new gallato angelo debarre 1939- 2008

spiro

hey all! im a newbie here....
i come from Croatia and play this style for few years now...i owned gitane dg-255 which i compared with few others of the same brand and my really sounded much better than all the other ones. i just changed bridge and tailpiece. even better than the jj model. but then i decided to take one step forward and ordered new gallato rs1939-2008-made in france. i ordered it from Norman at www.gypsyguitar.de . Tommorow ill get it and tell you all how is it due to lack of reviews of this guitar.

this is how my saga sounded(im the guy in the right side on video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zkzijwTuNM

and also on the page of the band, song sheik of araby, first solo after chorus, dinah first solo...
http://www.myspace.com/gadjomanouche

constantine

sounds great!

Stackabones

So much energy! Killer!!! 8)

spiro

thanks!! its nice to see that on this forum there are lots of non-vain musicians, which is very rare among guitarists.

I got the new Gallato! I must say its really a good guitar. Great finish, nice thin laquer...great mechanics. I dont know the technical details but ill try to describe it comparing with my old saga gitane dg-255. I must admitt that saga looked nicer. my new gallato has dry crisp sound, even crunchier than gitane had, but what makes great difference is much better projection of the mid tones.It also has much clearer sound, my saga would make all that anoying noise when you play rhythm(harmonic particles, distorsion). Especially when you play over 3. and 4. string. its really worth 958 euro at gypsyguitar.de(thanks Norman).
What i dont like that it doesnt have that tolerance on playing agressively as gitane does. Strings dont give you so much resistance. Guitar is loud till some point, and then you start to loose sound. On gitane you could push er to the limits and she would still scream.
This gallato has a much more authentic gypsy sound than gitane 255, even jj model....Its also much easier to play it because of the comfortable neck.
Bad side is that strings branch at few spots cause bridge setup is too low. but thats easy to fix...
Also, it seems like tailpiece is made like authentic selmers, so you can put only loop strings on it.Thats problem for me cause i live in Zagreb, a million citizens city, in which i can buy only argentines 0.10 ball end.

All in all, its really a great guitar! It comes with a beautiful aligator skin imitation case.

When my old saga first arrived, i was dissapointed. it was num. Then after few months it started talkin. After a year, and some work on it, it screamed!! but i had to sell it so i could buy this one:)
My new gallato talks now, but im sure it will scream in few months.

I made video for you so you can check how it sounds (sorry for poor recording quality and playing, i was in a rush), what is this thing called love, and how i see it :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NidZtzly3MA

dennis

when i was in college i knew a fellow who said he had friends in croatia playing gypsy jazz... i wonder if it might be you guys....

do any of you know a fellow named Brandon or Brendan Fitzgerald?

Stackabones

I think you nailed the description of that guitar ... dry & crisp. It sounds really tight and focused in your vid. Love it. It'd be cool to hear it on its own without a backing track.

I've got a Gitane D500 (grande bouche) that I'm fond of -- it's my first and only djangobox -- and I've thought about getting something a bit nicer. Hearing your petit bouche is making me wonder if I shouldn't explore that option as well.

frater

spiro wrote:

My new gallato talks now, but im sure it will scream in few months.

I don't know why "The Marathon Man" comes to mind...

spiro

I wouldnt know Brendan..There are 7 or 8 people in Croatia that play this style and i know them all personally. But only one who played this style 5-10-15 years ago is Mate Matesic, who is also a jazz guitar player.great technique, great imagination.. So i persume he could be the guy. Try asking your friend. And if its someone who i dont know maybe you could connect us, cause we are in total deficit of people who play this kind of music:)... eventhough there are lot of people who come to listen this live...

Here is valse a dora without a rhythm so you can better hear how it sounds , and with a different camera:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS8dwUO7Jpo


I had one cigano d hole, which was really nice. It was so easy to play. Then i persume d-500 is also a good guitar. I heard it has a lot of bass tones. is it true? how is the neck?

People, what do you think of me putting 0.11 on my gallato, and changing the bridge into a rosewood one?

spiro

unfortunately i didnt see that movie, can you rephrase:)?

Stackabones

spiro wrote:

Here is valse a dora without a rhythm so you can better hear how it sounds , and with a different camera:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS8dwUO7Jpo


I had one cigano d hole, which was really nice. It was so easy to play. Then i persume d-500 is also a good guitar. I heard it has a lot of bass tones. is it true? how is the neck?

Thanks for putting that vid up! Sounds nice all on its own!

I've enjoyed the D500, but I haven't had much to compare (not much GJ going on in North Central Texas). The neck wide and flat -- very much like a classical neck, which I like. At home I typically noodle around with a classical guitar, and when I gig with the D500 I don't really have to make too many adjustments with the way the two necks feel. I'll play the classical in the morning and the D500 at a lunch gig and feel comfortable.

I've heard the D500 sound described (by M. Horowitz iirc) as wet and bassy. That's probably accurate enough. It gets a bit more bass response than the few other djangoboxes I've heard, though nothing like a booming dreadnought.

Here's a vid of an original jazz/blues with it. I overloaded the camera mic a bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSu6ZuRVnzc

dennis

spiro wrote:

I wouldnt know Brendan..There are 7 or 8 people in Croatia that play this style and i know them all personally. But only one who played this style 5-10-15 years ago is Mate Matesic, who is also a jazz guitar player.great technique, great imagination.. So i persume he could be the guy. Try asking your friend. And if its someone who i dont know maybe you could connect us, cause we are in total deficit of people who play this kind of music:)... eventhough there are lot of people who come to listen this live...

man , i'd love to play in croatia ... i know how to say kourva pitchka!

anyway, my college years were 5-8 yrs ago.. so it would've been around that time... unfortunately i lost touch with this brandon/brendan fellow... nice guy though