comparing guitars

blindjimmy

hello , i accidently placed this in classifides earlier, moderator, please feel free to remove this from classifides.
i'm wondering what differences in tonal quality are percieved by the listener between the 600 dollar gitanes, and the dupont, favino, park,gallato etc... guitars. i know you can tell the difference when your playing, what about the listeners. i recently played a northwood, supposedly made by a renegade larivee employee, from behind the guitar, the sound was rich , warm and full of harmonics. in front, it sounded like any other good flatop. thank you

djadam

I think a Gitane will give you the most bang for your buck. I can't imagine getting a better guitar for the money. I've played a couple of Parks and a couple of Duponts too. Do they sound and play better? Definitely. Do they sound/play better proportionate to their price? No.

That said, I wouldn't hesitate to throw my last $4000 down on a Park guitar and in fact I intend to, as soon as I have that last $4000! They are gorgeous instruments with a much rounder tone than any Gitane. They are works of art and I believe they are worth every cent.

The Duponts I've played were quite nice, but not quite as nice as the Park guitars. I've also been told by several different sources that the newer Duponts are not what they used to be.

Hope that helps. There sure are nicer guitars than the Gitanes, but they are quite nice and playable and there's not a better value I know of.

blindjimmy

thanks djadam,that's exactly the type of answer i need. here in the glorified cowtown, i haven't been able to find ONE of these in a store, is it that way everywhere, the new mus.friend catalogue has gitanes, no more arias. the last thing in the world i need right now is another guitar, i am now thinking of waiting and getting a used luthier guitar, as far as guitars are concerned, used has never bothered me, i see it as another life,that
probabably belongs in another forum. thanks again

Bob Holo

I played Josh's Patennote here at Djangofest and was really impressed with the tone. The scale length is a bit short - so if you're a long-fingered guy it might be difficult for you. I have hands like a bricklayer - short and thick - so it was fine for me. I was really impressed with the volume and tone though. It was very Gypsy and very loud. They run $900 or so. The fit & finish of Gitanes is a bit more polished but I didn't see any structural gaffs in the Patennote... maybe the finish wasn't buffed to perfection... no biggie. If Josh's guitar is a representative example of Patennotes - then they're a screaming deal at $900. The caveat is that Josh put a real bridge on it (Patennotes ship with a funny little one-piece bridge) and he did some other things to it to improve the action - and he plays like a beast so he probably broke it in within months... but that being said. I have to add that in my mind - Patennote is definitely in the running for "best budget guitar" I also like the Pre-gloss-finish Gitane D500. I've played half a dozen D500's and maybe it was just a coincidence, but the two older satin-finish ones were the best by a considerable margin - both belong to guys in my jam group. (Matt & John)

While we're on the topic, a friend of mine, Pete, just picked up a Dell Arte Hommage and is selling his Gitane D255 - it's been worked over (by Josh, I think) so it's got a screaming voice. I may or may not put my Gitane up on the block - It's also a Thunderer. I'm going to order a Park in the next couple of days and am trying to figure out how much the $4k will pucker my nether-regions as to whether I'll sell my Gitane - maybe even sell my Dell Arte Manouche. Who knows. Pete's guitar is definitely up for grabs though. I think he posted it at the Yahoo group PDXDJAZZ.

Jack

Bob Holo wrote:

I've played half a dozen D500's and maybe it was just a coincidence, but the older satin-finish ones were the best by a considerable margin

Just to add my two: I'd agree. I've got an early D500, and though I don't play it that often now, I doubt I'll get rid of it. I've never been able to figure out why they changed things. So, if you're thinking about one, try to find an older one, I'd say.

Best,
Jack.

blindjimmy

yes, i've read the same thing about the satin finish gitanes on these sites. it has to be true, nobody ever lies on the internet. i do like the look of the pats, one person described them to me as one dimensional, but still with the gypsy sound. do you think the gitanes and del artes sound significantly better, or just a bit. nothing could possibly sound less "gypsy"
than my washburn cutaway. i have a seventies takamine which actually gives up a slight django timbre once in a while. has anyone else seen the willie nelson interview where he is asked why he sticks with that beat up old martin, he replied that when he got it, it sounded more like django than any other guitar he had played. willie nelson! have you noticed the little melody on that sex and the city commercial . django is everywhere !!! except phoenix, glorified cowtown

djadam

Willie is indeed a longtime Django fan. You can even hear a little Django coming through in his solos at his live shows - he does a beautiful September Song. I've talked to Willy about Django and his face just lights up!

Bill McNeill

I hear the Django influence in Willie Nelson's lead work in the way he'll start off a solo with a chromatic run on a bass string, and in a certain quality of sweetness about the melody. Often to me, Willie Nelson sounds like Django played slowly.

Kcox

Or maybe just high?