A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

Scores like this are the reason I am such a huge fan of GC used...always something interesting to find for a killer price! Couldn't find a ton of info online, but I came across this interesting looking D'Agostino LP Custom earlier this week for $150 and pulled the trigger. Far as I can tell some of these were made in Japan (the nicer ones), others in Korea, EKO in Italy was involved at some point, etc. I decided to grab this because it looked like it belonged to the category of "nicer" LP copies...set neck, quality tuners, and beautiful cream binding all over. Also has the fret nibs, which I haven't seen too often on these.

It arrived today in really great shape, and man is this ever one killer LP! Turned out to have a Dimarzio Air Zone in the bridge (sweet!), and I believe it dates to 1981 judging by the serial and info I found online (though I could be wrong, there's a lot of misinformation out there when it comes to some of these LP copies). Plays great with nice low action, and sounds huge. It has some weight to it for sure like a good LP should, but it's not a boat anchor like a lot of LPs I've come across.

Posting some pics here since I don't think I've ever come across one of these anywhere else online (minus one cryptic post on MLP that didn't provide much useful info), and I'll get some clips up shortly as well because it really is a killer sounding guitar.

That looks like a very nice score for $150, especially in today’s market!

Damn..that is really nice, even if the price would have been 250, 350, maybe even 450! I need to get the rest of my life under some kind of control/normalcy so I can start searching for deals like that myself

What's your strategy with GC - just watch for new additions as they show up or do they have some kind of RSS feed/magic portal you can tie into?

uwmcscott wrote: ↑Wed Oct 14, 2020 8:23 pm Damn..that is really nice, even if the price would have been 250, 350, maybe even 450! I need to get the rest of my life under some kind of control/normalcy so I can start searching for deals like that myself

What's your strategy with GC - just watch for new additions as they show up or do they have some kind of RSS feed/magic portal you can tie into?

There isn't much I can say with regard to how I find these things (or sometimes I feel like these things find me )...it's a combination of looking fairly often (I usually spend maybe 15-20 mins a day browsing), and knowing what to search for because sometimes stuff will get traded in and then not show up when you filter by "newest first". I like to find interesting custom stuff, so I'll always do a search for "custom" or "usa" and sometimes really interesting stuff comes up. I also search by brands I like (Warmoth, Suhr, Kiesel, etc). This old LP was just listed with the brand name, but I could tell it had some high end specs even from the crappy GC photos so I decided to pull the trigger. Sometimes I'll just filter it "low price to high price" and take a browse through a bunch of pages. Every couple of weeks something cool tends to pop up.

If I'm honest I need another LP like a hole in the head having 2 killer ALs already, but this one has that age factor and a really great feel and "mojo" so I'm super glad to have scored it.

Gorgeous! Love the binding!

AnotherJim wrote: ↑Wed Oct 14, 2020 10:45 pm Gorgeous! Love the binding!

Thanks! The binding is honestly the first thing that caught my eye when I saw this guitar. Here's a couple more photos including some gut shots:







And just for laughs...the original photos GC had posted.

Looks really great! I was wondering if it was ply (not that there's anything wrong with that), but from that pic showing the pickup route it looks like solid wood.

toomanycats wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 7:30 am Looks really great! I was wondering if it was ply (not that there's anything wrong with that), but from that pic showing the pickup route it looks like solid wood.

Thanks! I too was a little worried about possible plywood since that exists on some of these older MIJ LP copies (not the end of the world of course but really not something I care to see on any guitar I own) but it's definitely solid wood. The grain seems to be indicative of maple but I imagine a solid maple bodied guitar would be overly bright sounding and I don't hear that with this one. Unfortunately it's hard to ID anything further with any certainty since there really isn't much info out there...but it really is a hell of an LP!

Here's a closer photo of the back, even has some flame figuring horizontally in the middle...wonder if it is all just maple.

looks really nice! Congrats! I've seen mahogany with some flame, so it could be... doesn't really look like the grain of maple, but anything is possible during that time frame

solteroblues wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 10:54 am looks really nice! Congrats! I've seen mahogany with some flame, so it could be... doesn't really look like the grain of maple, but anything is possible during that time frame

Thanks! I did consider mahogany also, I've seen some nicely figured pieces over the years. The top grain definitely looks like maple to me when I look at it up close, so maybe it is mahogany neck & body with a plain maple top.

Gorgeous LP. And a STEAL at that price. Love the finish, binding and wood grain in the top. Home run with bases loaded due to the stealth Dimarzio bucker.

Great looking guitar and a great deal! Congrats.

fullonshred wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 2:42 pm Gorgeous LP. And a STEAL at that price. Love the finish, binding and wood grain in the top. Home run with bases loaded due to the stealth Dimarzio bucker.

Thanks! Going to replace the neck pup but I do really like the Air Zone in the bridge. Cleans up very nicely with the volume knob too! I'll be posting some clips this evening.

Wow, that's quite a find! I see that there's a subreddit devoted to D'Agostino guitars, but it looks like you already found it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/DagostinoGuitars/

As a native New Yorker, of course the first thing I wonder is whether they were related to the D'Agostino supermarket family!

glasshand wrote: ↑Thu Oct 15, 2020 3:45 pm Wow, that's quite a find! I see that there's a subreddit devoted to D'Agostino guitars, but it looks like you already found it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/DagostinoGuitars/

As a native New Yorker, of course the first thing I wonder is whether they were related to the D'Agostino supermarket family!

I too am a native New Yorker and thought the same! Guess it’s not that uncommon a last name .

It looks like the wiring harness has been upgraded too...

tobijohn wrote: ↑Sat Oct 17, 2020 11:39 pm It looks like the wiring harness has been upgraded too...

Yep, for sure...someone else told me that they think the bridge is also upgraded (Faber). Will have to check next time I restring. Really killer LP, I’ll get some clips up tomorrow finally.

slowhand84 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 18, 2020 12:21 am
Yep, for sure...someone else told me that they think the bridge is also upgraded (Faber). Will have to check next time I restring. Really killer LP, I’ll get some clips up tomorrow finally.

The resale value of the upgraded parts are most likely worth more than the cost of the guitar. In a sense, GC paid you to take it off their hands...

tobijohn wrote: ↑Sun Oct 18, 2020 12:39 am

slowhand84 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 18, 2020 12:21 am
Yep, for sure...someone else told me that they think the bridge is also upgraded (Faber). Will have to check next time I restring. Really killer LP, I’ll get some clips up tomorrow finally.

The resale value of the upgraded parts are most likely worth more than the cost of the guitar. In a sense, GC paid you to take it off their hands...

Yep pretty much haha, this has happened to me on a few guitars. GC is always a goldmine...

That is indeed a steal! And, that is a beautiful guitar!

What's the angle of the headstock like?

littlebadboy wrote: ↑Sun Oct 18, 2020 11:07 am That is indeed a steal! And, that is a beautiful guitar!

What's the angle of the headstock like?

Thanks! Not sure how to answer your question with an actual degree but here's a photo: