My new ultra high end gypsy guitar!

klaatu

From the fertile mind of the master himself, father of the plastic clothespin, plastic clarinet reed, and plastic violin (plus the French guitar that Django guy played), it's none other than the fabulous plastic Maccaferri guitar!!!



The top, back, sides, and neck are in great shape.This one has suffered what looks like heat damage to the headstock (got too close to the campfire?), and the original tuners are gone, replaced by some cheap open tuners (the originals probably melted). Due to the warping in the headstock, the strings no longer rest on top of the zero fret.

But the sound! It's got that sound that comes only from the finest vintage Dow Styrene plastic. Gnarly and nasty, with that great gypsy bite. And I scored it for a song, due to the damage and loss of the tuners. The fellow I bought it from found it in a music store over in Cape Breton. When he asked what was in the battered old case, the lady said, "Oh, it's a plastic guitar." The buyer knew exactly what it was and snatched it up.

Eat your hearts out, gadje!

And no, I'm not selling my Shopis or Castelluccia.

dkyle21

Just heard an interview that Jeff Beck uses one of these to sit & practice with.

klaatu

dkyle21 wrote:

Just heard an interview that Jeff Beck uses one of these to sit & practice with.

Ah, yes, the true musician knows quality when he sees it!

Bones

I'm jealous! Cool!

HotTinRoof

Color me envious.

scot

Ah, the famous plastic Maccaferri. I also have one of these beauties. It's hard to imagine, but somewhere around 1985, some guys from NYC showed up at the Galax Va fiddler's convention with a van full of these objects. I guess they'd sort of made friends with Mario, and he sold them several hundred of them at a very reasonable price. They sold these guitars for around $25 if I remember right, and I saw them used as softball bats, canoe paddles and all manner of crazy things - pretty typical behavior for that crazy time and place... I took care of mine and and it's still very playable, though one of the tuners slips from time to time, and it's not repairable as the tuners are sealed up inside the peghead. It's got a nice tone, somewhere between a Selmer and a resonator guitar. It's not so easy to play, though, the neck is very wide and the fingerboard has a very flat profile. Still, it's a curiosity work keeping.

klaatu

scot wrote:

Ah, the famous plastic Maccaferri. ... somewhere around 1985, some guys from NYC showed up at the Galax Va fiddler's convention with a van full of these objects...

I wonder if that was Mandolin Brothers. They came up with a big stash of those way back when, and my bandmate saw an ad and bought one for about $100. They go for $700-800 on eBay now if in decent shape.

Joli Gadjo

Ben,
I am curious to hear how you amplify this guitar ?
I suppose you use a microphone. But have you tried a pickup, a piezzo or any other contact / magnetic toys ?

klaatu

Joli Gadjo wrote:

Ben,
I am curious to hear how you amplify this guitar ?
I suppose you use a microphone. But have you tried a pickup, a piezzo or any other contact / magnetic toys ?

I haven't tried anything yet, but I suppose when the time comes I will use a mike. I no longer use pickups in my gypsy guitars and actually sold my one contact mike (Schertler Basik), so I can't even try it and give you any feedback on it.

Ultraspontane

I want to hear what this thing sounds like!

redblues

Seriously Ben, post pics of your full inventory, you've got to be up there with Mr Chang in terms of numbers and quality.