D’Angelico’s earliest guitars were modeled on Gibson’s L-5 archtop, which at the time were 16 inches wide.

This 1939 New Yorker model, built for Joe Senacorin, is a traditional example that shows the Gibson influence in the “dove wing” or center-dip design at the top of the peghead. The rest of the appointments are distinctly D’Angelico, including the heavy, stairstep-design tailpiece, the multiple layers of binding, the flared peghead shape, and the engraved peghead inlay.