2013 Castelluccia Belleville

The Castelluccia family has constructed Gypsy guitars for three generations, making them the oldest continually running Gypsy guitar manufacturer in France. The shop was founded by Jean-Baptiste Castelluccia, an Italian immigrant who was one of many of the skilled Italian luthiers to arrive in Paris during the early 20th Century. The shop is now lead by Jean-Baptiste's grandson, who is also named Jean-Baptiste, and continues to build the unique Gypsy models of his grandfather as well as more conventional Selmer copies. With nearly a century of collective experience, the Castelluccia shop continues to build some of the best sounding and most affordable Gypsy guitars made in France. As the market for Castelluccias built in the 50s and 60s has heated up over the years, it's wonderful to have the option of buying a brand new Castelluccia at almost half the cost of what the vintage ones goes for.

The Belleville model is JB Castellucia's homage to the distinctive F hole design of his grandfather. It features a high grade European spruce top, unusually highly figured Indian rosewood back and sides (looks more like Brazilian than Indian!), and a walnut neck with a Selmer style grafted headstock. This instrument is fitted with a set of Schaller tuners and Castelluccia's own JC tailpiece. The high grade woods and hardware found on this instrument are rarely found on French made guitars under $4K, making this instrument an exceptional deal for someone looking for luxurious features at a budget price.

The tone of this F hole design is powerful yet distinctive. Unlike the brasher tone of most oval holes or the the fairly dark tone typical of D hole guitars, this F hole instrument produces a wonderfully focused midrange with a gutsy, but well defined bass and springy, yet rounded highs. These qualities make it extremely versatile, as you can play note for note Django solo or a modern bebop line and it never sounds out of place. It is particularly well suited to rhythm playing as its midrange focus and gut kicking bass will drive any Gypsy jazz rhythm section to ever higher levels of blissful la pompe.

If your new to Gypsy jazz, the shorter, 650mm scale length of this instrument will feel right at home as it's similar to that of most other types of guitars. Long stretches are easily achieved, making this an excellent instrument for playing intricate chord melody pieces with challenging chord voicings.

This superb instrument is one of the rare opportunities to buy a French made Gypsy guitar from a notable luthier for under $4K. This beautiful, yet very practical instrument is a dream come true for the hardworking player who needs an exceptional instrument at an affordable price. We can all thank Jean-Baptiste for making these fabulous guitars available at good prices!

This is the CASH price...add 3% if you'd like to pay with a credit
card. 4% for International orders.