hi all , would someone please answer about when the maouuche guitars began their decline in quality or desireability , possibly in terms of guitar numbers. i have a 14 fret orchestra moreno with number 103 on the label , just wondering where it fits in the heierarchy . thank you.
shut up and play your guitar
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A good place to start getting some info is the bottom right hand coner of this page
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It may be good to post a picture of the label…
my memory may be off I think the difference may be in Model Jazz being the older more wanted guitar, it usually came in a fiberglass case,and the Model Orchestra a newer not as highly favorable.
I may be corrected at any moment.
pick on
pickitjohn :peace:
I never played any numbers higher than mine, but I heard from friends later that they tried Manouches they didn't like. Maybe all that happened is that more good guitars were becoming available, and the Manouches seemed less great by comparison. I think the perceived "decline" began somewhere between numbers 100 and 150. The truth is, I never played one I didn't like far better than Gitanes and even Dell Artes at the time. They were pretty good sounding, especially for the money. Two of mine are still being gigged, one pretty regularly, and the third, I'm told, did a movie soundtrack, so they have stood the test of time.
If Manouche #103 has that orange finish, it's probably still a pretty good one. People made fun of that finish at the time, but by coincidence I own Selmer #103, and that orange finish is spot on. Tony (one of the owners of Manouche) owned an Selmer d-hole as well, and I think that's where he got the idea for the Manouche finish.
In the meantime, don't fret the hierarchy. It's either a guitar you like or it isn't. Manouche's are unlikely to become huge collector guitars, but they have held their value well.
To me Manouche Guitars are the Austin Healy of gypsy guitars. Better than triumph or MG (Gitanes), but not as good as Duponts (Jaguars). They were reviewed as quite comparable to Duponts at the time on this very forum. That may have been overstating it, but only slightly. They were really good guitars. Not great, but very good, especially for the money). Part factory made, part hand finished with better than average hardware.