New Benedetto Gypsy Jazz Guitar!

MichaelHorowitz

Here's some more info on the production models:

The prototype is almost finished. We don’t expect to launch any production until NAMM in January 2009. The specs are:

15 3/4” body width (same lines you see on this guitar)
3 1/4” depth
Oval hole (As pictured below)
Carved, hand graduated European spruce top and European maple back and sides
American maple neck
Maple binding
X-Braced
No electronics (but we are looking into them)
25” Scale
1 11/16” Nut width
Colors TBD but probably our typical antique sunburst, honey blond, opulent brown, etc.
We have not priced the guitar yet, but plan to keep it under $15,000 retail.

MichaelHorowitz

The Rich Gypsy Guitar (Serial #S1377GP)

This
is one of Bob’s most notable creations and perhaps most stunning recent
instruments. Bob is no stranger to the fiery Hot Club of France style.
After all, he personally crafted Stephane` Grappelli’s violin, along
with many of Grappelli’s accompanists including Bucky Pizzarelli and
Martin Taylor. He also crafted two unique gypsy-style guitars for Frank
Vignola. But when Bob decided to build a Gypsy style instrument without
restriction he used his 40 years of experience to create a masterpiece.
Hand crafted from African Beli Wood (back , sides and binding),
European Spruce (top) and Spanish Cedar neck, this instrument has a 15
¾” x 3 ¼” body and Bob’s traditional 25” neck scale. Bob fashioned a
unique ebony tailpiece and bridge. With an elongated oval hole and
super lightweight hand graduated X-braced construction, this guitar is
super loud yet loaded with warmth. Most remarkable is the hand-inlaid
abalone faceplate. Includes a custom faux alligator case and
Certificate of Provenance.

The one-of-a-kind Golden Period Benedetto retails for $40,000.

For information on how to purchase this guitar, click
here.

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Headstock detail

a

you can put lipstick on a pig...

Stringswinger

40K will buy you a cutaway D'Angelico. I haven't played a Bennedetto yet that holds a candle to a vintage D'Angelico. And I bet that 25 years hence, the DA will be worth more than the Benedetto.

I'm sure the production model will be a pretty guitar that will sound nice (better IMO than any Selmac ever made).

One can buy many awesome guitars for way less than 15K.

Benedetto is making guitars for dentists, lawyers, investment bankers (who are not out of work) and other non professional musicians. He/they give a few guitars to great jazz guitarists (like Howard Alden or Andreas Oberg) to keep the demand up, but working jazz guitarists cannot afford them.

It is important to find a guitar that inspires, but one shouldn't be foolish about it. Remember, a fool and their money are soon parted.

Just my 2 cents (40K is a lot of 2 cents!)

Cheers,

Marc

richdaigle

$40k!!! !@#$%!! As far as sounding better than a Selmac? Thats apples and oranges...that X braced thing won't sound anything like a selmac. I bet it'll have a super sweet Archtop tone and at the price it should, hell at that price Bob should come over to your house and change the strings once a month! HA HA...My $.02

CalebFSU

Marc well said. I have only ever seen and touched a Bennedetto once and it was brought ot the Vintage guitar shop I worked in and was brought in by a State Senator who obviously knew how to spend Money better than he knew how to play. All he wanted was strings and wanted me to restring it. The guitar admitedly was awesome but I am with marc I would rather have a vintage DA or better yet a super 400 ces from the mid 60's with a Florentine cutaway like Kenny Burrell played. I was hoping that since he broke with Fender and opened his own shop there would be something the averazge gigging Jazz musician can afford. Good job to Andreas for getting that endorsment. I wish I had the money for that AJL archtop that is a bad looking horn.

MichaelHorowitz

CalebFSU wrote:

I was hoping that since he broke with Fender and opened his own shop there would be something the average gigging Jazz musician can afford.

These ones made by Bob himself are special collectors pieces...as Marc said, they are not intended for working musicians. But Benedetto does have lots of production guitars for working musicians (Bravo, Andy, Bambino). These models start around $2K which is affordable for most pros.

There's a point at which a luthier's reputation becomes so renown that his work is priced more like that of a famous artist (liked Damien Hirst!) then that of a craftsman Bob passed that point a long time ago, hence the very high prices for his work. The production model will be far less...will be cool to see what those are like.

His guitars are really excellent and there's a good argument that there's an element of genius in his work. I've been very impressed his guitars and prefer them to just about any other archtop, with the exception of a few vintage Gibsons or D'angelicos (who happen to be his inspiration).

Super Mario Maccaferri

Stringswinger wrote:

One can buy many awesome guitars for way less than 15K.

Benedetto is making guitars for dentists, lawyers, investment bankers (who are not out of work) and other non professional musicians. He/they give a few guitars to great jazz guitarists (like Howard Alden or Andreas Oberg) to keep the demand up, but working jazz guitarists cannot afford them.

Just my 2 cents (40K is a lot of 2 cents!)

Marc

Couldn't agree more. Fourty thousand dollars... :shock:

There is some kind of indecency there for the working musicians

dennis

nice that's twice the salary of the average professional gypsy jazz musician

a

What a sham...I've NEVER played an archtop that can come anywhere near as close to a Gitane in playability, and I've played some expense D'XXXXs or whatever. and now a superficial X braced "Gypsy" archtop is going to sell for $40,000. These high prices are all a result of one collector who bought up many archtop guitars. He probably bought them all for sentimental reasons...