Dell Arte Manouche Guitars

loumt123 · April 2008

After some searching, I've stumbled upon the Dell Arte Manouche line. They seem to be made in the states (as opposed to the imports) and are nicely priced (1500 ish). I think they come in 3 configurations...anyone have any experience with this line? Opinions, comments, etc? Also, would anyone happen to know how they compare to the "Manouche" brand around the same price. Thanks

Bob Holo · April 2008

The original Dell Arte Manouche was developed by John Kinnard around the time that he developed the 503 for Dell Arte. It is no longer made. I'm assuming that the new Dell Arte Manouche is a factory production model based on this instrument - but I'm not sure about that. However, here's what I know about the original. The original Dell Arte Manouche guitar was a limited release of 50 guitars made to commemorate the 50th year of Django's passing (2003). The build quality of the original limited run of instruments is very high as with all the instruments Kinnard built for Dell Arte. They are a cut above the Dell Arte import/factory instruments. I have one, number 20, and the soundboard is signed by Kinnard. It took a hell of a long time to open up, but this past year I noticed it had started to bloom so I worked over its action a bit and was pleasantly surprised at the instrument it had become. Stylistically it is a unique guitar - sounds a lot like the original Gallato guitars. (the ones built by Geronimo Mateos for Gallato and featured on the Album "Memoires" with Angelo DeBarre and one of the Schmitts (Tchavolo?) It has very little bass - all mids and high, moderate volume but really a cutting machine - great leads and a very good recording guitar with an authentic tone. It absolutely loves nickel strings.

As I said - I don't know for sure how close the new Dell Arte Manouches are to the original handmade Kinnard version, but I believe John has ended his association with Dell Arte so it seems likely he is not making them or overseeing their manufacture.

If you're looking for a Dell Arte Manouche - I could just sell you mine - I have quite a few guitars and have been thinking about selling a few off. The Dell Arte Manouche and the Park Encore are the Gypsy guitars I'll be selling - they're great guitars but of my gypsy guitars, they least fit my style of playing. I paid $2,600 for it - but wouldn't charge that much for it - make me an offer south of $2,000 if you're interested. If you're looking to get into Gypsy Jazz, an original Kinnard-made Dell Arte Manouche in good playing condition is a fine way to do it. Mine is like this one: http://n-a-g.info/component/page,shop.p ... Itemid,26/

a · April 2008

bob,

i saw your rosewood neck video and am still not sure why it'd be better to have a rosewood neck...why would you want the neck to resonate at all? if anything, shouldn't the neck have the least amount or resonance on the guitar? isn't it just venting energy if the neck resonates?