castelluccia nuage review

Kevin Furniss

Hi all,
New to GJ, dont know how I missed it :shock:
I am looking for my first GJ Guitar,I live in Northern France so luckily we have some choice here but not available to try in one place.
I have my eye on a Castelluccia Nuage 2008 advertised quite locally at about 1500€ - its in good condition with what look like some lovely woods.....are they quite welll respected among those in the know ? or would I be better wait till I get to a django fest next year and try a few first ? Honestly I wouldnt tell a good one from a bad one at this stage - budget wise its about the max I want to spend till I see if I can justify it

EDIT : I see a Gitane Lulo reinhardt has come up at 700€ maybe better value for a new GJ player ?

Thanks in advance.
Salut

Jeff Moore

I would go slow on the buying and quick on the practicing.
1. Get to as many as you can to play them yourself.
2. Or take someone with you as a proxy chooser.
3. Remember that we all evolve (change our minds) even in this small GJ world, so the loudest, most brash, and snappy sounding guitar out there may or may not be what you want in a long run. In other words, do you know what your going to do with it?
4. If your head is sufficiently knocked off by Django and this style that you must pursue the learning as quickly as possible, there are guitars out there like Dupont (but lots of others too) that will cost you some and perform decently across genres and of course as GJ specific guitars. The one your thinking of could be this kind of guitar.
5. Only you can know if this is an investment you need in order to accelerate your learning or if Gj will pass in "6 months". If you know you just have to learn this stuff:

Pick a guitar with a "solid" bottom - a low E that has some (but not too much) "hardness" in the low E sound.
And the highest notes that can be somewhat sweet and natural sounding when picked softly and brash enough when played hard to do the GJ trick.
That difference between hard and soft sound in the same guitar gives you a better chance to get beauty and power. A guitar thats all high HZ power isn't typically what you want unless shredding is most of what you want to do.
A hazy sounding low E string sound will stop your shredding in the low register from being heard at all even though chords may sound lush to you. This is the most common failing of the cheaper guitars (but spendy ones too).

If you know someone you trust in such a matter, take him-her with you to try the Castelluccia. A really good guitar is kinda hard to find though, so don't hurry if you can't financially recover from a mistake and get another.

Jeff Moore

I would go slow on the buying and quick on the practicing.
1. Get to as many as you can to play them yourself.
2. Or take someone with you as a proxy chooser.
3. Remember that we all evolve (change our minds) even in this small GJ world, so the loudest, most brash, and snappy sounding guitar out there may or may not be what you want in the long run even if it has that immediate appeal.
In other words, do you know what your going to do with it?
4. If your head is sufficiently knocked off by Django and this style that you must pursue the learning as quickly as possible, there are guitars out there like Dupont (but lots of others too) that will cost you some and perform decently across genres and of course as GJ specific guitars.
5. Only you can know if this is an investment you need in order to accelerate your learning or if Gj will pass in "6 months". If you know you just have to learn this stuff:

Pick a guitar with a "solid" bottom - a low E that (but not too much) "hardness" in the low E sound.
And the highest notes that can be somewhat sweet and natural sounding when picked softly and brash enough when played hard to do the GJ trick.
That difference between hard and soft sound in the same guitar gives you a better chance to get beauty and power. A guitar thats all high HZ power isn't typically what you want unless shredding is most of what you want to do.
A hazy sounding low end sound will stop your shredding in the low register from being heard at all even though chords may sound lush to you. This is the most common failing of the cheaper guitars (but spendy ones too).

If you know someone you trust in such a matter, take him-her with you to try the Castelluccia. A really good guitar is kinda hard to find though, but the more you spend the better the chances, but don't hurry if you can't financially recover from a mistake and get another.

wim

Castelluccia are great ... I visited his shop just a few days ago and was well impressed with the quality of the instruments, even at the 1500 euro price point (it's the lowest price I've ever seen for a new luthier built instrument). I liked them more than the stuff in the dupont show room which was twice the price.

Kevin Furniss

Thanks for taking the time to reply Jeff and I will remember your words regarding the sound im after.

I have had a guitar around for 15 years but only in the last 2 have I found GJ and been blown away by all things Django - I will without doubt persevere in this style.

I was hoping to get a decent GJ guitar straight off the bat that would serve me well into the first few years of this style ( at the moment I play an unamped epi es175) till I know how my likes will evolve and I thought the Castellucia would be a decent bet, I have heard people say if you can afford to do so then cut out all the inbetween guitars and get something nice luthier built straight off ( if you can afford it ) because its where you will end up.

But all things considered might be better waiting till Samois next year and having a look round there.

Cheers again for your replies.
Salut

Jeff Moore

You are exactly right, given what your saying. If your bit hard, you need a guitar. Not much else I should say cuz you just have to deal with the ambiguities this involves. My experience was as follows:

I found that it took me a couple years for my ears to acclimate to Selmer guitar sound. I'd played "American" acoustics and electrics for decades. So even if I'd had my hands on a terrific Selmac, I was unable to really evaluate and even compare it cuz they all sounded both compelling but weird. This is still true for me with classical guitars minus the weird part.
When I was in your spot I immediately ordered a Hodson from England. Its gone now. I sweated bullets over that $1,300 while he built it.
When it came, I proceeded to play it all day and night. Even though it sounded pretty strange to me, it also really sounded like Django to me, and the impetus it added to my practice was terrific.

The other thing I learned along the way, was that I could play and practice much longer and better on guitars wide thick necks. Kinda opposite of where the market is going. So I've got a couple guitars that sound good but they hurt to play. Should I do my cheesy woodwork to alter the guitar itself and lose any resale value at all, or only special order guitars site unseen from luthiers with special order necks etc......? But that's just me
You will likely be refining your Selmac preferences in ways you hadn't anticipated later anyway.
Have fun.

bohemewarbler

FYI: I was interested in purchasing a Castelluccia model. I was in email contact with M. J. Castelluccia and was ready to have him build one for me. But his policy is not to ship his guitars. Either the purchaser, or someone who represents the purchaser's interests, must personally pick up the guitar from his Paris shop. Living in the U.S., I found the logistics of getting this done too prohibitive.

Kevin Furniss

bohemewarbler wrote:

FYI: I was interested in purchasing a Castelluccia model. I was in email contact with M. J. Castelluccia and was ready to have him build one for me. But his policy is not to ship his guitars. Either the purchaser, or someone who represents the purchaser's interests, must personally pick up the guitar from his Paris shop. Living in the U.S., I found the logistics of getting this done too prohibitive.

Im only a few hours drive from his Paris shop in the car - so I can collect and send it on for a reasonable fee

Michael Bauer

Im only a few hours drive from his Paris shop in the car - so I can collect and send it on for a reasonable fee

And after a reasonable period of time. 8)

bohemewarbler

I might take you up on that! However, I've since been considering a Shelly Park 14 fret short scale, but I'm still in the deliberation mode. Not in a major hurry while I have been getting by with my Gitan.

Merci Beaucoup!