Gypsy Jazz Guitar Questions

[S~R~O]

Question: Has anybody tried High Tension Nylon strings on their Gypsy Jazz Guitar?

 

I

[Stackabones]

Any clips?

[garthman]

If I can use high tension nylon strings on one of my dreadnaughts, you can certainly use them on the Django git.

[Pascal]

 

If I can use high tension nylon strings on one of my dreadnaughts, you can certainly use them on the Django git.

 

 

A few luthiers do indeed build nylon-stringed manouche guitars with the usual floating bridge/tailpiece, so...

 

But in my experience, all it takes for a GJ guitar to go from thin tone to thick and loud is a good right hand technique (rest-stroke gypsy picking). These guitars need to be hammered to sound at their fullest (and deliver that Django TM tone).

[EvilTwin]

 

tone).

 

 

+1

 

It takes awhile to get used to playing the "rest stroke"-type technique, but it's absolutely necessary to get that "Django vibe." You can't keep your forearm on the upper bout of the guitar or plant your wrist to the bridge (like many players do).

 

I posted a while back on the "Sweet and Lowdown" soundtrack. Howard Alden (an amazing musician) plays all the lead parts on that CD, and I asked if anyone knew what guitar he played on the album, because it sounded more like a traditional archtop. I did some more research and found out he played a gypsy jazz box, but because of his right hand technique, it doesn't sound like one at all.