Eimers? ALD? Dell'Arte?

Michael Bauer

Charles, it's in Northampton, Massachusetts each June. This year it runs from the 17th to the 23rd. Just check out http://www.djangoinjune.com. Andrew will be making this year's lineup public soon, but you can see from past years, he's had some top-shelf talent.

It's basically six days of classes, jamming, and concerts. You'll make friends that will be with you always, and you'll find everyone will help you any way they can to learn what you want to learn. And if you manage to find it to my room, you'll find "refreshments" from Scotland and bluegrass country, along with a couple of interesting guitars to try.

There is jamming at every level going pretty much non-stop somewhere, and the best instruction you could ever want from the same people you listen to.

I should add there is a weekend option, as well as the whole six days, but come for the whole shebang if you can, it's a different feel than for the weekend-only guys. More fun, I think, and more a band of brothers.

slowlearner

This is a great thread. I've been shopping, researching gypsy guitars for awhile now and this is quite helpfull.
The consensus seems to be if you can afford it, Dupont is the way to go. I've owned a lot of guitars, flat tops & archtops. Current stable includes an Eastman Archtop & a vintage Guild archtop. So I have a good idea of what I expect in a guitar. That said, I admit to no expertise regarding GJ guitars. And I have no idea if a given Dupont or Dell Arte has a traditional Selmer sound. But.....
I picked up a Dupont at DFNF and was surprised and a bit disappointed. (The one with the removable neck). The action was quite high but what really threw me was the fingerboard. A very coarse piece of rosewood that was rough to the fingertips. Frets that were high and sharp. Clearly, this guitar had not been set-up at all. So, is this common? For over 2K I'd expect a ebony fingerboard and sweet playing frets. I guess the best advice is what everyone has been saying, play a lot of guitars until you find the "right" one.
I hope this discussion continues, Thanks all.
randy

anthon_74

I just wanted to chime in real quick - I own an alta Mira M01, which I upgraded with Schaller gold enclosed tuners and a real nice pro setup, which, including the price of the guitar, totaled just under $1500.

FYI - AT Django in june, several players, who owned Duponts, played my guitar and commented on how it sounded and played is good as their far more pricey guitar.

In my opinion, the M01 is a great frankenstein guitar (Dell arte uses this exact model to turn into their manouche latcho drom nuages guitar). The price is right (just under 1K I believe) and the sound is GREAT (volume like a cannon). If you upgrade the tuners and put a dupont rosewood bridge on, I bet it holds up next to many higher end guitars (though perhaps I just got a particularly good model)....

all that said, the compliments i received could have simply been people "being polite", but given my decent BS filter, i certainly did not get that impression.

Jim Kaznosky

Anthony's guitar was nice.

Michael Bauer

I think it needs to be said that Dupont is not the only maker out there making quality instruments. There are good instruments that cost less...and more. The now defunct Manouche Guitars in England made some great stuff for cheap, and the d-hole "Moreno" model I had from them was about as loud as any Busato I have crossed paths with.

Charles seems to be shopping for a hand-made instrument in the $2-3K range, which really narrows the field. Shopis, Holo, and Bumgarner guitars have moved above $3K, and good luck getting a used one, because their owners are rarely, if ever, selling. Parks, Dunns, and Collins guitars can be had used in that range, but there's a reason. They don't hold value, and are generally not highly regarded in the bigger scheme of things, which is not to say that there aren't some great guitars out there made by those three. I don't think anyone out there makes more beautiful and well-constructed guitars than does Shelly Park, but to my ear, her guitars sound more like flat-tops than gypsy guitars. If you like her sound, you just can't get a better-made instrument. Dunn owners are almost a cult (Just kidding, Jay). The players that love them think they are the greatest thing since sliced bread, and the rest of us politely scratch our heads. Jazzaferri adores his, and I've not heard it, but the few I've played have not done it for me. But if you find a Collins, Park, or Dunn that you like, always trust your ear.

I think the thing that makes Duponts a safe bet as a first higher end guitar is that they are mostly all good, they hold value well, especially if you buy a used one, and they are relatively easy to resell when you find "the one". I've owned three Duponts: a 1992 d-hole, a 2005 VRB (which was used by Wrembel for "Midnight in Paris", and a "Moreno" (Favino Macias) model. All were just great! I sold the two Selmer copies only when I got real Selmers of the same ilk, and the Moreno is for sale now, only because I got a real '60s Favino Macias. So you could say I haven't kept any of the three, but not because each wasn't great in and of itself. I'm just a vintage guitar guy at heart.

In the $2-3K range, I'm just not sure what's out there that is a better bet than a used or cheaper (as in MD-100 Dupont.

Charles Meadows

This is really turning out to be a great thread.

I would certainly pay more than 3K if need be. But I am just not sure at this stage because I am used to being able to play lots of specimens before buying. I have a very finicky ear when it comes to the flat tops acoustics. But I do not have any experience with the GJ guitars. I mentioned the Eimers, ALD, and Dell'Arte just because I like Stochelo and Angelo! But I have heard a lot of great opinions here thus far.