John D'Angelico was from New York, USA and he was famous for his archtop Guitars which are counted amongst the finest ever made. He learned how to make instruments from his great uncle Signor Ciani, a mandolin and flat top guitar maker and he also studied Violin making. He was able to produce about 35 instruments a year at the peak of production.

In addition to making Guitars he also made a few Mandolins and Ukuleles; and by few I mean there were only 3. One is a spruce top Tenor that resides in the American Guitar Museum in New York and was made in 1932 for Benny Mortel's wife. The second is a mahogany Soprano from the 30s. The last is a sunburst Tenor Tiple. 

He died in 1964 but because of his reputation, his name lives on and is used by Crews Guitars, (who brought the name from La Bella Strings who got the name from John himself to use on strings), and by some people who had brought the naming rights from the D'Angelico family after his death?