New Member in need of a little help.

VicBulbon

Hey all, new member here from Thailand. I am about to get into gypsy jazz, so I was browsing around when I came across some suspicious listing, price-wise. Since I am visually impaired and have no one in my immediate vicinity who is knowledgable about guitars, I figured I may enlist the help of the knowledgable folks here. The first one is on Ebay, it says that it is a Castelluccia round hole from the 40s, but the price is way lower than it should be in my opinion. How does it look to you all?https://www.ebay.com/itm/Round-mouth-castelluccia-40s-/184523660740?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

Also I am interested in a couple of old Patenottes listed on Reverb. HOw are these guitars like? What are their reputation? They cost around 500$. This is one example.

https://reverb.com/item/39973779-patenotte-gypsy-jazz-manouche-guitar-60-s?utm_source=rev-ios-app&utm_medium=ios-share&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=39973779

I appreciate any of you guy's help and input in advance.

Thank you very much

AndyW

Both of these listings are for full-body non-cutaway guitars - so they're less obviously in the body shape of the "traditional" gypsy jazz guitars. I would not call them "suspicious" listings, they are just less desirable models.

stuology

Yes I agree with Andy, these are not Selmer-style guitars. Vintage guitars don’t tend to be that expensive unless they are a rare or iconic model. If you are looking to get into this style of music you would be better off looking at new guitars.

VicBulbon

Thanks guys for the reply. I'm sorry, couldn't quote you two individually, not sure how to do it on my screen reader. Anyways, now I see. When you two said they are not Selmer style guitars, are those gypsy guitars in any way, or are they just normal acoustic guitars?

Also, my budget is around 1000 to 2000$, so kinda hope I can get the used lower end European ones. What do you guys think?

stuology

They're French guitars, made by the same companies and maybe even the same people as the Selmer copies that define this style, in the same era. But they're not guitars that are directly inspired by the Selmer-Maccafferi's that Django made popular. If you're chasing that dry Django sound you are best looking at contemporary Asian-built guitars (assuming you are on a budget). I wouldn't say no to one of these at the right price though, I'd want to check it out in person first though unless buying from a reputable dealer.

Willie

I bought a french full-body guitar several months ago: https://www.djangobooks.com/gallery/di-mauro-chaput/, and I am very glad I did (550 €). These instruments DO have "that dry Django sound", only disadvantage is the lack of the cutaway for really high notes. Joseph Reinhardt prefered to play them, Django himself did from times to times - although I have to admit that most players don't (and that I eventually will have the opportunity to buy a Kiehl Emmet Ray - with cutaway! - for a sensational price; but that's another story). If the instruments are technically o.k., they might be real bargains.

rudolfochrist

@Willie

Joseph Reinhardt prefered to play them

Do you have any references that Joseph Reinhardt (I assume you mean Nin-Nin, Django’s younger brother) preferred them? I’m not saying that you’re wrong, but I think I’ve read he preferred the Maccaferri models with nylon strings. After all, I guess I don’t have any references for that either. 🤷‍♂️

VicBulbon

Hey Willie, thanks for your response. Glad to hear you like it. These french guitars, do they have even less fret access than the d hole 12 fret gypsy guitars?

Buco

Look through the classifieds on the forum. There are three guitars for sale in your price range: $400, $900 and $1800. First two the sellers prefer not to ship but you never know.

Willie

@VicBulbon Mine (below) has the same fret access as the guitar on the above picture, so do the guitars on eBay and reverb:

@rudolfochrist On most of the pictures and videos showing Nin-Nin as a soloist that I have seen, he plays a guitar like the one shown on this picture, or an archtop without cutaway:

Maybe the guitar even has been constructed by himself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Reinhardt

stuology

This is the video that still is from, the last performance of the Hot Club orchestra

https://youtu.be/5lnEasairHo