hi all,i am the guy who bought the nz guitar.there is another one currently for sale for nz$3000.if it turns out that mine is fake well i dont mind.i paid nz$2200 for it and its great.i'm amazed someone go to all this trouble of making what is a lovely guitar .cant be making much on them as they are well made.neck's a beaut'..i/m a good player and need a good gat.was planning to sell it for double and probably still could.stochelo played it.look at his vids in nz.it sounds massive even compared to my mates expensive guitar that mozes played.he signed it and is maybe worth more because of that.if i cant sell it for a bundle of dosh then i'm keeping it..when i'm in france i try a lot of guitars.people dont like the new duponts much.reckon they went bad around 2008.so buy 90's is best.
anyway i reckon these fake duponts are worth the money..your right michael about the poor standards in nz.its the wild west.will be off to uk and france next week if anyone wants gigs lessons get in touch with the club......happy manouching one and all
There's quite a lot of trash talking about guitars, especially in France. The reasons often have less to do with the instruments themselves and are more the product of competitive jealousies among luthiers, endorsers, and retailers. Dupont is often the biggest target for these sorts of slights as he's the largest, and most widely known producer of Selmer guitars in France. However, the quality of the instruments speak for themselves as the workmanship, design, and sound of Dupont's guitars are among the best there is. That doesn't mean the Dupont sound is for everyone, but there's no denying he's making some exemplary guitars. It's telling that generally most customers that come here and try everything I have, end up leaving with a Dupont. When you sit and play them side by side with what else is available, it's clear they are among the best. Other luthiers (ALD, Holo, Mazaud, Barault, Lebreton, etc) are also producing excellent instruments, with unique attributes that appeal to the aesthetic sense of individual players. In the $3K and above range there are very few truly "bad" guitars, we are in a "Golden Age" of Selmer style lutherie and there is just simply so much good stuff to choose from. Back when I first got interested in this music in the 80s, you'd be lucky to find even one Gypsy guitar of any kind for sale! Amazing how things have changed....
Well folks, the good news is that I've taken one of these counterfeit Duponts (MD50E, flamed maple) off of the market.
The bad news is that it is now part of my collection, rather than an actual Dupont.
But the good news is that it actually looks, sounds, and plays like a pretty decent guitar. (I've never played the real deal, so it is difficult for me to compare, and I am brand new to manouche, though I have played quite a bit in other styles.)
The bad news is that it is most definitely a fake, confirmed through email correspondence with Maurice Dupont. I was tipped off by the cheap tailpiece and the smaller-than-normal position markers. Maurice did not seem terribly surprised or upset by the situation, and did not offer me a replacement for my plight .
But the good news is that I did not pay anywhere near a Dupont price for it, and when I discovered the authenticity issue I was able to go back to the seller and recover more of my funds. In the end I wound up keeping the guitar and paying what it's probably worth. I have no plans to sell it, and certainly not as anything other than what it is.
Live and learn... in the end I wound up with an inexpensive practice guitar that looks really, really nice and has an interesting story to go with it.
Yes, it's disappointing but in the end I'm content with the situation. I had been having some initial dabbles in the style, but it's just not the same on a Godin archtop.
Comments
anyway i reckon these fake duponts are worth the money..your right michael about the poor standards in nz.its the wild west.will be off to uk and france next week if anyone wants gigs lessons get in touch with the club......happy manouching one and all
Interesting perspective.
Maybe they are at it again. This seems too good to be true, around $1800 US and has no model number.
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-view-details.html?adId=1049422955&uuid=f7a49f9e-64c1-4648-a273-10e7ccc82092&cs_call=true
The bad news is that it is now part of my collection, rather than an actual Dupont.
But the good news is that it actually looks, sounds, and plays like a pretty decent guitar. (I've never played the real deal, so it is difficult for me to compare, and I am brand new to manouche, though I have played quite a bit in other styles.)
The bad news is that it is most definitely a fake, confirmed through email correspondence with Maurice Dupont. I was tipped off by the cheap tailpiece and the smaller-than-normal position markers. Maurice did not seem terribly surprised or upset by the situation, and did not offer me a replacement for my plight .
But the good news is that I did not pay anywhere near a Dupont price for it, and when I discovered the authenticity issue I was able to go back to the seller and recover more of my funds. In the end I wound up keeping the guitar and paying what it's probably worth. I have no plans to sell it, and certainly not as anything other than what it is.
Live and learn... in the end I wound up with an inexpensive practice guitar that looks really, really nice and has an interesting story to go with it.
http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/attachments/guitar-amps-gizmos/14991d1412810429-ngjgd-dupont-md-50e-2014-10-09-11.08.18.jpg
http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/attachments/guitar-amps-gizmos/14992d1412810429-ngjgd-dupont-md-50e-2014-10-09-11.10.41.jpg
http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/attachments/guitar-amps-gizmos/14993d1412810429-ngjgd-dupont-md-50e-2014-10-09-11.44.42.jpg