Members Pascal Posted January 17, 2006 Members Share Posted January 17, 2006 Originally posted by Andrewrg Nylons on a jumbo,can you imagine? Honestly, I prefer not to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuzzy4dice Posted January 18, 2006 Members Share Posted January 18, 2006 Those pics are so sexy, but with all due respect... I WANT TO SEE THE AGILE!!! RAR! I want one of these Django style guitars, but (with what I'm doing and what my budget is) $199.00 is like the top of the mountain. Let's see them Agiles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pascal Posted January 18, 2006 Members Share Posted January 18, 2006 Originally posted by fuzzy4dice Those pics are so sexy, but with all due respect... With all due respect, the Aria is not very sexy... Now this: this: or even that: I wanna put my hands all over their bodies... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted January 18, 2006 Members Share Posted January 18, 2006 If I don't like this Rondo guitar, I'll sell it on Ebay. 200 plus shipping. The Aria looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BigBone Posted January 18, 2006 Members Share Posted January 18, 2006 wooo, saved in a moment of weakness. They don't appear on the Rondo site any more.. I just saved around $200.00. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted January 19, 2006 Members Share Posted January 19, 2006 Two years ago, they had this Chinese acoustic guitar that was laminate mahogany with a solid spruce top. Looked like a Taylor copy. It had an undersaddle pickup with an active onboard equalizer preamp. It was 150.00 plus shipping. A friend of mine got one and it sounded awesome. By the time I got online they were all gone. Never to return. I did manage to get the same model without the preamp for 99.00...but the pickup was awesome sounding for the extra 50.00 I decided never again and pulled the trigger quick on this Django guitar. The quality is too good not to give it a try and toss it back if I don't like it. I have a feeling I'll keep it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted January 21, 2006 Members Share Posted January 21, 2006 Well, they aren't available anymore but I figured I'd give my review on this guitar anyway. It does have a solid cedar top and the smell is very nice when you open the case. The neck is straight and there's no major structural problems. The sound is very Selmer-like. Sort of percussive and loud without much overtones. I think most people who would own this guitar will have to have it set up by a luthier. I build guitars so it's not an issue...but things I had to do: #1. The action was way too high for me and probably most players. The bridge is made from a nice piece of ebony- dyed rosewood. But it was way to tall, and had a horrible design characteristic of being "vaulted" so that it touched in two points at the bridge ends (with a huge gap of air under the bridge). My solution was to cut the bridge into 3 pieces like some Selmers, and take wood off the bottom of the bridge to lower the action. When I was done the guitar sounded way better because the entire bridge made contact with the soundboard. Playability was better too. #2 The guitar had a "zero fret" which made the depth of the nut slots less of a concern...but one was so non-existant that I got a sitar sound when playing open A. I few swipes with a nut file lowered the string to make a firm connection between the A string and the zero fret and the problem went away. #3. The fingerboard needed some fret dressing and leveling. Not a lot but enough that you'd probably want it done. #4. Although the guitar has a truss rod cover...the truss rod is non adjustable. I don't think an adjustable rod would work anyway because the massive, classical style neck probably wouldn't move. Other than that it sounds and plays great. The fretboard is flat. The poly finish is a little thick and has a few flaws but nothing horrible. I should mention that the case is fantastic. It seems like overkill for a 150.00 guitar. Very sturdy and plush. Although the action is great now..I do worry that if the soundboard were to bow much in the future, it would hard to do a neck reset because of the glues they probably used. Hopefully the ladder bracing will hold well. I'd probably just saw the heel and add a bolt if that happened anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pascal Posted January 21, 2006 Members Share Posted January 21, 2006 Originally posted by guitarcapo The bridge is made from a nice piece of ebony- dyed rosewood. But it was way to tall, and had a horrible design characteristic of being "vaulted" so that it touched in two points at the bridge ends (with a huge gap of air under the bridge). My solution was to cut the bridge into 3 pieces like some Selmers, and take wood off the bottom of the bridge to lower the action. When I was done the guitar sounded way better because the entire bridge made contact with the soundboard This type of "arched" bridge is actually part of the Selmer design. Look at this pic of a Favino bridge: Or, quite impressive, this Gitane: ... a Dell'Arte bridge: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted January 21, 2006 