Draleon Samois

vicsaumarez

I know this subject has been touched on before, but I'd be interested to hear some thoughts on my post. Some while back I went to see Draleon Guitars in California, because I was intrigued by the concept of an archtop gypsy guitar, because it seemed exactly suited to my style of playing; acoustic, swing jazz. However, when I tried the guitar, it was almost impossible to play. Big bumpy frets, and high action. However, it did sit snugly on my lap, and is a genetic cousin to my Eastman oval hole, a very playable guitar.

Yesterday, I stumbled across another Draleon Samois in a shop and have never seen such a high action. It sounded nice (better than some Selmer type copies). The bridge was right down as far as it would go, and the neck seemed fairly straight to the eye. Does anyone own one of these guitars, and had any success in lowering the action?

goregantuan

I played one from gypsyjazzguitars.com in Tennessee, and it was fine. The action was great, and it played really well. In the same shope, Steve had a D500, the Jorgenson oval hole, and the D255m, and what is now my Cigano. The Draleon does sound good, and really is a beautiful guitar, but out of my price range at the time.

vicsaumarez

That's interesting. So it sounds that it must be down to individual Draleon guitars, or perhaps either the bridge was too far forward, or there was more tension in the neck than the naked eye could see, at least in the two that I have played. Mind you, your idea of a low action might not be mine. Whenever my guitars are setup, I always tell 'em the action is too high and am constantly told, it's as low as it can go ...that's until I show them my other guitars and people are dismayed. It works with some guitars but not others, and of course needs constant adjustment. The problem is I hate buying guitars, and then having to take them back, so try and do as much research as possible first.

Pugs47

I've owned the 8000 for over a year and had to do rather extensive tweaking to get it to play.

First, mine had a dead straight, slight backbow neck with no truss rod tension. In order to get some relief in the neck, I replaced the zero fret with a thicker gauge and shim it. This might explain the high action on yours as it would have to be in order to avoid string buzzing in the lower fingerboard.

Also the string spacing on the bridge saddle was too tight and the 6th and first strings were very inboard of where they should be. Sand the top of the bridge saddle and re space. This helped chord fingering in the upper register immensely.

Also there is too much of a break angle over the saddle. If you look at the tailpiece, I would bet it's mounted flush with the top at the bend. That puts the strap button lower than half way down the rim. I re drilled and mounted the tailpiece so that the button was midway on the rim. That raised the tailpiece maybe a half inch off the top. This reduced the top pressure and allowed it to vibrate much more freely. It really opened up after this remedy.

Other than that, the build and materials on this guitar are stunning!
Ernie

vicsaumarez

Ernie, thanks for that useful feedback. I guess you wouldn't mind if I passed it on anonymously to Draleon? I think most are in agreement that it more a showcase than a playable machine, which is a pity.

Pugs47

Vic,
I spoke to Gordon and the national sales rep at Django in June last year, about these issues. I have one of the earlier models which had a very brittle finish and was prone to easily chipping. When there they both said, "Oh No Problem, ship it back and we'll replace it." As instructed, I emailed them four or five times, to two different email addresses, after the show to send it back......absolutely no response from them in any way. Dead Air. So I can only surmise that they were saying whatever to keep me from "quacking" on their product while at the show.
But it's now, after modifications, one of my most gigged guitars. I also use a Steimer w/ volume pot on it for louder scenarios.
Ernie

vicsaumarez

Ernie

I spoke to Draleon in Covina and they said they have taken note of all the comments people have made, and are talking with a French company about changes to the design. They suggested I wait until they have the new designs out, no date mentioned. Sounds hopeful!

Trevor1960

I almost bought the Samois from the shop in Tennessee (above; shant mention names for Google to grab) -- but, after some time, I decided to buy a Loar LH700 from same good guy in Friendly town. In one of the emails, while working out the Loar deal, I remarked that I'd still like to own the Samois, and NOW, same good guy says, "I'd just stick with the Loar. Draleon/Samois are odd, funny guitars by a no-support company." I'm paraphrasing only slightly.

Anybody heard anything lately about these cool guitars? George, the competition-level flatpicker and fingerpicker who hangs around Friendly shop in Tennessee, said of the Samois, "It just might be the best acoustic guitar there is." (George doesn't talk much.)

I'd love to own one, but not with 1/2" action. :roll: