New Macaferri style guitar

Bob Holo

Capilano...

Before jumping out there and buying one... try one. Play it for several hours if the shop will let you.

The reason I say this - is that it sounded from your post like you had been looking at a Dunn but were thinking about getting this instead. Sorry to burst the bubble, but a $199 guitar is not going to be in the same league with a Dunn. It just won't. The tonewood in a Dunn will run you about $199 if you go get it from a reputable dealer like LMII or Gilmer. So - if you want a starter... play a few or better yet get a friend who is a player and get them to play a few for you / with you... That's my 3.5 cents. Broad opinion among experienced players at this point tends to indicate that the Gitane 255 and Patennote 256 are good sub $1000 starter guitars. How will the Arias stand up under scrutiny? We don't know yet. We have one positive data point. It's a great start - but not a track record in and of itself.

capilano-gypsy

Yes, I understand that a Gitane nor Aria will ever touch the quality of a Dunn. I will most definately rent it for a while until I decide for sure if I want this, a Gitane, Dunn, whatever...

phil_g

Sorry but I along with several other players did a back to back of Gitanes and Arias and there's no comparison. At least 4 of us played and didn't rate the Aria at all.

Rich

Yeah, I have to agree. I wasn't impressed by the Aria at all. Doesn't begin to compare to the Gitane.. definatly try both before jumping for the cheapest option.

capilano-gypsy

phil_g wrote:

Sorry but I along with several other players did a back to back of Gitanes and Arias and there's no comparison. At least 4 of us played and didn't rate the Aria at all.

That's too bad... Can you give a detailed explanation?

Rich

To be fair to Aria it sounds just as you would expect a mac copy at that price to sound. It was incredably thin sounding.. with no tone at all. Just like all the other cheap mac copys. I'm not an expert but I imagine they didn't pay much attention to the bracing or wood used.

It's the saga gitane's that have paid attention to this and have created a very nice sounding guitar for a very good price. Which blows all the cheaper copys (and a fair few of the higher price macs IMO) out of the water..

But don't take my word for it.. maybe I got a dud one or something. Go try them before making a decision.

phil_g

I played 2 of them. Nuff said

nwilkins

The oval hole gitanes I have played have all had surprisingly good tone (remarkably good tone for the price) and I have a hard time believeing that anything cheaper could even come close.

phil_g

capilano-gypsy sorry, I only just spotted your post.
I can't add much more than my agreement with Rich and nwilkins tbh except that when I saw the Arias at £300 I thought oh no, wish I'd waited. I have an Aria sandpiper acoustic, it's excellent and cost me £300 too so I expected more.
I will give you my opinion though.
This guitar is a marketing exercise not a Mac copy.
A Mac shaped guitar is not enough to warrant the gypsy label - there is a lot more to these instruments than the shape.
The guitars I played were, what's the word? I don't know, just wooden boxes with strings on, better than the Ozarks for sure but that's not saying much.
The definitive opinion came from the Japanese player at L'Esprit Manouche who spoke no English at all. He was a good player for sure, I gestured for his opinion. He just shook his head.
Stick to your flat top and save up a few more bucks.
Sorry to anyone who just bought one of these, it's the truth though.

capilano-gypsy

Oh well. Not much of a disappointment.

I guess it's either a Gitane or Dunn...

Is there any place in Vancouver I can try out a Gitane? I've played a Dunn, the Purple Haze, and it sounded really good. Do you guys know how much he charges for these guitars?