Cafe Amercaine Guitars????

Musette

A guy in ebay that travells every year to France to meet Jazz manouche luthiers told me that he could get me a guitar brand "Cafe Americaine" .
I'm left handed, so its very hard to find instruments, but i don't know anything about this guitar brand.
Does anyone own one or have some opinion about this luthiers???
If it's not a good guitar for the money, then i'm between the Gallato RS 1939 Angelo Debarre or the Dupont Nomade. (My budget is about 1200 - 1300 euros, no more :shock: )

Please write your opinions about those guitars too.

Thanks

BluesBop Harry

Never heard of that brand... doesn't come up in a google search either.
Have you thought about asking djangobooks to special-order a lefty guitar for you?

Anyway for your first Selmer style guitar I think pretty much anything will do, I've heard great players make a cheap Aria sound incredible. And learning how to make a lesser guitar sound decent will be good training.
Also if you go for a cheap guitar now, it will serve you well for the first years and you can keep saving for your "dream guitar", I know I wouldn't have spent 1300 euros for my first gypsy style instrument!
Whatever you decide I wish you good luck

Jazzaferri

I picked up an old M & M by Aria for $150 ..... solid wood as best anyone can tell and a specialist in reworking guitars figured that shaving the b races would make a difference.

Anyway once I got my Dunn's it now it is my beach guitar.

frater

If you have the money to get a good guitar as your first guitar, I would do it. Good guitars induce you to exercise while bad ones induce to go out and rent a DVD...
P.S.
Have you considered Alves De Puga? He makes a good leftie model and is not much more expensive than Gallato (but his are actually hand-built guitars)

constantine

Its a re-labeled SX brand guitar, its chinese and not good. I have played this guitar. Same old story, cheap materials, no neck angle, nut slotting is wrong, not loud..etc.

constantine

you should get the dupont nomade all the way, the gallato is over 5 pounds....

JazzDawg

Well, I'll just say this - because someone needs to say it.

If you've got a good guitar now, you really don't need a 'gypsy guitar' to learn this musical style. That's right, you can learn it on any guitar, but the key is to actually be able to play your instrument with 'purpose'. Doesn't matter how many years you've already played whatever style you learned - put those chops to rest for a bit, and immerse yourself in the listening, and learning the nuances of this style.

Barring that piece of advice, I'd say if you're still hung up on getting a gypsy jazz guitar, get the best one you can afford. Cheap models or 'student' models will not satisfy you for long.

I am lucky to have a a really nice Gibson J-200, and I've put down my gypsy guitar in favor of it. Why? Because it sounds so much nicer, and is a real joy to play. Now, it wasn't that way when I first started picking up the guitar after a 20 year layoff, though. My hand strength was just not up to snuff. As I've played more and more this last year, the J-200 is my all-round favorite again.

So, whatever you do - just make sure you learn the style and really concentrate on playing the best instrument you can get your hands on, whether it is a gypsy style or not. I mean, really 'play' the instrument, don't just limp-along playing the same exercises, really attack the style with a good learning plan.

Waiting to get the best gypsy styleinstrument you can afford or play that great flat-top you already have will serve you better than getting a cheapie gypsy jazz box to learn on. Lastly, if you can - play as many instruments before choosing one. It's sort of like choosing a mate - yeah you can trade up, but man, it's going to cost you. Best to be satisfied first.

Michael Bauer

Since you said you are a lefty, you are going to have a big problem sampling guitars. Normally, you could go to DFNW or Django in June and try guitars until your fingers fall off, but that won't work for you. I'm not sure I have ever seen a lefty in Northampton. So JazzDawg's advice is probably pretty practical for you. You might try putting up a classified ad in the forum looking for a left-handed GJ guitar at whatever range your budget will allow and hope another lefty has something he'll part with.

If I were you, I'd consider one of four guitars for a starter. I think Manouche Guitars made left-handed guitars, and you might contact Barry Warhaftig at the Hot Club of Philadelphia site to see if any are still lying about (they are reforming under a new name, and he could fill you in on what may be available soon). Michael Horowitz carries Latcho Droms. Kruno had one and it sounded and played pretty well for what it was (especially when he played it!). I don't know if they come left-handed, but Michael could tell you. The third place I'd try is Jacques Mazzoleni at gypsyguitars.com. He sells Patenottes, and I am pretty certain he could get you a lefty. I looked at a Patenotte 260 to have a beater for trips, and the guitar turned out to be a monster! It is louder than most of the Favinos Jacques had, and has all sorts of gypsy tone and mojo. Not every Patenotte I have played was as loud as mine, but I have never played a 250 or 260 that didn't have good tone. In my mind, a Patenotte is a better option than a cheap Asian guitar for all sorts of reasons. Patenotte is like the Danelectro of gypsy guitars: cheap but really cool...and hand-made. Finally, consider a Dupont Nomade. Ignore the bolt-on neck, because Maurice really knows how to make a gypsy jazz guitar. I consider Duponts the gold-standard of gypsy guitars. I've never played a bad one, just some I liked more than others. Michael carries Duponts and can probably find out about a left-handed Nomade. I think beyond these and Sagas, you are in higher end luthier territory.

