Altamira M01

JSanta · July 2014

I just wanted to publicly thank Michael for working with all of my questions the past few months about purchasing a new guitar. I wish I could have afforded to purchase an expensive Dupont to repay him for all of the emails! I finally decided that the M01 would suit my needs. The guitar arrived yesterday and it's fantastic. Head and shoulders above the Gitane DG-250 I was playing in terms of authentic tone, and with a neck that is much easier to play. It can be hard to believe that a relatively budget friendly gypsy jazz guitar could sound and play so wonderfully, but the hype is true.

I can't find any flaws in the finish of the guitar, and Josh's bridge and fretwork are superb. If there is one thing I was surprised about is that the Altamira is not as loud as the Gitane, which I'm sure has to do with this being a new guitar and the Gitane being a bit older and been played much more.

Thanks for all of the reviews posted here as well, it's a great community here and anyone that's new to this style like me appreciates the depth of insight available.

MichaelHorowitz · July 2014

@JSanta Glad to hear you're liking your Altamira! It's a mighty guitar, enjoy!

With regards to volume, I think it's contextual. The bass heavy sound of the Gitanes can make them sound louder on their own, but in a group context they often get drowned out whereas the Altamira will really cut when playing with others.

richter4208 · July 2014

Congrats on the M01, awesome guitars, and affordable. I recently sold a prized guitar and am shocked to find I like the M01 just as well!

anthon_74 · July 2014

Not as loud as your gitane ??!?.... I find that hard to believe.
I own an Alta Mira M01 and out of the box it not only was significantly louder than my gitane DG 300, as well as every dg 250 I've played (and played 2 or 3), but it's louder than most of the guitars I hear every year at django in june (people ask me to play quieter sometimes which is hard to do with this booming loud guitar).
How many mm is your action set at (usually measured at the 12th fret, from the top of the fret to the string) ? Perhaps it lowered a bit upon delivery due to environmental conditions, which could lower the volume output quite a bit.
Also, fyi the manouche latcho drom 'nuages' model is basically an M01 with a few bells and whistles added to it by Dell arte, and from what I've heard, they are loud as a cannon as well.

JSanta · July 2014

I think Michael did an excellent job of clarifying what I'm hearing. Love the guitar though, exactly what I was after.

DragonPL · July 2014

@JSanta glad you're enjoying the M01. As for the DG-250 it did need a neck adjustment and I replaced the bridge (I don't know if some one fiddled with it before, but it was somewhat messed up) and now it plays and sounds great. I still think the DG-250M (at least one I acquired) is awesome. La pompe on with the M01

JSanta · July 2014

@DragonPL I'm very happy you're enjoying the Gitane! Certainly a very nice guitar, just not exactly what I was looking for in terms of feel and tone. And even better that you're local so we can keep in touch that much easier.