1995 Jesselli Guitars Compact Art Nouveau Tiered Hollow-body

Offered here is a rare and early, one owner Jesselli guitar, Third Guitar Joe is ever built, representing a formative chapter in Jesselli’s career.

According to the original owner, he first met Joseph Jesselli in the late 1960s and reconnected with him in the early 1977 while Jesselli was apprenticing under Jimmy D’Aquisto. During that period, he helped form Jesselli Guitars  Long Island workshop. The owner assisted part-time with neck work and fingerboard inlays while Joseph focused on the builds. One of the first few guitars Joseph ever made was purchased by the owner’s father, and this instrument comes from that same very early period.

This guitar features a fully mahogany body that was entirely hand-carved, paired with two humbucker pickups one Bartollini in the bridge and a neck pickup of unknown origin. Tonally, they are bright, clear, and articulate, very reminiscent of early PAF-style humbuckers. One of the most distinctive design elements is the inclusion of Jesselli’s early back plate, which acts as a resonance chamber, giving the guitar a lively, semi-hollow-like response while retaining excellent focus and balance. The waist measures 13 1/8”.

The flame maple neck is topped with an ebony fingerboard and carved to a comfortable medium profile. The guitar is finished entirely in nitrocellulose lacquer and shows a beautiful, honest patina consistent with age. It has recently been professionally set up, with all frets leveled and polished by a skilled luthier. The nickel silver frets measure .048” x .095” and have their full life ahead of them.

Handmade appointments are found throughout, including an ebony bridge with an ivory saddle and a matching ebony tailpiece with brass plating and string inserts. The headstock features nitro binding, an 8th”-thick, mother-of-pearl Jesselli inlay, and split fingerboard inlays.

Overall condition is excellent for its age, with average cosmetic wear to the nitro finish but no issues affecting playability or structural integrity. This is a beautifully preserved and historically significant example of Joseph Jesselli’s earliest work, and a rare opportunity to acquire an instrument from the very beginning of his legacy. Priced w/ ORHSC

Available is a rare and early Jesselli Guitars Turkish Walnut Hollow Body model built around 1988. Those who know of Joe’s guitars, know he was D’Aquisto’s in-house apprentice for the last 10 years of Jimmy’s career. His instruments are prized possessions of somer of the worlds most recognized guitarists such as Keith Richards who owns four custom Jesselli’s.

This fully hollow, 14″ lower bout build features a highly figured Turkish Walnut top and body. The top is flat, with the back being fully and intricately carved. The guitar is adorned with a Gold Leaf body and headstock trim and features anciant mastodon ivory “stepped binding”. The nut width is 1 5/8″ but with the extra step of binding, Joe is able to allow the player to utilize the entire width of the fingerboard. This gives the instrument a feel of a 1 11/16″ nut-width guitar. This build features dual humbuckers wound by Joe himself and sound absoloutly fantastic. Like a low output PAF but with a tad more single coil like clarity. The controls are volume, tone 3-way switch. You can achieve a plethora of gorgeous tones from sweet Jazz to Rock and Roll or Blues. This guitar also sounds beautiful fingerpicked.

The scale is 24.75″. The fingerboard, bridge, tailpiece and headstock veneer are all high-grade 80 + year old African Ebony. The fingerboard features silicon bronze self lubricating frets and abolone deco inlays with black side markers. The, switch tip saddle and heel cap are carved out of mammoth ivory as are the insides of the ebony knobs. The pickup rings are hand hammered brass with English kip leather covers. The headstock features a MOP Jesselli inlay, gold-leaf trim and a watussi horn truss-rod cover.