Here are the details -
14 Fret d-hole
Laminated Brazillian Rosewood back/sides
Spruce Top
Ebony Tailpiece (Unbeknownst to me, he inlayed my initials on it)
5 piece maple neck

Interestingly enough, Jean-Pierre made the entire interior support
structure - purfling, bracing, etc, out of brazillian rosewood as
well, and lacquered (a'la Selmer) the entire interior of the
instrument. The instrument size (body size and depth) is between the
Selmer and Favino.

Jean-Pierre left the action light, preferring the player to set it
to his or her desire. I jacked it up to almost 4mm at the 12th fret
and it screams. The guitar is simply a cannon. The neck is meaty,
thicker than my Dupont. I told him that I would occassionally use a
vintage Stimer pick-up, so he moved the soundhole a little north
than it usually is making it look all the more Selmer like so that
the pick-up runs flush against the bottom of the soundhole. The
soundhole itself is large, reasonably close to Selmer spec. as well.
Without a fingerboard extention, it has the Maurice Ferret like
appearance. Each guitar that Favino makes now is custom tailored to
fit the needs of the player, both visually and audibly. He has a
bass model and from there skies the limit.

Tonally the guitar has that Favino bark, yet a richer, more complex
version. Still Favino, and still Gypsy, but much rounder and fuller.
Interestingly enough - the last Favino that I had owned was a 1990,
serial number 1024. In 14 years, Jean-Pierre has made 91 guitars -
that comes out to about 6 or so a year. Knowing that, it no wonder
this guitar is so good.

Although it has all of 45 minutes worth of playing time on it, I can
already tell where we're headed and I'm very excited to get there!
As for dealing with Jean-Pierre, I found him to be quiet, shy and
very humble - while at the same time being devoted to his customer,
generous and willing to build you your dream guitar. He may come off
as aloof by not responding to correspondences or being tardy in
shipping catalogues, but I suspect that's more the nature of an
artist than anything having to do with being an ego maniac (as some
have unfairly reported). I would, in a heartbeat, order another
guitar from Jean-Pierre, even if the price were double what I paid
(heaven forbid!).

-Ted Gottsegen