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This is a three owner guitar. It was made for Tchocolo Winterstein. When Tchocolo and Moreno were playing together in the 1980’s/1990’s it became a favorite of Moreno who used it often. When they moved on from one another Tchocolo back possession of it and used it exclusively until 2008/9 when he passed it along to Dallas Baumgartner. A NYC based collector bought it from Dallas. Tchocolo played with everyone including: Moreno, Tchan Tchou (Tchocolo was Tchan-Tchou’s favorite rhythm player), Angelo DeBarre, Romane, Patrick Saussois, Rodolphe Raffalli, Dorado, Tchavolo, Ninine, Raphael Fays, Laurent Bajata, Francis-Alfred Moerman and many others.

This guitar is the last of its kind. A Favino built for a Montmartre gypsy that was played throughout the bars, clubs and cafe’s in Paris and throughout France. It’s a testament to the gypsy life it has lived. The finish is flaking off all over the guitar. There are numerous repaired top cracks. The finish has been worn off the back of the neck in some places and the frets are deeply pitted. The buttons on the tuners have broken at various times and have unmatched replacements: three in mother-of-toiletseat pearl, one black, one silver and one gold. A photo of Moreno using the guitar in 1998 shows that the tuning buttons were all originally mother-of-toiletseat.