quality guitars

CalebFSU

Maybe I am wrong but I agree with Scot on some aspects. I feel (whether it is justified or not) that I play better on my Hommage than I do on my Saga. If nothing else it inspires me more. I have played Scots Favino and it is amazing. Not sure how my Hommage compares but I love my hommage. I also dug my saga when I had it, but I LOVE my Dell Arte. I think once more people can get high end guitars in their hands they will start to see and go oh yeah your right this one is great but this one is amazing.
my 2 ramblin ass cents.

P.S. Ted I dig the icon on your post. Makes me think of when I in 4th or 5th grade listening to that album. Gonna listen to it now.

scot

Bob - I don't know who it was you were jamming with last year, but it was not me - I live in N Carolina and have never been to DFNW. Sadly not this year either - I have to go to France the first week of October and can't manage both. I think I will be at DFNW next year, though.

Maybe what Josh points out about the lack of good mid-range guitars is the culprit here. I mean, for flattops, if you are shopping for your first good guitar, you could always get a style 18 Martin in any size. They are not expensive and -18s always sound great. Plus it's always easy to find one to try out. And it is still a real quality guitar. I think that Taylor makes something similar. There really are no Selmer style guitars like the style 18 - an entry level high quality guitar.

Michael - Favino was always a high quality guitar. It was popular with all types of guitarists in France - gypsies probably did not make up much of his clientele until the 70s. There were workaday guitars that cost much less, like Dimauro, Couesnon (better known for low cost brass instruments) and house guitars like those sold by Paul Buescher. Some of those guitars were pretty good too. The fit and finish were not always so great, though...

Best
Scot

sockeye

I have some nice guitars. A 1952 Gibson J-45 and a couple of Martins. Also 2 handmade, custom built banjos.

And I have a Gitane DG-300.

The thing is, I can play my flattop guitars pretty well in a number of styles. I can play clawhammer banjo at an intermediate level.

But I don't know if I'll ever be able to play GJ well. (I'm sure I could, but I have 3 young kids, a career, other interests and thus limited time & energy.) It seems like it really takes years of serious dedication to get good at this GJ stuff and I don't know if I've got that in me.

I would love to own a Park or a Favino or Dupont or Collins or Marin or ... but I don't know that I would ever deserve such a fine guitar. If I were younger & had more time, I think maybe I would buy a luthier-built Selmer copy.

Another thing: I haven't actually played a lot of fine SelMac copies. So maybe I don't understand how much better the good ones sound. (I do know they look much much better.) I have played some Dell Artes that cost a lot more than my Gitane but that didn't do a lot for me. And I have heard very good players play my Gitane (with Dupont bridge & high action) and sound very, very good.

So: speaking for myself, I definitely value high-quality instruments. But for me, playing this music as well (poorly) as I do, and with the time & energy I am able to devote (not much), the Gitane is meetinf my needs pretty well.

Bob Holo

Scott, Hmmm I guess I do have you confused with someone else.

You'll be happy to know that the guy I confused you with is an afficianado of good guitars - a good player - and a nice dude. You should look him up at DFNW next year.

Here's who I thought you were:

http://www.gadjoplayboys.com/

He has a lot of nice GJ guitars - but also some flat tops including a Gurian. I've always found Gurians to be interesting guitars for their construction and their story. now Michael Gurian lives up north of me in Ballard (by Seattle) and owns a guitar custom accessories shop (binding/purfling/peghead-veneer etc..) Here are some of Scott's cool guitars.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gadjoboy/2 ... et-923061/

scot

I play in this trio: www.musetteguitars.com. We have not been doing much in recent years but a new CD is in the works.

sockeye

The guitar market is incredibly soft right now. A buyer's market.

Look at this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0025609978

That's roughly 50% off the price of a new Park.

John

scot

The market is almost always soft for this kind of guitar. This reflects one of those curiosities of the modern guitar market. It is often difficult to make back even the purchase price of any expensive new guitar, especially nearly perfect examples only a year or two old. It does not seem to matter much if it's a factory guitar like a Taylor or a small shop luthier guitar. You can sell these guitars and get a good price, but it takes time. This effect does not apply to renowned makers like Olson, Collings, Favino etc but they are the exception.

I don't know exactly when this started to happen, but back in the 80s, it was accepted that you could always make your money back on any Martin. I suppose you still can, but nowadays, for most Martins, or other guitars for that matter, it will take you 10 or more years to do so, when a guitar starts to gain some vintage cachet.

Why this is, I don't know. I guess it's related to the vintage guitar market, where prices are high, even for beat up modest old guitars. It's believed that guitars sound better as they age, which is actually true. So guitarists, especially if they aren't loaded with money, will opt for the vintage guitar at the same price.

This is my experience, anyway.