Jesselli Guitars Modernaire Circa 1989-1990 Natural Walnut & Ebony. Owned by Alan Rogan touring tech for Keith Richards. (Authorized Jesselli Dealer)

Available is one of the most iconic and important Jesselli Guitars ever built. This highly figured Claro Walnut and African Ebony bodied Modernaire was built in either 1989 or 1990 according to Joseph. There are no serial numbers with Jesselli Guitars, each instrument is one of a kind. Joe does name his models however the specs of each instrument always differer from one example to the next. Joe enjoys experimenting and trying out new ideas with every new composition he builds.

This incredible example of a Modernaire was previously owned by Alan Rogan who was a well-regarded touring technician for Rock and Roll greats such as Keith Richards, Ron Wood and Pete Townsend just to name a few.

Alan discovered Joseph Jesselli’s guitars while working as Kieth Richards on-road guitar tech during a Stones tour in the 1980s. Keith owns several different Jesselli's and was traveling with one of them at the time. Alan passed away a few years ago and we were able to acquire this Modernaire through a store in England who was selling some instruments from Alan’s estate sale.

This Jesselli was in incredible overall condition when we received it however it did need some attention in order to play and look its best. Since we are good friends and dealers of Joe Jesselli we were able to have him go over the guitar in full. The frets have been re-dressed and are now like-new, the entire instruments was buffed and cleaned, a new truss-rod cover was made (as the existing one was lost when we received it) and two hairline cracks near the butt-end of the guitars body were repaired. You can see this in the close up shot of the strap-lock recess beneath the tailpiece. The structural integrity of this guitar is perfect with no issues what so ever. As a matter of fact according to Joe Jesselli the repaired area is now stronger than it has ever been and this Modernaire is good to go for at least another lifetime.

This Jesselli features a fully hollow body. The body is made up of three parts a book-matched Claro Walnut top and back sandwiched between an ebony core or middle section. The ebony core is not one solid piece, instead it is made up of multiple pieces of the same ebony. The Claro walnut is of the highest grade as is the African Ebony which was likely sourced from the stash of Jimmy D'Aquisto. Jesselli apprenticed for D'Aquisto for nearly ten years and has lots of wood from the legendary builders personal stash. This guitar itself has a hugely unique acoustic voice that is hard to ignore even before plugging in.

Acoustically this Modernaire sounds like a miniature archtop but with the sustain of a solid body. If you strum it and listen to the open strings ring out, it's as if this guitar is alive with tons of ghostly artifacts and harmonic overtones. This Jesselli is a very responsive one with notes that seem to just leap off of the fingerboard. You can feel the entire instrument working together and vibrating as you play up and down the neck. Currently this guitar is strung with a set of D'Addario NYXL 10-46 gauge strings and setup with a nice and supple low action of 3 and 4 64th's of an inch high E to low E. However if you have a different setup preference, we'll be glad to have Joseph set it up to your specs.

The pickups in this Modernaire were custom wound to Joes specifications by Seymour Duncan himself. They are very much like a Gibson Firebird mini humbucker except they were wound with a hollow-body guitar in mind. They are the perfect set for this guitar. You can achieve both well-rounded, open and warm Jazz tones as well as guttural yet focused Rock and Roll tones with an overdriven amp. This Modernaire really enjoys gain and does not feedback in an unpleasant way like some hollow body guitars do. Instead the feedback is very musical and controllable due to the unique architecture of this guitar. There are braces inside of the body of this Jesselli, just not in the traditional sense. Instead of having braces that are glued inside the guitar Joe actually carves the braces into the wood itself in order to achieve the desired voicing for any given build. The thickness of the top and the way that it is carved also dictate the way each particular Jesselli will sound.  

Back to discussing some of the materials and the execution of this build. The neck is built from highly figured 1/4" sawn Rock Maple with an African Ebony fingerboard. The African Ebony like all of the materials on this guitar is of the highest grade and exhibits some attractive streaks of brown and orange which compliment the Claro Walnut top and back very elegantly. The Claro Walnut is highly figured but in a unique way. Joe typically chooses figured woods that are out of the ordinary or not something you would typically see on a Les-Paul or other "socially accepted" style of guitar. His preferences on wood choices are more in line with the way a high-end furniture maker would choose their materials as opposed to a luthier. Keep in mind that Jesselli was a furniture maker who also dabbled in high-end jewelry making for some time before switching over to building instruments. 

