Luthier: Antoine DiMauro
Model: Modele Django
Year: 1950's?
Serial #: none
Top: Spruce
Back and Sides: Cuban Mahogany
Neck: Mahogany
Tuners: DeLaruelle
Tailpiece: Nickel Bilardi / Busato ?
Pickup: none
Owner: Andrew Ulle
Location: Cleveland, OH
YouTube:
As with most DiMauros, there is no serial number to identify the exact age of this Modele Django. I know very little of its pedigree except that it sold on Ebay UK in November 2014 from the Netherlands and was listed as a “50’s/60’s A. Di Mauro” gypsy jazz manouche guitar.
Although there are no top cracks, the head stock was at some point broken clean off at the nut and repaired before I took ownership. It seems to be all original, including the reverse-tuning DeLaruelle machines. Two of the buttons have been repaired but seem to be holding up, and they keep the guitar pretty well pitch-perfect.
The head stock was re-repaired by Jim Kozel in the fall of 2017 with much improved stability. This repair is documented in the forum thread “The Saga of the Decapitated DiMauro.”
The scale is 640 mm; action runs 2.5-3 mm. Nut is approximately 48 mm. Body is Selmer-sized, approximately 15 3/4′ wide at the lower bout. Guitar weight about 3.5 pounds. The sound is very dry.
