In the market for a new guitar

quinng

So I've been playing a altimira m01 for a little over a year now, I've made this post before but I have a little over 2k saved up and was considering upgrading, I've been considering now a stringophonic 503,there's 3 of them up for sale and a nicer antiqued one on ****. And there's a chorus model on here ,for 2600 I think.

Just looking for some reviews and some other considerations in the 2k-3k range.

Thanks

flaco

If you can stretch just a bit over $3k you could get a nice luthier-built guitar. My Shelley Park was in that range, there are some other Parks, Duponts, etc for sale on Michael’s site in that range. The Barault studio also seems like a fantastic deal.

quinng

I'm mostly concerned about playability, I don't really see myself find a group to jam with ever but I enjoy the hell out of playing and playing open mics and various shows, just something that will always play good not having the top notch pure GJ sound is fine with me but if that that's required for a good playing guitar as well than I'm down

voutoreenie

@quinng

Do you like the neck profile on your M-01? If so, Altamira's have a fairly modern C so when upgrading, make sure to ask about the neck because for some a more "traditional" D-style can be surprising and not always in good ways.

Also, completely agree with flaco that spending $3k to $3,500 will get you a higher quality axe - Michael's got a used MDC100 for $3,250 and a Park Monmartre for $3,400 and imo those are really good deals. Otherwise, be prepared to snipe on Reverb and you might get a really good score - I got a mid-2000s Park Encore for $2,600 a couple years ago that needed a deep cleaning but was in fantastic shape otherwise and is one of my favorite axes (and on that note, the "best offer" button can be your friend...well, or complete enemy if you're buying while intoxicated lmao).

Buco

Why not seeking out a top-notch tech first to dial in the playability on your Altamira? They're really good guitars. Get the frets perfectly leveled, tweak the neck relief, bridge height, try different strings, gauges and brands to see what you and the guitar like...etc. I'm sure it can be set up and dialing in to play as good as anything out there.

If you're really ready to move up and upgrade, Ivanovski, which I have, is a very versatile guitar. So in that sense you could say it's modern. Risto, in my opinion of course and I say this with full bias lol, builds boxes as well as anyone. And he's one of the cheapest hand-build luthiers in this genre. He's been at it for a long time and is dedicated to this music.

Also, love some of the fuzz tones and riffs from your effects. That's the stuff I lived before I threw in the towel and went gypsy jazz route. Loved Tad, Helmet...that kind of stuf. Well I still do, I just don't listen to it or rarely do.

MikeK

I second what Buco (and the others) have said here. But here's another option you may not have considered: going up the Altamira line to a better version of what you have now. I started out playing this music on an Altamira M-01D that I bought new from Michael here. I played many good gigs on it and had a lot of fun with it. But when I felt like it was time to step up, I stuck with Altamira. To me, it was kind of like when you have a car (in my case, a Honda CRV) that you love, but you outgrow it & it's time for something new. If you go with another newer Honda CRV (like I did), it feels comfy from the start, only newer & cooler. In my case, when I felt I was ready, I stepped up to a used Altamira M-10 with the antique finish that was around $1200. It was a huge improvement, but the gist of it was familiar to me. Then I did it again a few years (and several hundred gigs) later by treating myself to an M-30 antique (for around $1400). Again, familiar but enough of an upgrade to inspire me profoundly. Many may disagree with me here, but that's been my path with these guitars & it's worked out extremely well for me. Maybe it could work for you.

paulmcevoy75

I have two guitars I built this year that are for sale. I haven't really advertised them much but they are for sale. I think they perform extremely favorably for the price.

One is my petite bouche, which is closer to a traditional Selmer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFxpOm6Watg

The other is my "Big Bouche" which is my own Selmer ish creation. Goal of this guitar is to be a great Gypsy guitar but also be more versatile and able to play regular Jazz or whatever sort of acoustic music you want.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeNF2i3EF4g

Here's a walkthrough:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsG2p_knxsA

Both are $2500 + S&H + tax

I will be raising my prices soon but these are prototype guitars and I've been playing both of them for 6 months. I really love both of them and will be sad to see them go but I'm drowning in guitars.

quinng

@paulmcevoy75 wow these sound pretty great I'm reallying digging the big bouche.

Are you in the states?

voutoreenie

when I felt I was ready, I stepped up to a used Altamira M-10 with the antique finish that was around $1200.

I have a used Altamira M-10 with regular finish and agree 100% with MikeK, it's a fantastic value (although certain magnetic pickups like the Peche are too large for it - Krivos work great tho). I'd also recommend the Eastman DM-1 and DM-2 as well, have played on both quite a bit and they're up there with Altamiras as the best Asian-made Django boxes imho.

billyshakes

https://djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/118929#Comment_118929

Yes, he's up in Maine. If I were in the market for a guitar, I'd be seriously considering buying the big bouche too. Liked the sound of it since Paul has started posting these several months ago. Even though I'm not, I've still considered springing for it. It's got a "surprise" map of Paris inside the guitar sides that is a neat touch too.

paulmcevoy75

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/118929#Comment_118929

Thank you! I love that guitar. If I can keep making guitars that sound that good I'll be happy.

My petite bouche is also great. I haven't featured it so much because the Big Bouche is my own design and I want to make more of them but my petite bouche splits the difference between the big Bouche and a more traditional guitar.

And yeah, I'm in Maine. I'll send you a PM.