When looking closely at this Modernaire you will notice that nearly every part of the guitar is handmade by Joseph Jesselli. The pickup rings are hand engraved out of brass with a nickel finish which has gained a beautiful patina over the years. The sides of the rings are carved from water buffalo horn. The pickup covers are made from English Kip leather and dyed to match the top. Leather has zero affect on the tone of the pickups. It is a much more transparent material than say metal or plastic. The tailpiece is also made from hand engraved nickel plated brass. The bridge is made out of water buffalo horn with unique Art Deco carvings on the legs. The saddles are individually intonated and are made out of brass. The bridge itself is adjustable up and down and the posts are pinned to the body. This guitars bridge also swivels back and forth to make intonation easy and precise. Like on all Jesselli's the saddles are made to fit many different string gauges. You will not have an issue if you decided to switch to a heavier or lighter string gauge. These guitars are designed with flexibility in mind.

The neck of this Jesselli is bound in genuine ancient mastodon ivory. This is one of the first guitars to feature Joe's stepped binding which allows the player to utilize the entire width of the fingerboard. On most guitars even if the nut width is 1 11/16" it isn't exactly that width. After the sides of the frets are dressed in order to not stick out and or feel sharp you loose quite a bit of material. On a Jesselli you are able to play on the entire width of the fingerboard and then an additional stepped piece of binding is added on to give the neck an overall wider feel. On this Modernaire the nut width is 1 5/8" however it feels like it is 1 11/16" wide due to the reasons stated above. The frets Joseph uses are made from silicon bronze; a very durable material with self lubricating qualities. They do not color the tone in any way like stainless steel can sometimes do.

The scale-length of this Jesselli is 24 ¾” for a slinky feel with ease when fretting complex chords. The frets are the perfect medium, modern size. The dimensions are 0.048” tall and 0.096” wide. This Modernaire like all Jesselli guitars feature a zero-fret (aka fret nut) this allows for the player to never overplay the frets in first position which can cause you to accidentally bend the fretted note sharp. This design also allows the action to be very uniform from the first to last fret, never getting too high in the upper registers.

Please use the photos as a partial description of this guitar and feel free to reach out with any questions that you might have. We will be happy to give you and in hand description. This Modernaire comes with a handmade wooden case as well as two different leather straps and all of the tools you will need to adjust the hex screws. Lastly this is one of the few guitars that Jesselli has made with an accompaniment hard shell case. The middle lock is currently broken and can either be left as-is or replaced by the next owner as they see fit. The leather straps currently hold the case shut. Whoever ends up with this beauty will be very glad they did.

There is so much magic and history packed into this Modernaire and you know it is one of Joe Jesselli's favorites; as when you walk into his shop the first thing you see on his shop wall is a blown up photo of this exact Modernaire. (see last photo) A real treat for both the player and or collector of high-end handmade guitars.

Specs:

Body: Claro Walnut and African Ebony 

Neck: 1/4” Sawn East Coast Rock Maple w/ Art Deco volute (heavy flame figure) 

Nut: 1 5/8” Nut width + "Jesselli custom stepped binding" (Feels like 1 & 11/16")

Scale length: 24 3/4"

Neck Profile: Jesselli Open C .82” - .94” (similar to a D'Aquisto C neck profile) 

Radius: 8”-16” Compound Radius

Stepped Binding (Ancient Mastodon Ivory)

Fingerboard: African Ebony

Frets: Silicon Bronze w/ zero fret (22 frets)

Fingerboard Inlays: Deco-Style MOP

Headstock: 3 + 3 tuner design w/ Inlaid MOP Jesselli logo 

Tuners: Schaller with handmade engraved nickel plated brass tuner buttons & ebony core

Trussrod Cover: Hand Carved Watussi Horn & Water Buffalo Horn

Bridge: Water Buffalo Horn w/ hand intonated brass saddles 

Tailpiece: Nickel Plated Brass. Large format Jesselli Deco tailpiece w/ concave carve near tailpiece (This helps making string changes on the fly simple and quick)

Neck Heel: Ebony & MOP

Knobs: Buffalo Horn, Mammoth Ivory & 8th” thick exhibition grade MOP inlays 

Pickup rings: Engraved nickel plated brass w/ water buffalo horn sides

5-way blade switch positions: 1. Neck Humbucker, 2. Inner two coils in Parallel, 3. Outer two coils in Parallel, 4. Both Humbuckers in Parallel, 5. Bridge Humbucker

Controls: Master Vol, Master Tone, 5-way blade switch

Toggle Switch Tip: Water Buffalo Horn

Strap locks: One on each end. Bottom lock has a Watusi Horn base plate to hold the strap lock at the ideal angle

Included: Jesselli-Made HSC, Hex Wrenches, 2 Straps w/ strap locks, COA from Denmark Street Guitars 

Body Finish: Oil finish w/ brown stain then lightly sprayed with nitro lacquer (Gloss finish)

Neck Finish: Gloss tinted-nitro lacquer

Weight: 7lbs 6.5oz