new gitane Lulo Reinhardt model

chappie · December 2005

Does anyone know a dealer who has these in stock?
Charlie

chappie · December 2005

word is that they are going to be available at the end of february.
Chappie

drolling · January 2006

Just read in another thread that there was a prototype at NAMM. I'd love to hear more about this guitar..

Bob Holo · January 2006

The one at the show was a 14 fret to body Petit Bouche with chrome and vintage celluloid tuners - a signature on the headstock - a chrome and darkened rosewood tailpiece - a darkened rosewood bridge that had the same shape as the standard gitane bridge but was built seemed to be built lighter. The playing feel was very similar to the D255 but it had a somewhat more choppy bite. The neck and tailpiece accents were turquoise ovals surrounded by pearloid material. The capstone of the rosette was turquoise (probably not real turquoise - there are some polymer turquoise substitutes - though it looked real) I was playing it and their North American sales manager (the guy who plays mandolin in the Gitane product group's bluegrass band) walked up and said: "Do you like it? - we just brought it to the show and haven't had any feedback on it yet." So we talked a bit. I liked it. It had a smaller but throatier voice than the JJ, but that could just be the difference between guitars in a production run. If you like that treble heavy piercing choppy tone - you'll likely find it a cool sound. If you're a JJ300 or Homage or Favino or Michael Dunn fan, you'll likely say: "where is the d**n bass?" (my premise is that those guitars get more open / mellow / bassy as you go from left to right) If you're a Dupont fan - you will likely groove on it

He said that Lulo's rhythm player uses a D255 from time to time and that Lulo liked the 255 they brought him as a basis for the design so much that he wanted to endorse it as is and they had to actually talk him into giving them feedback on how he would change it - hence the bridge change - the cosmetic changes and other changes that he didn't seem to want to go into. (if I had to guess I'd say that the midrane heavy tone would tend to indicate either a "luck of the draw" good guitar from the 255 line or maybe they stiffened up either the bracing or the soundboard toward the treble side relative to the bass side - the projection would tend to either indicate a "luck of the draw" good guitar from the 255 line or maybe lighter bracing overall - or maybe thinning the soundboard toward the edges on the lower bout. Note that I've stated that these are guesses. It might just have been a "really good D255 in a tuxedo"

nwilkins · January 2006

we should be clear about the name - I assume it is LulO Reinhardt, not LulU Reinhardt? Big difference in players

Bob Holo · January 2006

Yep, big difference... fixed... thanks...

drolling · February 2006

Thanks for the review, Bob.

What about the neck profile? The skinnyness of my 250M really bugs me now that I've got the JJ.

How was the fretwork? I had to have a lot of work done on the D-500's frets, but the Jorgenson was perfect right out the box..

Bob Holo · February 2006

I don't remember the neck profile - which is probably a good sign. Among all those cool guitars, an uncomfortable neck would have stood out. I remember thinking "this feels like a 255" but I don't remember thinking "wow - what an incredible neck" or "this neck sucks" or anything like that.

There are three gypsy neck profiles that I really like:

1.) Shelly Park's narrow fat blunted C necks (her standard neck for a couple of years now) It feels healthy but plays fast and makes thumbovers easier for people with normal sized hands.

2.) Dell Arte Hommage [the handmade ones] that is "a man's neck" unapologetically burly but comfortable rounded 2x4. I can't count the number of times I've seen people pick up a Hommage for the first time and just grab hold of the neck at about the 5th fret and make some primal/gutteral noise of complete and utter approval. But - people with tiny hands need not apply.

3.) Gallato - The original (pre Angelo Debarre) Gallato neck is a classical player's interpretation of a steel string neck. It is sized like a steel string neck but square like a classical neck. Very cool - very comfortable on the thumb