Good luck in your search. In the meantime, take Jazzdawg's sage advice and play the music on whatever you have.

BluesBop Harry

I agree with all the advice above so let me clarify what I was trying to say:

It seems that Musette is really in a hurry to get a Selmer style guitar and he already has 1300 euros, the problem is he's left handed.
So my advice was to keep the 1000 and spend 300 for something like an Aria or similar (I'd recommend Ciganos but seems they don't care for left-handed players...), because since he's a lefty when he gets ready to upgrade he's gonna have a hell of a time unloading the first one, more so if it was expensive.
If what he wants in the end is a Dupont MD but can't wait to be able to afford it, I'd say he's better off just getting something to carry him for a while until he gets the money for the MD, he can always keep the Aria as a kick-around guitar.


I tried one of those Rondo Sx or whatever guitars very recently, it was a very cheap guitar but I liked one thing about it: It was totally unforgiving. Unless I played with my best technique and right over a very narrow sweet spot it sounded like crap. If I played right it sounded cool, like a very rough Tchavolo sound.
If I could have gone for a VR right off the bat I would have, of course, the point is, a not-so-great guitar will make you work to get a better sound out of your hands. I think that can be very valuable.

Michael Bauer

Enrique, I agree with you, most especially about trying to make a cheap guitar sound good can really improve technique! I once heard Wrembel play a cheap Aria in a class setting, and while he played it, it was the best guitar in the room. You should have seen the owners eyes when Stephane handed it back to him!

The reason I think Musette is stuck playing what he can get for awhile is that, as a left-handed player, he doesn't have alot of options for guitars to try...or buy. I tried to steer him to guitars that I think might be available in left-handed models, and I am not even sure about all of those. Even in Chicago, finding a GJ guitar on a store wall is a near-centennial event, and we hear from players in less populated areas that have no way of trying a GJ guitar without buying it. Off the top of my head, I have never seen a left-handed GJ guitar in person. I'm thinking he might have to go a notch higher than entry level to find a maker that offers a left-hander. I'm kind of hoping one of our members here will know where he can get one for cheap. On the other hand, I played an Aria GJ guitar at a Guitar Center once, and it was almost unplyable. But then, I am no Wrembel...

pinkgary

The thing is, about buying guitars as a lefty, it's a very different process than a right-handed player would experience. In a way, buying gypsy guitars is as close as a righty will get, you walk into a guitar store, there might be one, if you're lucky, and if there is, it will be something cheap & mass produced. You just don't get the oppertunity to try out what you want to buy.

So when faced with the task of finding an instrument, knowing that you stand little chance of trying it before buying it, you gravitate to the makes who have the best reputation for quality control. I have heard several times on this forum, that Dupont doesn't make a bad instrument, which is the best reason for getting one, as someone who will, no doubt spend lots of money on someting he's not seen or heard, never mind played. There were at least 3 at Samois last year, and i must say the Moustashe was absolutely phenomenal, the Gallato was very dissapointing, the Hahl nice (you can read over-priced into that if you want)...

I was lucky enough to find a MD100 second hand from a shop in Toronto that specialises in Lefties, and it's a lovely guitar. The only other i've tried was Archtop Eddie's Shelly Park which was the best Gypsy guitar i've had in my hands.

If i hadn't found the Dupont, i was looking at a Manouche, which i've only heard good things about, or Harsworth & Willis, which for the money seems like you get a lot of guitar for your bucks. But the problem is quality control, they are both mass produced asian guitars, so one can't be sure of what you'll get 'till it arrives....

I would get in touch with Thijs van der Harst, who makes the Moustashe guitars and see if he's sold the lefty he had at Samois last year, 'cos that was excellent, as good as my Dupont, if not better.

I feel your pain, it took me over a year of looking before i found what i was looking for, and i'm real happy with my MD100, i'll only trade up to the 1974 left-handed Favino at gypsyguitars, when i have the spare $8000. :roll: