Jon Jorgenson DG-300

Scotsman

I'm considering getting a DG-300 does anyone out there have one and is it worth the money? I have a DG-250 but I'm looking for a fatter neck any input would be appreciated.

drolling

Scotsman, I have a maple 250, and while it does its own thing exceedingly well (that's why I'm keeping it) the 300 is well worth the extra money.

Why? The woods used are of a better grade, the tuners are of a higher quality and the neck profile (purportedly based on John's old Selmer) is much more comfortable for my hand. Like many high end Selmacs, the 300's interior is lightly varnished. The fretwork is also superior (my 500 arrived with some serious 'fret sprout' and my 250 needed some levelling) and the guitar played well right out the box - after I replaced those generic bronzes with Argie 10s. I spoke to John about this and he's going to ask Saga to start shipping the guitar with the right strings.

The downside? Same crummy bridge & crappy tailpiece as the rest of the line.

Gypsy guitars are impossible to find where I live, so I bought mine online. There was a time when I couldn't concieve of buying a guitar without trying it first, but I've been real happy with all my Gitanes.
dr

Scotsman

drolling wrote:

The downside? Same crummy bridge & crappy tailpiece as the rest of the line.

Gypsy guitars are impossible to find where I live, so I bought mine online. There was a time when I couldn't concieve of buying a guitar without trying it first, but I've been real happy with all my Gitanes.
dr

Hey, drolling thanks for the info.How are the tuners?I've heard other people complain about the tuners on the d-500 and the dg-255.I'm pretty
happy with the tuners on my dg-250, after deburring the holes that is anyway I've decided that I need a guitar with a fatter neck.A skinny neck is fine for lead playing but for chording I think a fatter neck is better for someone with smaller hands, its a matter of leverage for me.

RICK-D15

Scotsman,

If a thicker neck is all your looking for on your D250, a couple of paint sticks and some duct tape should suffice. I wouldn't think it would affect the sound too much.

drolling

Rick, I imagine you're joking - right? But thanks for reminding me of another good point;
Neck size DOES affect a guitar's sound. The greater the mass, the better the tone. Keep in mind, that was just my opinion, but here's a rock solid fact;
The string tension on my 250 is MUCH greater than it is on my 300 with the same make and gauge of strings. The 300 is much easier for me to play and, yes, the neck relief is the same, as is the string height. The only factor that I can think of that could account for this difference would be the variation in headstock design.
dr

Scotsman

Well I recieved my JJ Dg-300 today and I must say I am a little dissapointed, maybe I was expecting a little too much but I thought it would at least sound as good as my dg-250.True it does have anice full neck but it also has the same old problems like the tail piece rattleing and uneven fret heights that make them buzz on some chords,it also after some close inspection has some thick spots of varnish around the inside of the soundhole and at the end of the fretboard. I also notice that the inside of the back and sides is mahogany and not rosewood like the dg-250. I would probably overlook these issues if it sounded as good or I was hoping better than the dg-250 but it has amuch thinner sound not as much low end as the 250 so as of now I'm thinking of sending it back
Again maybe my expectations were to high but for $400 more I was hoping for more,
Scotsman

drolling

It does sound as if they bashed that guitar out the same way they did my D-500 and DG250M, which both needed some work. Maybe they took a little more care in producing the first batch, as I found the finish & fretwork to be far superior to the first two Gitanes I bought.

As my 250 is maple, I didn't even notice that the interior of the 300 isn't rosewood. My old bottom-of-the-line Gibson arch top's interior isn't rosewood either, so I wasn't really looking for it.

Life is too short for these kind of dissappointments, but the real deal breaker here is the tone. The guitar should certainly sound way better than your 250. You should probably send this one back to the shop for a refund and maybe consider getting the Dell Arte Pigalle or a Pattenote. I've been reading rave reviews about both these guitars and they're way cheaper than the upscale Dell Artes and other european selmacs. There's been alot written about them in this forum that may help you make a descision.

marciero

Neck size DOES affect a guitar's sound. The greater the mass, the better the tone. Keep in mind, that was just my opinion,

I would bet that neck density plays a greater role. If it's the same wood in both cases, the density is the same (neglecting variation from different trees, of course). I would also bet that the slightly increased mass of a slightly thicker neck of the same wood would be negligible, or obscured by instrument-to-instrument variation.

The string tension on my 250 is MUCH greater than it is on my 300 with the same make and gauge of strings.

If this is true, it must be due to different scale length. I don't know what the scale length of the 300 is, but the JJ model Dupont has an "in-between" scale length of, I think, 650 or 655mm-I forget. Perhaps this is a preference of his incorporated into the 300??

Mike A

marciero

marciero wrote:

Neck size DOES affect a guitar's sound. The greater the mass, the better the tone. Keep in mind, that was just my opinion,

I would bet that neck density plays a greater role. If it's the same wood in both cases, the density is the same (neglecting variation from different trees, of course). I would also bet that the slightly increased mass of a slightly thicker neck of the same wood would be negligible, or obscured by instrument-to-instrument variation.

The string tension on my 250 is MUCH greater than it is on my 300 with the same make and gauge of strings.

If this is true, it must be due to different scale length. I don't know what the scale length of the 300 is, but the JJ model Dupont has an "in-between" scale length of, I think, 650 or 655mm-I forget. Perhaps this is a preference of his incorporated into the 300??

Mike A

marciero

marciero wrote:

marciero wrote:

Neck size DOES affect a guitar's sound. The greater the mass, the better the tone. Keep in mind, that was just my opinion,

I would bet that neck density plays a greater role. If it's the same wood in both cases, the density is the same (neglecting variation from different trees, of course). I would also bet that the slightly increased mass of a slightly thicker neck of the same wood would be negligible, or obscured by instrument-to-instrument variation.

The string tension on my 250 is MUCH greater than it is on my 300 with the same make and gauge of strings.

If this is true, it must be due to different scale length. I don't know what the scale length of the 300 is, but the JJ model Dupont has an "in-between" scale length of, I think, 650 or 655mm-I forget. Perhaps this is a preference of his incorporated into the 300??

Mike A

drolling

As far as tone (and volume, for that matter) go, I can only attest to what my ears are telling me.

There also seems to be alot of misinformation about the dimensions of the various models of Gitanes in circulation. Just other other day I had to get out the tape measure to confirm that the nut width is greater on the D-500 than it is on the DG-250.

In regards to scale length, I just measured my 300 and my 250. At approxamitely 27", they are identical.