CIGANO GJ-15 thoughts and reviews

Anthony Stevenson

I'm interested in purchasing a cigano Gj-15 if anyone can tell me their thoughts on it how does it sound and is it worth it I've heard that it's crappy but then I hear it's great let me know need feedback

wim

I think it's a very decent instrument. For a first django style guitar, it's got the "gypsy" sound you need and will of course blow away any round hole kind of acoustic guitar. Compared to other stuff in the price range (aria) it's strides ahead. Biggest negative for me was the sound is a little bit too boomy / muddy in the bass.

It is definitely "worth it" the price is amazing for what you get. This was my first gypsy jazz guitar, I used it for years and really enjoyed it. I was mostly comping for years, but eventually I started playing more lead as well as rhythm and then the short-scale of the GJ-15 wasn't cutting it anymore.

Here's a very old vid made before I sold it on ebay -

renzok

+1
its a great guitar for the money, maybe a bit muddy, but plays nice and sounds good.

jonpowl

I have a Cigano CJ-10 and I would recommend it. Of course it is a petite bouche and long scale, so a bit different from the grande bouche CJ-15. I use my CJ-10 for travel and keep it on the stand for quick access with no worries, like I would have for my Dupont. It plays nicely and sounds adequate. In my opinion, Ciganos have a range for quality and some are better than others, so you would be ahead to try in advance, although I bought mine sight unseen. I previously owned a Paris Swing GG-39 which sounded authentic, but wasn't the loudest guitar, and a Gitane DG-255 which was well built but had an annoying overtone problem.

Jeff Moore

I bought 3 from this site for student guitars maybe 5 years ago. Two sound like described above, the last one is dull (maybe a loose brace, maybe just a dud). The descriptions above are exactly how I'd describe em, cept to add that the necks are for me are ideal in most ways. Best shape, string width, and the short scale means my arm stays closer to my body - less fatigue. The sound is less refined than the multi thousand dollar examples. In other words, it's not a alternative or replacement for a fine guitar. But at that price, its silly to compare them. They are the best bang for the buck of any guitar I know of. If I had the time and knowledge, I re-top one with an oval hole. Bet that would take care of the boominess.