repairable" and returned to the store (that he was doing repairs for) with a $40 invoice for looking it over and saying it's not repairable. The customer didn't want to pay the $40 bill so it sat in the trash room for a year until it was given to me. I am not a tech but I fiddled about and determined it to be a $5.00 IC chip. It is now my favorite amp. I'm a little weirded out by his emails because it's almost like he's doing me some huge favor by selling it to me and somehow I'm supposed to care for it and revere it in the same manner he did. Listen, if I buy it, it's mine and it may get sold in June for all I know. He's making it sound like he's cutting me a good deal because he "hoped I'd end up owning it because I will appreciate it" and so forth. I get the sentiment but really now, once it's out of his hands, he has no visitation rights and can't revoke the adoption. I may buy it but I don't want the baggage that goes with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 ... I may buy it but I don't want the baggage that goes with it. After all you reported, that's completely understood. May the guitar serve you like your "irrepairable" Peavey Bandit does! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevDavidLee Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 ...I'm a little weirded out by his emails because it's almost like he's doing me some huge favor by selling it to me and somehow I'm supposed to care for it and revere it in the same manner he did. Listen, if I buy it, it's mine and it may get sold in June for all I know. He's making it sound like he's cutting me a good deal because he "hoped I'd end up owning it because I will appreciate it" and so forth. I get the sentiment but really now, once it's out of his hands, he has no visitation rights and can't revoke the adoption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Over the years, I've had the opportunity to buy one of these Japanese Fender D'Aquistos, and for some reason have always passed. Most recently was a few years ago, when I came across one online that had been part of a collection. Asking price was near $1500 if I recall correctly. From the same collection was an AIUSA John Lee Hooker Epi Sheraton (body by Terada, shipped to Gibson Nashville for all hardware & assembly), which I did purchase for $1299 in dead mint condition. A wonderful keeper. I've also held & played a few of the D'Aquistos, but it was many years ago. Can only say that I recall the build quality to be first rate. If you stuck one under my nose with a floating pickup, I'd be quite tempted! Bottom line - there are lots of interesting guitars out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aster1 Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 KS, You could always agree to a "1st Right to Repurchase" type of deal with this guy. If he didn't want it back at the going price then he made the decision to someone else to own it. Just a thought. Aster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 ... Bottom line - there are lots of interesting guitars out there. These words are so darn true... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splake Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Sometimes you find guitars, and sometimes guitars find you. You found the guitar and it came back and found you. Very cool. Buy it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvercrow Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Cool guitar! Cool story! Humor the guy...buy it....change your phone number and email addresses. I was never resentful regarding the Fender / Japan manufactures. Disappointed, worried...yeah. BUT Fender Japan put out some DARN fine guitars. The best...BEST Tele I've owned was a '72 Tele Custom RI "CIJ" I bought in 1995 or '96. When I get together with my former bandmates from that time they still reminisce with me, and chide me (harass me) for selling it. No crap- BETTER sounding and playing than the Custom Shop Tele I owned. I'd buy that sucker back in a heart beat. Best wishes and keep us posted. Ya know, there was probably already a thread started but I'd really enjoy reading about the "ONE" (have to pick just one) that got away. Seems a disease with us guitar folk. You are fortunate my friend- it got away, visited, went away and came back again. That guitar WANTS YOU! Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 You should make it very clear that you're just looking for a guitar and that you're married. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevDavidLee Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 You should make it very clear that you're just looking for a guitar and that you're married. Ha ha ha ha ha hahahahahahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 there's a Stephen King novel in this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pesh Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 That guitar is amazing! I never even knew about the model, but wow is that a stunner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted April 21, 2015 Author Share Posted April 21, 2015 Here's a similar one but in blonde. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 woa those are beautiful.. I remember these, but I will be honest that I never paid much attention to them, That tone is to die for.. so did you buy it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted April 21, 2015 Author Share Posted April 21, 2015 I have the cash in my pocket and I may stop after work. I was going to try to connect yesterday but I was being pulled in many directions. I emailed him and said "I haven't forgotten you, I'm just all over the place today". He replied that it was fine, he took it out and plugged it in, he's not in any hurry to give up his "precious D'Aquisto" (his exact words). I messaged a mutual friend and said I felt bad breaking them up when they're so close to getting a room. His reply was that "he's crazy" and will rant how good the guitar is one day and then wish it was gone the next. Which we've all gone through I guess, but he seems to have taken guitar love/hate to a higher level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 ... but he seems to have taken guitar love/hate to a higher level. Seems this way to me, too. Might depend on the specific moment. These can be unpredictable in on-off romances. :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Hayden Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Well IMO the ES-175 will be the Standard to judge other guitars by , but if you buy this one and decide you want to sell it. Just PM me for my address and I'll pay through Pay Pal B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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