Gitane 250-m

Passacaglia · July 2012

Michael Horowitz wrote:

Your are experiencing two of the big flaws you find in lower grade instruments:

1) Ringing or "wetness" is pretty much ubiquitous on the Asian guitars. The 200 series Gitanes are probably the worst. The Ciganos and the 300 series Gitanes are better, but still have some of it. The nicer European stuff like Favino, Dupont, Hahl, etc is much drier and cleaner without all the overtone ringing and echo.

2) Playability problems are also a big issue with the Asian stuff. If you spend a lot of $ on setup you can fix some of the neck, fret, and bridge issues but even then I've never seen an Asian guitar with the ultra smooth playability of the higher grade instruments.

The Sagas are still great for the money, but they certainly have some issues.

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Old post, but after a phenomenal hour last night with Adrian Holovaty via webcam (I found Adrian to be a GREAT teacher, as well as a wonderful player...my bow of appreciation goes to the man, for some solid things to work on, and for his generosity in the youtube vids over the years), I can say, I finally hear this. I have spent several hours today as taskmaster to myself, slowing way down and working rhythm; uncompromising on ensuring fingered notes are voiced cleanly, evenly, and muted strings are fully muted; muting beats 1 and 3 cleanly and completely, and the percussive beats 2 and 4 are fully percussive.

It's a real breakthrough. That said, now I hear the intrinsic "wet" nature of my DG-300. I have loved this guitar, appreciate its tone and volume, what it's given me over a lot of hours. But I hear the ringing, even when fully muted, and though I've tried several things - cork under the tailpiece, shoelace-intertwining of the strings, cloth under the insert, etc. - not "cured" this wetness. Not oppressive, but now that I have really gotten down to the nitty gritty, it's quite noticeable.

Additionally, after DIJ, when I played awhile in Michael Bauer's guitar Eden and played a Favino-fils (sorry, Michael, can't remember the exact guitar), I can appreciate what playability can mean. Might be nice I began on this 300, but the playability feels, well, tougher now, when compared to what I know is out there.

Conclusion now, just means I'm sniffing for a drier and more "playable" beast. Glad, too, to finally hear and feel this very clearly. It takes some of us awhile.