Castelluccia Guitars

jonpowl

I'm curious about Castelluccia guitars. I notice that Michael is getting a few new ones soon and I missed out on the beautiful Tears model a few months ago due to a chronic lack of funds. I have never seen a used one advertised on Djangobooks or any other site unless they were made in the 50s. Are they so sweet that everybody who owns one keeps it? Of course, I would love to visit the shop in Paris and buy one in person, but that seems unlikely. I seem to gravitate toward the sound of a Marin or Holo, obviously a big fan of Gonzalo. The only nice GJ guitars I've played were an Aylward and an AJL and I didn't fall in love with either one. Under $3000 is my range, will a Castelluccia work for me?

Jim Kaznosky

If you are interested in a Castelluccia-type guitar, reach out to Craig Bumgarner here. His Derecho model is priced a hair above what you want to spend and they're great. http://craigbumgarner.wordpress.com/
If you're at DiJ, you can play mine. There will be a few others there that I'm aware of.
I have not played the new Castelluccias that Michael has been selling.

MichaelHorowitz

@jonpowl this is a timely question as I have a new batch of Castelluccias coming in early next month. I was the first to import the new Castelluccias which explains the lack of used inventory and chatter in the English speaking gypsy jazz world. Only a dozen or so have even been sold in North America.

Hopefully some of the owners of the new ones will chime in, but I can tell you they are fantastic instruments and pretty much a gift at the prices JB Castelluccia asks for them. Being the oldest active Gypsy jazz workshop, Castelluccia excels at building what they've always made: honest, straightforward instruments with a focus on sound and playability for the working musician. They have a sort of old world charm in both sound and construction which gives them an earthy, down home vibe. JB is also a great guy and proudly carries on the instrument making tradition his great grandfather brought over from Italy.

I hope you at least get to try one out sometime, they are some of the best Gypsy guitars out there! You're always welcome to stop by and test drive anything I have.

wim

I've played many of them. They have all been good, highly recommended

The price point is also relatively low, if you are going to buy a new guitar I think they are a steal its hard to find a better instrument at that value