Anyone heard of a 'La Manouche' brand of Gypsy Jazz guitars?

fourowls

Jehu wrote: »

Sounds like a very similar story to my guy... and I think he has some family on the Gold Coast. Hmm...

LOL yes this gentleman is at 'Pacific Pines' and offered to drop the price,,just for this week only...what a scam! No identifying information except his name is Robert...

ChrisMartin

Well I doubt his name is really Robert any more than mine is. Five years ago I bought a cheap 'Dupont' that turned out to be an Aiersi from someone in Pacific Pines QLD, Tarrina Crescent to be exact. Claimed he had paid 2,800 Euros for it in Belgium the year before. Totally my fault, thinking I had found a bargain and took a chance without checking it out. I managed to get half the money back (I won't tell how on a public forum) but then I did hear about some of these coming in from the same source. Aiersi are quite upfront about putting any logo you want on a guitar, but maybe his 'Dupont' racket got too well known so he decided to try something more subtle. One giveaway on the Aiersi is the use of abalone around the soundhole inlay. Also the shape of the truss rod cover and the use of a decorative strip between the two halves of the back. They can be made to sound ok with a bit of work, but still only worth Aria MM money at best.

fourowls

Chris Martin wrote: »

Well I doubt his name is really Robert any more than mine is. Five years ago I bought a cheap 'Dupont' that turned out to be an Aiersi from someone in Southport QLD. Totally my fault, thinking I had found a bargain and took a chance without checking it out. I managed to get half the money back (I won't tell how on a public forum) but then I did hear about some of these coming in from the same source. Aiersi are quite upfront about putting any logo you want on a guitar, but maybe his 'Dupont' racket got too well known so he decided to try something more subtle. One giveaway on the Aiersi is the use of abalone around the soundhole inlay. Also the shape of the truss rod cover and the use of a decorative strip between the two halves of the back. They can be made to sound ok with a bit of work, but still only worth Aria MM money at best.

Howdy Chris..yes it's actually sad that you can get tricked like this now, even with GJ guitars which I thought would be hard to copy! Unless you know or trust someone, it's almost worthwhile buying new to ensure you really get it, or from Michael's site of course (I live in Australia so not always cheap to get a guitar shipped over here sadly!).
Have a great day....

ChrisMartin

Hey, you're in Brizzy, why not pop round anyway, say you want to try it out, take a mate with a phone or camera, and out the scammer on here.

fourowls

Chris Martin wrote: »

Hey, you're in Brizzy, why not pop round anyway, say you want to try it out, take a mate with a phone or camera, and out the scammer on here.

LOL...I thought about it, but really I have no idea what type of guy he is, or what I am walking into. At the moment, I am coming up to my Confirmation seminar for my PhD and just can't spare the several hours it would take (or convince someone to come). Besides, what if the instrument plays really well, and I am like,,"mannn...that's nice..."...lol! I think I will just accept that it is a fake and get on with my writing, or reading Djangobooks forum comments! You know since I joined this forum, I have spent hours going through it...like all things GJ...it's terribly addictive! Good community here though....

ChrisMartin

Ask if his name is (or was) Miro. Or maybe, as in my case, he was using his daughter to sell it for him. Is it still for sale? We should at least alert the Australian GJ facebook group, there are a few folks from the Brisbane area on there.

fourowls

Chris Martin wrote: »

Ask if his name is (or was) Miro. Or maybe, as in my case, he was using his daughter to sell it for him. Is it still for sale? We should at least alert the Australian GJ facebook group, there are a few folks from the Brisbane area on there.

Ok I didn't realize that there some Brisbane people here! I suspect that they would sniff a fake a mile away too! I am not part of the FB GJ group..I will look into it..

ChrisMartin

fourowls wrote: »

Chris Martin wrote: »

Ask if his name is (or was) Miro. Or maybe, as in my case, he was using his daughter to sell it for him. Is it still for sale? We should at least alert the Australian GJ facebook group, there are a few folks from the Brisbane area on there.

Ok I didn't realize that there some Brisbane people here! I suspect that they would sniff a fake a mile away too! I am not part of the FB GJ group..I will look into it..

You may as well have a look at this link;
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ozmanouche/
a lively bunch of Australian GJ players, some from up your way. I have shared this post on there too as a warning to others.

fourowls

Chris Martin wrote: »

fourowls wrote: »

Chris Martin wrote: »

Ask if his name is (or was) Miro. Or maybe, as in my case, he was using his daughter to sell it for him. Is it still for sale? We should at least alert the Australian GJ facebook group, there are a few folks from the Brisbane area on there.

Ok I didn't realize that there some Brisbane people here! I suspect that they would sniff a fake a mile away too! I am not part of the FB GJ group..I will look into it..

You may as well have a look at this link;
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ozmanouche/
a lively bunch of Australian GJ players, some from up your way. I have shared this post on there too as a warning to others.

You're a man of action Chris!! Thanks kindly and I have requested to join the FB group too! Hey by the way, when you started out in GJ, did you do any formal training, or take online courses? I am wondering about a proper full course on arpeggios (along with my private song repertoire and practice..). I am eyeing off some stuff from Denis Chang, or from Yaakov Hoter (Gypsy and Jazz.com)

ChrisMartin

fourowls wrote: »

Chris Martin wrote: »

fourowls wrote: »

Chris Martin wrote: »

Ask if his name is (or was) Miro. Or maybe, as in my case, he was using his daughter to sell it for him. Is it still for sale? We should at least alert the Australian GJ facebook group, there are a few folks from the Brisbane area on there.

Ok I didn't realize that there some Brisbane people here! I suspect that they would sniff a fake a mile away too! I am not part of the FB GJ group..I will look into it..

You may as well have a look at this link;
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ozmanouche/
a lively bunch of Australian GJ players, some from up your way. I have shared this post on there too as a warning to others.

You're a man of action Chris!! Thanks kindly and I have requested to join the FB group too! Hey by the way, when you started out in GJ, did you do any formal training, or take online courses? I am wondering about a proper full course on arpeggios (along with my private song repertoire and practice..). I am eyeing off some stuff from Denis Chang, or from Yaakov Hoter (Gypsy and Jazz.com)

Well my circumstance is unusual and probably not typical but I would not call myself a GJ player yet! Just a beginner. I was of the generation that grew up in the '60s with Beatles, Stones and Hendrix. The '70s started with the Grateful Dead and then I started working back through time exploring country and blues, and learning the basic Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and B.B.King styles, but my Dad liked classical and jazz so I guess I was lucky to have it all. Living in London at the time he introduced me to a French radio station - France Inter - which played a fantastic mix of everything so by the time I discovered Django in the late '70s I was ready for it. I was also able to see a few of the top European players when they played in England; Boulou and Elios Ferre, Romane and Fapy Lafertin several times and others like Babik Reinhardt in France where I used to spend a lot of time too. I then came to Australia in 2003 (my wife is Australian). The only tuition specific to GJ I have used was (still is) an online course by Robin Nolan, which is ok and accessible for beginners but hardly going to make me the next Stochelo. I have no disciplined practice routine and circumstances at home now dictate I can't get out much so I never play with others. Consequently I mainly try to work out solo arrangements from books like 'The Ultimate Django's Book' and Michael's 'Unaccompanied Django' and listening to my ridiculously over-the-top record and CD collection. Good luck in your learning curve, I guess there is no fixed route (and probably just as well) so all I can say is "Go for it!"