Gallato RS-1939 Sound sample

bluetrain · October 2009

Hi!

Few months ago I bought to myself a Gallato RS-1939 Angelo Debarre model (2009). I think it's made in France (some parts might be from Spain?). The guitar was on sale at http://www.gypsyguitar.de (Norman Ort runs the company) and I got it for little less than 1000 euros. The guitar had way too low bridge so I had to replace it with another higher bridge (which is still a bit too low actually). Norman Ort was great.. He sent me four different bridges to choose from. After changing the bridge the sound of the guitar changed quite a bit and I think it the sound is a bit more warm now. I also straightened the truss-rod and this gave the guitar very nice and nasty bite together with quite low and comfortable action. I also had to level the frets so you could say that the guitar wasn't maybe finished as it should have and I'm suspecting this might be a reason for it to be on sale but who knows.. good deal for bucks anyway. I use Argentine 11s and I think these are the strings for this guitar. I can tell you more about some details if someone is interested.

Here's a sound sample for all of you gypsy guitar maniacs

ps. Plectrum is a 2mm Dunlop Gator and played with the round corner.

HCQ · October 2009

Beautififul playing and sounding guitar. Thanks for sharing it.

Passacaglia · October 2009

Agreed, HCQ. Bluetrain - really beautiful playing, and beautiful sounding guitar. Thank you for sharing it.

Interesting comment on straightening the truss rod. My Gitane DG-300, part of the first production run for this model (relatively straighter neck angle, less arch in the top than the re-worked specs on later runs), had some initial work done on it - fret dressing and setup. However, just prior to the Midwest Fest (Madison, WI), I was referred to a luthier out of Madison, who did an install on a Size O Dupont bridge, and on his recommendation, he straightened the neck a bit more as well. In my opinion, the tone is vastly improved over what it was before. I had always thought a more pronounced angle was something sought after, so was surprised by this recommendation - but sounds like you did the same. Can you tell me what the reasoning is (would like to know, to learn something more on how this impacts tone, harmonics, etc.).

bluetrain · October 2009

Passacaglia wrote:

Interesting comment on straightening the truss rod. My Gitane DG-300, part of the first production run for this model (relatively straighter neck angle, less arch in the top than the re-worked specs on later runs), had some initial work done on it - fret dressing and setup. However, just prior to the Midwest Fest (Madison, WI), I was referred to a luthier out of Madison, who did an install on a Size O Dupont bridge, and on his recommendation, he straightened the neck a bit more as well. In my opinion, the tone is vastly improved over what it was before. I had always thought a more pronounced angle was something sought after, so was surprised by this recommendation - but sounds like you did the same. Can you tell me what the reasoning is (would like to know, to learn something more on how this impacts tone, harmonics, etc.).

It's a kind of long route that I took before I ended up straigthening the neck almost line straight. I've always liked a gypsy guitar sound that has this funny buzz and very sharp snappy attack. First I thought that the snappy attack is mostly because of the strong rest stroke but I just couldn't get that sound for some reason. After I changed the bridge to my guitar I asked opinions from two gypsy swing players and they both recommended a straight neck. At this point the action on my guitar was a bit too high for the treble strings so I thought that I could get the action lower by straightening the neck so this way I wouldn't have to do any modifications to the bridge. So I adjusted the truss rod a little.. better sound. Little more.. and there it was. Nice sharp snappy attack and little funny buzz for D- and G-strings which I like. The bridge needs still a little tuning but aguess it's good for now. So I guess that big part of the "gypsy sound" is due to the strings hitting the fret board and a little buzzing.

frater · October 2009

Related links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JqHU_gc ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/user/vbgallato#p/u

klaatu · October 2009

Lovely playing. You're getting a really nice sound out of it, both on lead and rhythm. I bought one of these from Norman back in the spring and am enjoying it very much. It's opening up nicely. I have gone from 10s to 11s and back, but the 11s might be more right for it, as you say (Norman said the same thing). I like my Holo even better, but it also cost a heck of a lot more. IMHO, the Gallato is a great guitar for the price, especially if you get one of the ones that Norman sometimes offers at this kind of discount.

Passacaglia · October 2009

Blue, just wanted to say thanks for going into your reasoning on this. Right now, my guitar is starting to wig out a bit (I think a combination of a lower action from the 2nd luthier's setup, weather, and, at the moment, some tired 11's), so it might be a good time to think on this a bit more deeply, and you've given some good experiential food for thought. Much appreciated.

Paul

bluetrain wrote:

Passacaglia wrote:

Interesting comment on straightening the truss rod. My Gitane DG-300, part of the first production run for this model (relatively straighter neck angle, less arch in the top than the re-worked specs on later runs), had some initial work done on it - fret dressing and setup. However, just prior to the Midwest Fest (Madison, WI), I was referred to a luthier out of Madison, who did an install on a Size O Dupont bridge, and on his recommendation, he straightened the neck a bit more as well. In my opinion, the tone is vastly improved over what it was before. I had always thought a more pronounced angle was something sought after, so was surprised by this recommendation - but sounds like you did the same. Can you tell me what the reasoning is (would like to know, to learn something more on how this impacts tone, harmonics, etc.).

It's a kind of long route that I took before I ended up straigthening the neck almost line straight. I've always liked a gypsy guitar sound that has this funny buzz and very sharp snappy attack. First I thought that the snappy attack is mostly because of the strong rest stroke but I just couldn't get that sound for some reason. After I changed the bridge to my guitar I asked opinions from two gypsy swing players and they both recommended a straight neck. At this point the action on my guitar was a bit too high for the treble strings so I thought that I could get the action lower by straightening the neck so this way I wouldn't have to do any modifications to the bridge. So I adjusted the truss rod a little.. better sound. Little more.. and there it was. Nice sharp snappy attack and little funny buzz for D- and G-strings which I like. The bridge needs still a little tuning but aguess it's good for now. So I guess that big part of the "gypsy sound" is due to the strings hitting the fret board and a little buzzing.

bluetrain · October 2009

Maybe you could try straightening the neck also. It's actually very fast and easy thing to do. You just have to keep in mind not to tighten the truss rod too much at once. Maybe 1/8 to 1/4 of a turn at a time is a good starting point. One good thing about straight neck is that during the winter, if the action gets lower you can compensate this a little by loosening the truss rod so you don't need to use any shims under the bridge unless the actions changes dramatically.

Passacaglia wrote:

Blue, just wanted to say thanks for going into your reasoning on this. Right now, my guitar is starting to wig out a bit (I think a combination of a lower action from the 2nd luthier's setup, weather, and, at the moment, some tired 11's), so it might be a good time to think on this a bit more deeply, and you've given some good experiential food for thought. Much appreciated.

Paul