D'Angelico - Premier EXL-1 Honey Blonde

New York, the home of jazz, with its subdued neon lights and brass instruments echoing the piano. The Premier EXL-1 embodies this legacy in its curves. Its Honey Blonde finish, with a high-gloss varnish, catches the light like an autumnal memory – warm and almost mouth-watering to look at.

The 17-inch (431.80 mm) hollow-body with a depth of 3 inches (76.20 mm) breathes freely. A laminated spruce top, with laminated flamed maple sides and back: the wood works in harmony to create a body that resonates rather than resists. The rosewood bridge anchors every note with texture, substance and resonance.

As for the neck, the C-shaped maple profile moulds to the palm, tapering from 20 mm at the first fret to 22 mm at the twelfth. The ovangkol fingerboard, with a radius of 355.60 mm and 22 Medium Vintage nickel-silver frets, allows the fingers to glide smoothly across the strings. The Graph Tech NuBone XL nut stabilises the tuning, whilst the gold-plated Grover 109 Super Rotomatic tuners maintain it.

The floating D’Angelico mini-humbucker pickup, controlled by a single Volume and Tone control, captures the clarity of jazz as well as the mellow tone of the blues or well-crafted vintage rock. Stairstep tailpiece, 5-ply Scalini tortoise-shell pickguard, mother-of-pearl inlays: the aesthetic details complete the picture. Made in Indonesia and supplied with a gig bag, it weighs 4.41 kg over the strap.