Members Share Posted January 21, 2006 Well the action was way too high. I could have cut the bridge's top down to fix the problem...but by having the whole bridge bottom conform to the top, the bridge acts less like a "shock absorber" and the it sounds way better. I did have to go with the 3 piece bridge to do it though. The guitar was a pretty good deal but I wouldn't recommend buying it unless you are a guitar fan enough to know how to level frets, cut nut slots, shape a bridge...etc. Or want to pay a luthier to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tango Posted January 22, 2006 Members Share Posted January 22, 2006 Just a little follow-up to my previous post on the SX DJG1 Guitar: I changed the strings on the guitar, putting on a set of Savarez Argentines 11-46 gauge in place of the strings that came with the the guitar. The difference is amazing - with the Argentines the sound is much, much richer. If I were selling these guitars for a living, I would put Argentines on at the factory level and raise the guitar's price by a hundred bucks! And I had thought that the stuff I have read about Argentine strings and Gypsy guitars was BS. Obviously not. The French have got something right this time. The discolouration on the fingers of my fretting hand, which I blamed on the original strings, appears, to some extent, to be coming off the fingerboard - but is diminishing. I read Guitarcapo's comments on his guitar with interest. While I can understand making small adjustments to a new instrument to make it work for the player, chopping up the bridge seems a little extreme - but hey, if it works for him. The bridge is a one piece bridge on this guitar and, despite the arch, has a good size footprint. I am quite happy to leave the bridge as is. I may, down the road, consider lowering the action slightly. Currently, I can get just two quarters stacked between the fingerboard and low E string at the 12th fret. This isn't causing me any problems. I not looking for the super low action that my Strat copy has. Anyway, I will play it as it is for a while and try to learn some of those wonderful Django licks that sound so effortless on the recordings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted January 22, 2006 Members Share Posted January 22, 2006 I figure I paid 150.00 for the guitar so I'm happy to chop it up and mod it. I will try those strings and see if it helps. So far I like the guitar. The cedar smells so nice that I might keep my cigars in there with a humidifier.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EvilTwin Posted February 5, 2006 Members Share Posted February 5, 2006 Gah, I'm frickin' jealous of you guys. : ( I wish I'd jumped and gotten the SX. Eh, I guess the Aria's look nice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tango Posted February 5, 2006 Members Share Posted February 5, 2006 For over a month now, Music123.com has been advertising the Aria MM20 Petite Bouche Selmer style guitat at a price of $199.00 (without case). The Aria MM10 Grand Bouche for the same price. The catch is that they don't appear to have them in stock.I wonder if the guitars will cost more when they do get stock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ghodaddyyo Posted April 17, 2006 Members Share Posted April 17, 2006 OMG, don't lower the action! If anything, raise the action! All the best gypsy players play with a very assertive rest stroke technique and pound at the strings when playing rhythm. The style of rhythm is called "la pompe". Everything on these guitars are geared toward expression and especially projection. By visiting every Django/Gypsy jazz site on the net you'll see instructions on how to shim the bridge for added height. The majority of buyers for these guitars are looking for authenticity and lowering the action to Strat playability is not authentic. You will find they recommend the string height to be 3mm at the 12th fret for maximum projection and tone. http://www.djangobooks.com/forum/index.php http://www.hotclub.co.uk/forum/index.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fuzzy4dice Posted April 18, 2006 Members Share Posted April 18, 2006 Oh, Lord. Not that I'm going to buy it, because I just {censored}ed myself with my third guitar of the year... But... It seems they are available at Rondo once again for $199.99! RUN BOYS RUN! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members egtact Posted April 18, 2006 Members Share Posted April 18, 2006 The Aria MM's seem to have huge neck problems. My MM10 does and it's going to the luthier Thursday. I'm going to get one of these just in case... FOR the case, actually! More when it gets here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pascal Posted April 18, 2006 Members Share Posted April 18, 2006 Originally posted by fuzzy4dice Oh, Lord. Not that I'm going to buy it, because I just fucked myself with my third guitar of the year... But... It seems they are available at Rondo once again for $199.99! RUN BOYS RUN! Damn! Too late, I just bought a second hand selmer-style! (I'm currently trying to find a case to ship it... not an easy task around here... any suggestion -except buying the Rondo guitar for the case-)??