Modifiying a dreadnought to sound more manouche

DarkoDeeflat

Hello,
I am currently in a very remote place where I could not bring my Grand Bouche but I still would like to practise.
So I was lucky enough to find a Yamaha FG800 in the neighborhood.
Now I am looking for any ideas to modify the sound a bit ( I will get a set of Argentine strings soon, which might help a bit ).
Any other ideas?

Cheers!

Joshl-m

I wouldn't bother with the argentines. They likely won't have enough tension to drive the top. One of my students has this guitar, and they are pretty well made for the money(they sound good too), but they are a bit too heavy for gj strings. Just my opinion.
I would just play it as is. Try to make it sound more 'manouche' through your technique. Your ears will thank you when you get your hands on another gj guitar.

jeffmatz

I would agree with Joshl-m--Argentines pretty much don't work on anything but gypsy style guitars. You'll likely sound more like you want with a regular set of bronze strings.

One thing you might try is combining two sets of strings--a set of light or extra light for the basses, and a slightly heavier set for the high E and B. While this will be more string tension on the trebles than you are used to, the sound may be better. I often find the thing that stands out most to me about the differences between a standard drednaught and a gypsy style guitar is the bass is usually too boom on the dread and the trebles are weak sounding. So adjusting gauges might offset that a bit.

One more idea...if you can find a set of nickel wound strings, you might like those too...they'll be the right tension, but they won't have as many overtones as the bronze strings...

Jose

I agree with Joshl-m, Please forgive me if I sound harsh but a good player can play “la pompe” and solo (rest strokes) and sound good if he has good technique on a flat top, focus practicing your technique. This is a video of Jimmy Rosenberg playing with his father on a 12 string guitar.

geese_com

Here's Sebastien Giniaux on a flattop.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=EWZK0HMNk8Y

Bones

Yeah agree. Don't bother with mods. Technique is the key.

S@nderV

And here Danjetto Winterstein on a flattop: