One of the greatest guitar luthiers in history, James L. D'Aquisto, started his career in arch-top guitar building at the age of 17 at John D'Angelico's studio. He founded his own D'Aquisto brand after the passing of John D'Angelico and is known to have created some of the best-sounding, most sought after arch-top guitars available until his untimely death at the age of 59 in 1995.