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members msmith40 Posted January 27, 2007 Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 Hello to all........I purchased that same 'Django' guitar from Rondo's in late August 2006. It's a really nice axe, but it needed some tweaking. (Don't all guitars?) The one-piece moustache bridge was definitely too tall. It's been said that high action is preferred by gypsy players, but this bridge was ridiculously high. I used a fret file (with a concave filing surface) and filed lengthwise along the top of the bridge. I filed a little at a time and restrung/tested until the action was more comfortable. I had no other issues with the bridge at all. It sits nice and flat against the top of the guitar. The truss rod was also functional, though no wrench was supplied.The frets were in pretty good shape......a few buzzes here & there. I dressed the frets last weekend and it sounds much better. How does it sound? Well.....it sounds fine. Again, I'm new here so I'm not going to say something ridiculous like: "It sounds EXACTLY like Django's guitar!!!!!" It definitely does NOT sound like any other steel-string acoustic I've ever played. It has a nice 'snappy' sound.....not too trebly, but very....'bitey'. (Hey, if I think of better musical terms I'll post a better description.) I paid a total of $180.00.....case included. I was perfectly willing to pay that much for the guitar alone, so when the salesman brought the case out and told me it was included in the price I was completely floored! (Again, this case is really, really nice. It Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted January 27, 2007 Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 First of all, welcome to the forums, msmith40. Appropriate revival of a thread and a great first post! As far as your questions go, check out djangobooks.com. Good jumping off place. The forums are good, too--though a bit slower than HC. Michael Horowitz is a great guy and I'm sure he can help you out and point you in the right direction. Good to see another gypsy jazzer around here. Not too many around, ya know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members msmith40 Posted January 27, 2007 Members Share Posted January 27, 2007 Thanks for the reply! I did get some answers...... 1) The 3-piece bridge makes more sense to me now........and is much easier to locate/purchase than the 1-piece. 2) After viewing pix of other Django-style axes on the internet I can see that the strings really don't spread out at all. They appear to remain parallel all the way. 3) See answer #01 Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted January 28, 2007 Members Share Posted January 28, 2007 Thanks for the reply! No problem! Don't be a stranger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 0rbitz9 Posted January 28, 2007 Members Share Posted January 28, 2007 I visited Rondo Music a few months before they moved out of NJ. Overall, I was very impressed with their Agile line of guitars, and bought one of their CoolCat hollowbody electrics. I didn't think much of their SX and other cheaper lines of guitars. All of these seemed to have very crude fretwork, and weren't up to the standards I would personally expect as an advanced player. Of course to be fair, the SX guitars are priced for the beginner market. I wouldn't buy an SX guitar, unless you don't mind spending a little time filing frets and fixing things up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J. Posted January 28, 2007 Members Share Posted January 28, 2007 Now I'm intrigued. I played a gypsy style guitar for the first time a few weeks ago (one of the Saga models) and was impressed. How come they sound so different than a normal steel string acoustic? The sound was very loud and bright with a lot of midrange, but very little low end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted January 29, 2007 Members Share Posted January 29, 2007 Now I'm intrigued. I played a gypsy style guitar for the first time a few weeks ago (one of the Saga models) and was impressed. How come they sound so different than a normal steel string acoustic? The sound was very loud and bright with a lot of midrange, but very little low end. I think it has to do with the bracing and the moustache bridge. I really hope someone else can go in to detail. You might google Selmer Maccaferri guitar--there should be info out there on design and function of these kinds of guitars. I hear the Saga models are pretty cool. So, when are you going to get one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J. Posted January 30, 2007 Members Share Posted January 30, 2007 Ugh... I'd absolutely love to but I'd have to figure out how I'm going to balance that purchase with the fact that I just started a very expensive grad school program. Still, two hundred bucks for an acoustic is chump change. I'd have to take it to a luthier to get it straightened out however. I'm comfortable adjusting string action, intonation and truss rods on electrics, but I don't do anything that involved touching sandpaper or files. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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