Choosing a guitar

GCS

I play in a western swing band, but we often play Django tunes during our shows. I play rhythm guitar and sing lead vocals. We have two "lead" players, one plays an arch top guitar, the other doubles on mandolin and fiddle. I've been using an Eastman arch top with a kent armstrong pickup. It sounds great, but Ive noticed when I listen to our live recordings that my guitar tone is very similar to the lead guitar players tone, which means that when he plays solos my rhythm guitar tends to compete with the clarity of his solos. He plays great solos, and I want them to stand out. I've been seriously considering buying a Semler style guitar. I figured that the tone would be very different from my lead guitar players tone, allowing his solos to stand out. But there's another reason...I have seriously sweaty hands, and I have to change strings before every show. This costs me up to $20-$30 per week during busy tours. I had the idea of buying a selmer type guitar and stringing it up with nylon strings because they don't corrode and might last longer than steel? But also, I'd really like to play rhythm guitar with my fingers, which will also make certain that the lead guitar players tone will be drastically different than mine, and I won't have to worry about dropping my picks anymore. Anyhow, I am considering buying a Gitane dg250m because I don't like slotted headstocks (too much trouble to change a string in my opinion). Do you guys think my ideas make sense?

klaatu

Thanks for helping to keep Western swing alive. If I weren't playing gypsy jazz, that would be my next choice.

The Selmer style guitar would certainly give you a contrasting sound, but don't try to put nylon strings on it. It's designed for gypsy steel strings. Nylon will probably sound lifeless. There are Selmer style nylon string guitars available, such as this one: http://tinyurl.com/7b78ld7. After all, the very first guitars Mario Maccaferri designed for Selmer were meant to be strung with gut, since they were supposed to be enhanced versions of the classical guitar.

The Eastman archtops are terrific guitars, and they have a great acoustic rhythm sound when the pickup is not in use, especially if you hit them hard. If you are trying not to compete with the other lead player when you are playing rhythm, you might try using a mike for rhythm and then dial the Armstrong pickup in when it's time to solo, either by using the volume thumbwheel or a volume pedal.

If you don't want to be bothered with a floor mike, there are lots of high quality clip-on condenser mikes available, such as these: http://tinyurl.com/7un4mmu. You'd have two wires running from your guitar, but that's manageable. One advantage of the floor mike is that if you don't want the acoustic sound to be heard while you're soloing, you can simply step away from the mike.

fillegitane

Yeah, I agree. Bad idea to string a selmac with nylon strings. It will sound like a cigar box with rubber bands. Nylon classicals are generally fan braced (very different from a selmac) and made specifically to accommodate nylon or gut strings. Also keep in mind that the basses for classical strings are metal wound so they will oxidize as quickly, or even more quickly than phosphor strings so it won't help with your perspiration problem.

You might want to consider a Takamine Hirade. They are great guitars. They have a selmac look but are nylon classicals.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TAKAMINE-E-30-V ... 2c635a26e3

Best,
Robbie

noahfuture

Try running your hands under really hot water for about a minute before the show. My sax player swears it makes your hands not sweat. I tried it before a big show recently, and I think it worked??? Honestly can't remember so it definitely didn't hurt!

Ian Rossiter

Ditto on keeping Western Swing alive and well btw.
Have you considered using Flatwounds on your Eastman? That may be a solution to both the Tonal and the sweat issues.
Just a thought...

swingnation

I know your dilemma. I play in a group that does both GJ and we mix in some western swing. Once in a while we'll do full sets of all Western Swing/Older country tunes. Eldon Shamblin was the man! I agree with everyone else that putting nylon strings on the 250 is not a good idea and I really don't think nylon is the way to go for you. I've tried using a Cordoba 55fce on some small swing gigs and it does NOT cut it when comping swing. Wouldn't use it again for swing stuff.

If you're interested in a GJ guitar that fits the bill, ask Michael for his opinion on what guitar will suit your sound. I was looking for a more "open" sound that would sound good for GJ/swing/bossa/country and he steered me right- ALD D-hole. If you're competing with an archtop for guitar tone, I would think you might also want to try a magnetic pick up like the Stimer or Peche. You have quick control over your volume for leads and comping and the tone should be different enough from the eastman that it should provide good balance. II know how you feel about the slotted headstocks, but I got used to mine and changing strings quickly isn't that much of a problem.
All that said, I use my GJ only for mixed sets. If I'm doing full western swing sets, I only use my Epiphone Emperor Archtop.

Not to steer you away from GJ guitars (because I absolutely love mine and in the market for another one), but what about a Tele or flattop to round out the sound? I've seen Stephane so some amazing things on a Tele and those guitars are just made for some serious chicken pickin'!

GCS

Thanks everybody. I found a Cordoba d5 used. It looks just like the gitane dg500. It has a nice sound and is set up really well. I'm going to try it with flat wounds (I'm pretty sure that's what Django used). If it works well enough, I might get a nicer selmer style guitar. I'll post a link to a live video of my band using my new d hole guitar. Thanks for the help!

klaatu

GCS wrote:

I'm going to try it with flat wounds (I'm pretty sure that's what Django used).

No, Django used Argentines, light steel strings with a silvered copper wrap. Probably at least 9 out of 10 gypsy guitarists today still use that brand (although the modern ones are supposed to be much improved over the ones of Django's day), and everyone else uses similar strings by other manufacturers. A few use silk and steels. Flat wounds won't give you the same sound.