Dell'Arte Robin Nolan model, chinese guitar

Andrea Vergani

Does anybody have one of these guitars? I have got it and it's my first gipsy jazz guitar. It's fairly big and with long scale it makes it sometimes a bit hard to play.
Any ideas/suggestions?

guitarmike

I had 2 of them. One was very bad sounding. No volume, no tone...
The other one was ok...... I kept that one.
For long scale ( 675 mm) I used a set of Argentine ( 0.010 to 0.045 )
and I change the first string for an 0.011
Makes it easier to play.

HCQ

I have one. Mine sounds ok but the high E notes from the 17th to 24th fret don't really kick out well in tone and volume like it does everywhere else on the neck. It also a bit different from some others in that the Dell Arte logo is inlaid in pearl on the headstock. All the others I've seen have the Selmer-like logo silk screened gold. I don't think many of these were made. If you are not well versed in setting up a guitar, take it someone who is. I switch between Argentine 10 and Argentine 11 sets depending on tone I want.

Andrea Vergani

Have you guys tried to play them with other gipsy guitars? Are they loud enough? Mine is not too bad, I had it setup by a luthier, I still found it a be hard as I am used to flat tops acoustic guitars with shorter scales and frets. That right hand is quite challenging too! It's got a sort of a nasal sound, fairly loud and "boxy". I need also to look into some sort of pickups/amps, do you guys use it also amplified?

HCQ

I found that you just have to get used the scale length and neck dimensions. Mine seems to be loud enough, as an acoustic, in all jam type of situations. You will find many opinions on amplification. I use either a JBB piezo pickup or a Krivo Nuevo magnetic pickup. I use a Fender Princeton amp or Champion 20 amps.

guitarmike

The one I kept ( I had 2 ) is loud enough for any jams situations.
It has that "nasal" Favino kind of sound.
Like I mentionned before If you use a set of light gauge Argentine ( 10-45 )
and you change the first string for a 11 you'll be just fine.

Jazzaferri

One of the cheapest and most effective ways to change the sound some is to try different strings. I went through all the usual GJ suspects til I settled on Lenzer Fisoma S&S that Michael has. One can get a pretty biog difference going from 10's to 11's too. The thincker the strings the more mid lows will come out provided they don't overload the top.

The other thing that can change the soundscape some is to change or lighten the bridge. Talk to your luthier about that too. Hollowing out the bridge and making sure it is a really good fit can make a significant difference to the sound.

Finger stretching exercises (see musicanshealth.com) can help a lot. I place my left wrist edgewise between right fingers and then slowly rotate it around for a 30 second stretch then repeat for al the gaps between left fingers.