#petillo

[davepetillo]

Check out the start of this PETILLO Joker Thinline Tele/Esquire inspired by Tim Burton's 1989 Batman movie Joker! I was commissioned to make something that's based on the Jack Nicholson Joker. After looking over the Joker's outfit I was inspired by his chess board pants. I saw symbolism in the pattern in the pants because when Batman takes on the Joker it's usually a game of chess to defeat him. The 68 inlaid piece top is made of Louisiana swamp ash and American walnut! Take a look at all pics!!!

[davepetillo]

PETILLO Custom Acoustic Guitar: (Made for my dear friend Gene Deetz & family/completion date - December 12, 2020)

Specs/Notes:

Soundboard: Spanish cedar

Back & Sides: Brazilian rosewood (dark straight grain)

Finish: Nitro

Pickguard: clear Martin style

Neck: Hondorous mahogany

Neck Heel Cap: Nigerian ebony

Fingerboard: Nigerian ebony

Fingerboard Inlays: abalone rings

Fingerboard Side Dots: Mother of pearl

Frets: stainless steel low profile style

Nut: Woolley Mammoth

Bridge/Pins/Saddle: Nigerian ebony

Binding: Hawaiian Koa figured with German white holly and American maple dyed black purfling lines

Rosette Inlay: Paua abalone ring

Front Headstock: Marquetry strip inlays with ebony diamonds in the center of the piece, the angled elbow design in the right hand side of the headstock is a lamination of Nigerian ebony, American maple dyed red/blue, Indian rosewood and German flame maple, the final step is the round pinstripe NEW YORK YANKEES style black and white circle motif inlay highlighted in red burl wood in the top circle cut out, the Petillo logo is done in sterling silver

Back Headstock: art deco blue metallic 3d fan sunburst with raised smooth to the touch stinger point

Tuning Keys: nickel key-stone button Gotoh brand

Tuning Key Gear-Box Carving: dyed red/blue engraved sunflowers

End Pin: hand lathed round pinstripe NEW YORK YANKEES style black and white plastic veneers glued together (this motif was also used on the headstock and bridge)

Strap Button On Neck Heel: traditional nickel cone shape

[davepetillo]

Check out this custom PETILLO Point body shape made by my Father, Dr. Phil Petillo, in June 1993 (serial number 0644) for our family friend Joe Demko! I did a full restoration on it to bring it back to life. The instrument has many details. The front headstock has a group of colored wood veneer flowers with PETILLO in mother of pearl and the barber strip column is inlaid where the neck meets the body. The back headstock has an abstract mosaic pattern, and inside the soundhole edge is a ladder-step design delicately bent following the shape of the soundhole. Also, the neck laminations of seven layers are made up of German and Austrian maple, French walnut and South American purple heart wood in the center. The soundboard is German silver spruce with Bear-Claw grain, the binding purfling on the top is five layers of white fiber and South American purple heart wood. The Paua abalone rosette with mother of pearl tulip inlays and a Nigerian ebony bridge with inlaid design strips. The end pin jack area has an East Indian rosewood "V" inlay outlined in colored wood veneers high-lighed by the Austrian figured maple grain sides with a tabacco burst. The three piece back is rosewood with a mother of pearl assembled herringbone arrow design with black ebony binding. Check out all the pics!!!

[davepetillo]

Check out the Gibson Les Paul speed knobs with abalone tops. I made the knobs for a vintage Zion electric guitar. The natural abalone sea shell has so many colors and the tone knob has a colorful circle knot pattern. I turned the plastic speed knobs in my lathe and rounded the edges over for depth. Take a look at all the pics!

[davepetillo]

Check out this Taylor guitar 716ce model handmade oval jack plate adapter. The original Taylor pickup was replaced with an LR Baggs pickup. I didn't want to drill any new holes in the guitar so I made a template of the oval shape Taylor black plastic jack unit. The new oval plate is made out of Madagascar ebony. I used the same screw holes as the original to not mess with the value of the guitar. The new ebony oval plate also matches the rosewood back and sides. This beautiful guitar belongs to my friend Jon Cabrera. Jon is a singer/songwriter/traveling musician. Take a look at all the pics!

[davepetillo]

Happy Easter & belated Passover!!! This is my Christian and Jewish inspired artwork to celebrate the day. Have a great holiday to all!

[davepetillo]

Thanks to The Met Museum for the recommendation to restore this vintage 1939 D'ANGELICO Excel. The original frets were corroded green and dented. I worked hard to remove the corrosion to save the original frets and did our micropolishing process of the frets/fingerboard. The procedure of micropolishing involves the frets being polished from 400 grit sand paper all the way up to 10,000 grit lens paper (which polishes telescope lenses). The entire idea is to make the surface area so glass-like the metal string can resonate a clear true note with intonation clarity. I always use the example of the wine glass filled with liquid and the player rubs the rim…and the friction of that motion makes a note. You can imagine if the rim was rough, it would not be as reflective to carry the note. The fingerboard binding separated and I reglued/filled the area to make it flush again. The tailpiece on the Excel models commonly breaks at the fold at the bottom of the hook in area. To reattach the tailpiece bracket we did a brazing process to heat the pieces back together flush. The amount of heat required for this is enough to turn the brass tailpiece area red hot. The last step to restore the tailpiece is to use acid to blacken/patina it to match the age of the guitar's hardware. The pickguard had a foggy texture to it and I hand buffed it for 2 hours to get it clean and shinny. The sides of the guitar on the upper Low E side bout separated and I reglued/secured the area back into place. The final step was to hand buff the guitar clean of all grime, oiled/rebuilt the tuning keys, set up with 52-11 Petillo copper strings and refit the bridge base flush to the top. This is a priceless instrument and it's always an honor to work on these. My Father Dr. Phil Petillo early on studied with John D'Angelico and after John's passing finished his apprenticeship with John's Godson, Jimmy DeSerio. At our shop we have documented journals, wood and blueprints/fixtures from John's shop. Checkout all the pics!

[davepetillo]

Christmas inlay marquetry design I made to celebrate the season!!! I never made a holiday themed inlay piece before. I used German Holly, American maple dyed red, black and green, South American Canary wood and French Walnut veneers. Merry Christmas to all!