Do what Michael tells you

MichaelHorowitz

Matteo wrote: »

Back in the days when they chopped off the heads of the nobility, people with "suspicious" names started to change their spelling.

Oh, so Dupont is Nobility? Maybe his new slogan should be "a guitar fit for a king!"

MichaelHorowitz

@matteo can you play Django's intro to J'Attendrei? If so, then you need this Selmer!

Matteo

Oh, so Dupont is Nobility?

As I said, I'm not sure about Dupont. But it fits with the pattern someone told me. Anyway, isn't there a Busato Royale model? You see...

Matteo

can you play Django's intro to J'Attendrei? If so, then you need this Selmer!

Well, I know where to put the fingers and all that. It's just that it doesn't quite come out the way it does when Django plays it. Must be the guitar. Definitely the guitar. :-)

Jeff Moore

Once you get to the point of buying a good gj guitar, most of us are not also experienced with the sounds of these things. With that in mind I've bought several guitars when Michael suggested they were special. They were special too. I sold the most desirable of them through him too. Didn't wanna gig with it, and then didn't wanna own it and not gig with it. Bought a new one thru him at less than half of that one, at his suggestion and don't think about the other one, because the newer one is also remarkable. Michael just has more experience hearing these things than anyone else I know and he seems to want to help put them in people's hands.
20 years into this I don't know that I could pick the best of these guitars out of a crowd. It takes experience.

Buco

Jeff Moore wrote: »

20 years into this I don't know that I could pick the best of these guitars out of a crowd.

It's easy.
It picks you.

roch@rochlockyer.com

Hey, thanks for the cool etymology/background on the name Dupont.
On the "listen to Michael" stuff...when i started this style a few years ago i didn't know anything about Djangobooks or who Michael was anymore than the other places i found gypsy guitars for sale....I knew a lot about archtops and classical guitars having owned several high end instruments. I had frequented those sites for several years, and played most builds (i even got to play some original D'Aquistos, D'angelicos as well as several 25k+ classical guitars and my self owned a Benedetto and a custom built 7string nylon string) I thought I was no stranger to what great instruments sounded like. I had come across a few Selmer style guitars before...i knew what they were and couldn't understand why anyone would think they were a good sounding guitar...when i played them they sounded like shit. A few years ago my introduction to the style was DIJ and within a few minutes of watching a couple of big names in this style (who i had no idea who they were) i quickly understood that just like classical guitar the right hand is everything. Being a newbee i had sucker written on my forehead and a member of our community sold me a selmer style guitar and told me how great it was (even though the top was cracked & caved in and it needed significant repairs....another story)..I happily overpaid by a good $1000 and the guitar has sat in the closet since...a few months later i still wanted a gypsy guitar and bought one form another shop...this one also had serious damage and after running again in circles I promptly returned it the hour i received it (i'm too trusting to be a good businessman). At this point i had cold feet and was very frustrated. I contacted Djangobooks and Michael sent me a guitar..Since i sounded like shit on these guitars i sent it back and he patiently sent me another which was such a beautiful build I couldn't help but keep it. He took the time to listen to my dumbass ignorance about these instruments and I never had a problem returning instruments or getting them sent promptly from Michael. I have now probably played north of 200 high end gypsy guitars and can tell the difference pretty quickly between guitars (after countless hours of work on technique) but case and point...regularly, and even most recently I was trying a beautiful guitar fresh out of the case and within my first couple notes Michael made some observations that i myself didn't confirm till we had played a 5 min tune...
I would never just "do what anyone says"...i don't recommend this and the mere suggestion scares me for so many reasons..even with a friend...but when it comes to these guitars, I am guessing that maybe no one in the world has played literally 1000s of them, and also understands, practices and writes about the techniques required to make them sound great. When someone is skilled in their field it is a good idea to take their guidance to heart. Michael started as (and still is) a student of the music like most of us, and was practicing, playing and writing books long before djangobooks existed...

As far as price goes...A market drives itself through supply and demand so the consumer has as much to do with setting prices as anyone else...in every field collectors drive up prices and often times these collectors are just that...cars, bikes, art, whiskey, cigars and guitars...coming from the archtop and classical world 5k for a guitar is the norm, and much much higher is quite common....consider the immense amount of work and practice it takes for a luther to make the wood ring like a bell with some pieces of wire strung on a shaved down bat...like playing the instrument, it is a beautiful and obviously symbiotic art
I wish i had visited Michaels site and ordered a guitar when i first started out and couldn't tell the difference between a shoebox or a selmer...i would be several thousand dollars richer today and not have been fleeced or have taken an unwanted ride...

Matteo

Stuart is probably right, and I was probably wrong about the cause for the different spellings of the Dupont name. For some other names it may have worked the way I discribed – that's what I've been told anyway! But I just did an internet search and only found the explanation that the name just happened to get different spellings depending on the person who wrote it down, a priest or similar. Never check a good story twice! ;-)

Jeff Moore

Buco
Nothing works every time, but my experience left me with the impression that Michaels ears were steadier and more discerning than my own. He evaluates guitars for a living. I do it only when I'm infected with gas. My ears are getting better, but I don't hear that many GJ guitars out here anyway.

Stringswinger

I have been Michael's friend for many years in this North American Gypsy jazz community. While I have not bought or sold any guitars from him (I did one time sell a guitar through this forum), I do buy my Argie strings from him and have bought a few books and CD's from him. His customer service is first rate and his knowledge of all things Gypsy jazz is second to none. I am also friends with two of his competitors, but always recommend Michael to those who have needs related to Gypsy jazz.