Castelluccia or Mateos

Nemanja

Hello fellow GJ-admirers!

Does anyone have any experience with a Castelluccia "Django Castel"?
I have never played any of his guitars so I basically have no clue how they feel/sound (also compared to guitars at that similar price-point e.g. Dupont MD60).

Well as a matter of fact, I have actually never played any Selmer-style guitars (except for a cheap Gitane @ a guitar store, which I didn't like too much). Coming from acoustic/classical/electric guitars, what should i expect/be looking for? I figured, regarding the feel, GJ-guitars are similar to classical guitars, correct?

Well back to my main question:
I contacted Castelluccia and he said that it would take him about 3 to 4 months to build a "Django Castel".
How do you guys feel about ordering an instrument you have never player or even touched before? :question:
Unfortunately there is no way for me to play any of his models so I am on the verge of placing an order...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Nemanja

DragonPL

The only negative thing I would comment about my Castelluccia is that it's not loud enough. It has a nice refined tone, it seems like a classical guitar of gypsy guitars if l could phrase it that way, but at jams etc it just does not cut trough...I did order a flamenco (Vicente Carrillo) guitar from Spain I never touched before and love it and play it to this day for over 10 years. But in your case for that price of the Castel I'd get the Dunn Ultrafox...
P.S. I love my Gitane 250M, volume wise it blows the Castelluccia away, and (at least the model I got) is very well put together and comparable to guitars more than 3x it's price.

Nemanja

Thanks for the response! That's a good point. The volume isn't something that I had considered... until now.

In the meantime I got in touch with Norman (gypsyguitar.de). He actually made a few good points and suggested a Mateos, "Audrey" or maybe a "Jazz A". I didn't have these on my radar, but they seem to be great. Anyone got any experience?

bluetrain

I have bought two gypsy jazz guitars without basically trying them first and i've been surprised both times.. positivily and negatively. Next guitar i will buy i will definately try it first!

BluesBop Harry

I've played several Audreys over the years and they are my favorite Mateos model. I really like cedar topped guitars.

MichaelHorowitz

@DragonPL Generally the Castelluccias are quite loud, but in a French (i.e. very dry sort of way.) Ultimately, the perception of volume is personal and is a function of the player's technique and the situations they play in. For me, playing a Castelluccia, with proper rest stroke technique in a group setting, is very easy to hear whereas most of the Gitane models are too bass heavy and wet sounding so they tend to get lost in the din.

MichaelHorowitz

@Nemanja we just got a new Django Castel model in: http://www.djangobooks.com/Item/castelluccia-django-castel-2

It's a fabulous example with a warm tone and lots of projection. I'll have a video this weekend!

Nemanja

Thank you all for your responses!
Well I kind of took a 180 degree turn. Norman (gypsyguitar.de) called me today and told me about the "ALD Model Original". Since it's in my price range and the general consensus seems to be very positive, I am probably going to order it in the next few days. I think the guitar sounds like it's well worth the money. Thanks Michael for demoing it!