Hi,
I will introduce myself. Mij name is Joshua, i'm 48 years old, live in in the Netherlands. i strarted playing guitar since i was 15 but never serious with Gypsy Jazz. Recently (yesterday:-D ) i bought a Cigano GJ-10, it definitely has the Gypsy sound but it needs a setup..
Does Anyone know a store or luthier in the Netherlands (prefered Gelderland, Achterhoek) who can setup my Cigano GJ-10 properly?
I watched the Youtube video where a guy Bob Holo talks about 2.9mm at the 12th fret and a relief of 2,5mm.
On my Cigano the relief is greater than 2,5mm but the action is smaller than 2.9mm ( on the low E-string), that takes me to the conclusion that my bridge is too low and that made me decide to find someone who could setup my guitar for me.
Comments
Welcome to the group, Josh.
”Shim” is an English word meaning a thin little piece of wood or cardboard.
Have you tried putting a shim under your bridge?
My local hardware store sells a thin cabinet-edging veneer for a few bucks... you can cut out one or more little pieces for shimming and see if that solves your problem.
good luck!
Will
Edgar Degas: "Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.... To draw, you must close your eyes and sing."
Georges Braque: "In art there is only one thing that counts: the bit that can’t be explained."
Welcome to the board, Joshua.
More to what @Lango-Django said, I took my guitar to Leo Eimers in Almere when I was living in that area. He gave me a proper setup and a bunch of ebony shims to use. He is a great luthier and a nice guy. I'm sure, as a fellow countryman, he'd be happy to talk with you and get your guitar headed in the right direction.
As for Bob Holo, if you stay around this board long enough, you'll find that he is a well-respected US luthier. His guitars, when they come up for sell, generally last about 30 minutes before they are put on reserve. So, you can trust his advice.
Thank u both for the advices. i think i''l go lokking for shims, there is a clasical luthier nearby who can probably help me with ebony. if that doesn't work out i'll go to a decent luthier who builds DG's like Leo Eimers or so.
Netherlands has such a rich scene in this genre, I'd be surprised that there aren't any players local to you who could give you contacts. If not then several members of the forum are from your country including our expat @adrian so they might know someone in your area.
any reasonably hard wood like maple etc should work for shims. You don't need ebony. Heck I've seen some people use a scrap of card stock or a pick.
You can buy sheets of Indian rosewood veneer (0.5mm) that you can cut with scissors, from Luthiers Mercantile:
https://www.lmii.com/wood-veneers/711-indian-rosewood-veneer-3-pcs-05mm.html
had some wood veneer leftover from my kitchen table. it had adhesive tape on it so I've put that side to the bottom of the bridge. relieved the trussrod to 0,25mm the action on low E is now 2.8 and on high E 2.4 much better sound buzz is gone. I have to take a look at the zero-fret cause it might be a little bit high but mabey I'll go for a visit to a gypsy luther anyway. thanks for the advice!