Eimers? ALD? Dell'Arte?

klaatu

My BFAM Michael speaks true (as always). You simply cannot go wrong with a Dupont. There may be some other makers whose guitars are more satisfying to some for various reasons, but you're talking about other high end builders whose prices are out of your current price range. Duponts are known for their authentic sound and superb build quality, and if you ever were to decide to move on, your Dupont will be easy to sell. It could also easily serve you well for the rest of your life.

One of my bandmates has a Dupont MD 100 that he picked up secondhand in France, and he absolutely loves it. A used MD 60 should also be in your price range.

I have played a number of Dell'Artes and have not found any of them to be anything special. Everyone has their own opinion, so take that with a grain of salt. There are many happy Dell'Arte owners out there, that is just my opinion. I also owned a Gallato 1939 Angelo Debarre for a while, pretty good dry sound, but you can do better. Also the neck was extremely chunky, being modelled on Serge Gallato's Selmer - not very comfortable for many players.

I would suggest you do some research on this forum on Caravan, no further comment on that. You won't go wrong with Michael Horowitz, he is very responsive and is a real standup guy.

Good luck, and be sure to update us on your progress.

Merry Christmas!

noodlenot

Michael Bauer wrote:

Another good choice would be a MD/MDC-100, which are basically MD/MDC-50s with a matte finish and less ornate woods.

sorry for the off-topic, but aren´t all duponts "the same" and only the backs, sides and neck woods change?

Michael Bauer

Depends on what you mean by "the same". The Dupont Selmer copies all have the same bracing, at least the ones I have owned, but a Dupont Busato, or a Dupont Favino copy would be different inside and out.
The Nomade has a bolt-on neck, which is a significant structural change (at least to me). A couple of Dupont models use solid woods, while the MD-50s and MD-100s are laminate, as were most Selmers.

I was surprised at how good the Nomades I have tried sounded. You really wouldn't know about the bolt-on neck. But an MD/MDC-100 would still be my choice if my budget went to $3K.

noodlenot

thanks for the reply! yeah, i was asking within the same range... it would be kinda strange if a busato would be the same as a selmer inside there are Favinos in the dupont line? - i didn´t know that, must check them out.
FWIW ve only tried a dupont once, but it was more than 2 years ago and i didn´t play sh&te back then (i still don´t, but that´s a different story) and didn´t know much about selmers altogether - i really liked it, though!

Michael Bauer

There have been exactly two Favino copies made by Dupont, which is odd considering that Maurice apprenticed with Favino. Both were Macias models. The first was made in 1992, I believe, for Moreno. I think Ted Gottsegen has it now. The second was built in 2011, and is currently for sale with Michael.

redblues

I remember coming home from Samois one year in the car and a non gypsy player friend of mine asked me what was my favourite guitar sound that I heard from the weekend, my answer was a maple Dupont from 2002 that a gypsy was playing mostly rhythm on outside Chez Ferdinand one evening. I wasn't with my friend at the the time but he mentioned the same guitar as his most notable too, I was with some top players who never mentioned how good this guitar sounded. Certainly a preference thing.

Point is, your ear isn't the same as others, you can listen to others opinions but when you have a few quid to spare, you should hear the box you're about to spend money on, (jazzaferri likes Michael Dunn, they all sound like banjos to me, no disrespect jazz) you should hold off and head to a festival, play some other folks guitars. With GJ, people will just hand theirs over if you wanna play, no bitchiness or anything like it.

Head to Django in june or the like, you'll find your own sound there

Charles Meadows

Thanks for all the advice. looks like Dupont gets a lot of votes. Got a few trips coming up in the next months. Columbus show and maybe Nashville. Hopefully will get to try a few good GJ guitars. Will definitely need to consider getting one here though.

Michael Bauer

Charles, if you can hold out awhile, come to Django in June. You'll be able to sample just about every guitar you want, vintage or modern. It will be the best exposure you could ever get to the variety of makes and sounds. You might even be able to leave there with something you really love.

If you just can't stand it, and have to get something, I think a Dupont is the best bet, because if your taste changes, it will be easy to resell, and will hold value. Another option would be to buy a cheap used Gitane or Cigano now and figure on upgrading once you make up your mind what you really want.

Passacaglia

Michael Bauer wrote:

Charles, if you can hold out awhile, come to Django in June. You'll be able to sample just about every guitar you want, vintage or modern. It will be the best exposure you could ever get to the variety of makes and sounds. You might even be able to leave there with something you really love.

If you just can't stand it, and have to get something, I think a Dupont is the best bet, because if your taste changes, it will be easy to resell, and will hold value. Another option would be to buy a cheap used Gitane or Cigano now and figure on upgrading once you make up your mind what you really want.

I hear there's going to be a Gitane DG-300 for sale, currently played by an awesome rhythm guy, can't remember his name. 8)

Charles Meadows

Michael Bauer wrote:

Charles, if you can hold out awhile, come to Django in June. You'll be able to sample just about every guitar you want, vintage or modern. It will be the best exposure you could ever get to the variety of makes and sounds. You might even be able to leave there with something you really love.

If you just can't stand it, and have to get something, I think a Dupont is the best bet, because if your taste changes, it will be easy to resell, and will hold value. Another option would be to buy a cheap used Gitane or Cigano now and figure on upgrading once you make up your mind what you really want.

Where is this festival? In the US - or do you mean Samois? I will get to Samois one day! Right now I have a Cordoba Gitano 0-5. Promised my wife I would play on it for a bit to make sure the GJ thing was not just a passing fad. It's playable - but I want something much higer end!