What guitar should I buy?

nutloaf

I want to buy a selmer type guitar but are unsure of which make to go for. I have tried a Gitane but have been playing an electric guitar for the past 18 years so was'nt used to it,also I have heard bad things about them namely false resonance. I could afford a Dupont which i believe are about £2000. I see the purchase of a guitar as a lifetime investment so should I just buy a Dupont or are ther any other makes that are as good.
Thanks.

Josh Hegg

If your going to go for a Dupont spring for the MD-50B. I own one and it's great.

Others to look at:

Park
Leberton
Caillot
Mazuad
Guitares Pascal
ALD
Gilles Pourtoy
AJL
LeVoi
Aylward
Eimers
Kyle (I have only played one and it was great)
Hahl
Moustache Guitars

There are a few to look into.

Cheers,
Josh

pallopenna

Josh,

What's the substantative difference between the MD-50 and the MD-50B? I know there's Brazilian wood on the outer layer of the laminate, but are there other differences as well?

Cheers!

-Paul

dennis

well i suppose i may be biased... but AJL is a really hard worker who listens to his customers, a true and honest professional... plus his selmer replica cases are worth 500 euros alone!

www.ajl-guitars.com

dennis

here's what mine sounds like

Josh Hegg

Yes the "B" stands for Brazilian. Also mine has Maple binding. I have played other MD-50s and like mine the best. Is it because its got the "B"? I'm not sure. My MD-50B is the only one I have played and it kills all other MD-50s I have hand in my hands. But... I have spent allot of time setting it up just for me so that has allot to do with it. However the first time I played it I thought to myself "I must find a way to buy this guitar". The tone and feel is just great.

Cheers,
Josh

badjazz

I guess I have a similar dilemna, I want a great gypsy guitar but never get a chance to play any here. I live in Honolulu, Hawaii, so there are never any to try and I am nervous about spending a bunch on guitars that I've never compared. Specifically, I have kind of narrowed it down between a Shelley Park Encore and a Dupont MD-50. Is anybody out there able to compare these two guitars or builders? I would really appreciate any help you could give me. Thanks!

Bob Holo

No two guitars are identical - though the two builders you name are about as consistent as anyone out there so there is actually some validity in comparing the two.

I own an encore, I've played several others, and I've played two Dupont MD 50s.

In general, they both have good volume and punch. Both are great guitars - you could easily own either and be happy with it forever and ever amen. Both have the ability to play clearly and gracefully ... and if you really lay into them both have the structure to growl and crunch as a gypsy jazz guitar should.

Stylistically:

The Park Encores usually have a more mid to midbass sound like a good handmade OM or OOO on nitrous oxide. You can hear Parks played on albums by Pearl Django, Mark Atkinson Trio, and the most recent album "Alita" by Billet Deux (I believe Troy had his Encore for this album)

The Dupont MD 50 usually has a more mid to midtreble sound like an oversized handmade mandolin or mandola. You can hear a Dupont MD50 played on a lot of albums - none of which come to mind - but plenty of albums to be sure. (guys - help out here - name a few)

So, don't worry - be happy. You've already narrowed it down to two very good choices. You won't be dissapointed either way. The big thing you have to worry about in Honololu (I used to live there) is humidity. But it sounds like you're a guitar player already and so you understand all that.

Good luck.

badjazz

Thanks for the help! I ordered a Dupont MD-50 from Jacques Mazzoleni today. Hopefully it'll be as great as I hope! Your contrast of the two was helpful, as I already have a nice Martin 000, and I really want something that gets far, far away from that. I primarily play archtops, and one of the things that I don't like about many modern builders is that, to me, they don't sound like archtops. I guess I may have been afraid of that same thing happening and getting a guitar that sounded great, but not like a traditional gypsy guitar.

Bob Holo

Yep, I hear you on the archtop issue... Benedetto did great things to revive the archtop guitar, but he and his followers don't make acoustic archtops. They make beautiful sounding instruments... but they're not acoustic archtops - they're a new type of guitar that Benedetto invented which happens to look very much like an acoustic archtop. There are maybe 5 pre 1950 Epiphone archtops in Portland counting mine. Although they don't sound identical, they all sound like archtops.

That being said - Parks do sound like Gypsy Jazz guitars so you truly would have been happy either way, but the Dupont may get you out there away from center a bit more. The downside is that the more of a characteristic sound the guitar has - the more of a one-purpose device it is. But it sounds like you understand that and have several guitars already. The worst Dupont/Park guitars are good... the best are "not of this world."

You'll be happy. It'll have most of its character from day 1 but still - play it hard for a couple months and you'll hear it start to open up and get that classic brashness.

Stringswinger

Badjazz, I have a Park and a Dupont. You will be happy with your choice. The Park is a little modern sounding, the Dupont is the epitome of a traditional Gypsy guitar, in fact I was talking to Michael Horowitz about Duponts at DFNW last year and he remarked that a Dupont is the closest thing to a real Selmer that there is. That said, My Park is a great guitar as well.

Regarding Bennedetto's, I have one and I used to own a 1953 Epiphone Triumph. The Benedetto is most certainly an acoustic archtop. It is x braced rather than parallel so the sound is different than the Epi, but it most certainly is acoustic IMHO.

Congrats in advance on the Dupont.

Cheers,

Marc

www.hotclubpacific.com

PS: Duponts are played by Paul Mehling, Sammo Miltich, Tony Green, Patrick Sassois, Romane and Bireli Lagrene to name a few.