How do the special Gypsy type strings sound different?

Bob Holo

Michael - I love Stochelo's sound. He's one of the guys who espouses the Gallis (I think I've read that he either uses V027 or DAddario Silk and Steel)

Have you had a chance to get a good look at his rig? I know he has "Selmer 504" ... but it doesn't look like he tours with it - (a wise move not to take a priceless guitar out on the road to be abused by airline baggage handlers etc...)

My questions are as follows - if you've seen his "main" rig...
1.) Is it a Selmer size or an oversized (Favino/Busato/Patennote size)
2.) Is it traditionally braced or Favino braced
3.) What kind of action is he sporting? is it high like yours (yours is about 3.5mm/3.1mm with a pretty decent amount of relief unless you've changed it significantly since Djangofest last year)

Thanks,

-Bob

djadam

djangology wrote:

many people like them. there is not a reason to comment on their sound since it is different for everyone. its your job to try out the different brands and decide for yourself. ultimately that is what everyone does anyways.

Jack, Bob, Michael, thanks for your feedback. I love the Savarez strings on my guitar, but do Gallis actually last longer than Savarez strings? That'd be my major reason for trying them.

Jack

It's funny, but it often seems to depend on the player; something about the personal chemistry (literally) of the individual. The Gallis seem to last longer for me, though I prefer the sound of Argentines. On the other hand, a friend has had uncommon longevity from his Argentines. Why? It might have to do with odd things like my smoking habit (I'm trying to quit, so it'll be interesting to see if that has any impact), my whisky habit, the fact that I sweat like a bastard in humidity, or any combination of the above. Salt corrosion, maybe? Acid/base ratios? I really don't know, but I can say that two people playing the same strings will often have a very different effect on them.

In the end, I'd say try the Gallis, but don't let the longevity issue be the deciding factor-let your ears do the walking, to paraphrase.

Best,
Jack.

djadam

Jack wrote:

It's funny, but it often seems to depend on the player; something about the personal chemistry (literally) of the individual.

You are probably onto something. It's been a hot summer and my sweaty fingers seem to corrode silver at an insane rate, even though I try to keep the fretboard well wiped. I dig Stochelo's sound, so I'm intrigued enough to give the Gallis a try on my guitar.

BTW, I can't authoritatively answer your question about his touring guitar, but from his DVD, I had the impression that it has a larger than Selmer body.

MichaelHorowitz

In a number of occasions Stochelo handed me his guitar and his pick and said "play!." Well...thank God for Unaccompanied Django, ha ha. I played him Django's solo version of Nuages once. He got a kick out of that...

Anyway... I played Stochelo's Eimers guitar. It's a copy of his Selmer. He plays with pretty high action. Leo Eimers said he likes it high because he hates buzz. The high action explains that really pure tone he gets. But I don't remember it being insane...it was pretty playable. But high enough that you could smack the crap out of it and it wouldn't buzz much. My guess is that Alsatian players like Tchavolo and Moreno have even higher action.

I play a Favino so it's hard to compare action to a regular Selmer. Favino's have a pretty extreme neck angle which means that 3.5mm action on a Favino feels much stiffer then 3.5mm on a Selmer. I actually just lowered mine slightly. I think I had it so high that it was putting too much tension on the top. It sort of "locked up" the top and killed a lot of the sustain. Since I lowered it I have a lot more sustain and it's also brighter.

'm

kimmo

djadam wrote:

BTW, I can't authoritatively answer your question about his touring guitar, but from his DVD, I had the impression that it has a larger than Selmer body.

No, the model was Stochelo's old Selmer. Luthier Leo Eimers writes about the guitars in the DVD in his website
http://www.eimers-guitars.nl :

Stochelo and Nous'che both played on a special edition of their signature models from Eimers-Guitars. The guitars are made from laminated birdseye maple back and sides, a three piece birds eye maple neck with a palisander middle stripe. The fretboard on Stochelo his guitar has the same end as seen on the Maccaferri guitars. This type of fretboard on a oval hole guitar is referred to as 'Selmer special'. Both guitars have no position dots. The inside of the body is varnished. Both guitars have the Eimers replica Selmer style machine heads. In the solid ebony bridge Big Tone pickups are installed. The guitars have an complete vintage (old yellow) finish. These guitar are available from Eimers-Guitars.

dennis

fnny michael, when i tried stochelo's eimers and selmer, i felt the action was rather low. i suppose it's all relative. in any case, the selmer was very easy to play.. the eimers was a bit stiffer