Members JohnnyD Posted August 20, 2004 Members Share Posted August 20, 2004 as above really, what guitars did the legends of the 20's and 30's use? in particular, django and eddie lang. they sound a lot more percussive than most guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted August 20, 2004 Members Share Posted August 20, 2004 Django is best known for his Selmer Maccaferri(http://www.hotclub.co.uk/html/charle.html), although in later years he used some electric guitars, too...at least one was an Epiphone. Lang is best known as a devotee of the (original, i.e. Lloyd Loar era) Gibson L-5. (http://www.redhotjazz.com/lang.html) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EvilTwin Posted August 20, 2004 Members Share Posted August 20, 2004 Terry's right on. Django used the D-hole Selmer ("grande bouche") first, before switching to the oval-hole model ("petite bouche"), which had a bit more of a trebly tone...really cuts through a mix. He played an Epiphone for an American tour after WWII...but he switched back to his oval-hole Selmer and put a pickup on it to play amplified acoustic for pretty much the rest of his career. Ladder bracing is part of having that more percussive tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bluesfrog Posted August 21, 2004 Members Share Posted August 21, 2004 I never really liked those though... I don't know about the gitanes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Andrewrg Posted August 22, 2004 Members Share Posted August 22, 2004 I got to play a petit bouche once and with the manly action and hefty strings it was a real handful.You had to hit it hard to get `the tone`and it seemed very unresponsive-then again I`m no Django,heaven knows how he managed to to achieve such fluidity and grace,and with just two functioning fingers.Eternal respect due.John Jorgensson does great things with them,check him out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JohnnyD Posted August 23, 2004 Author Members Share Posted August 23, 2004 thanks for the replies. is there a modern day equivalent of these guitars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scodiddly Posted August 24, 2004 Members Share Posted August 24, 2004 There are some Selmer/Maccaferri builders out there... Elderly Instruments carries some made by Gitane and and probably others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted August 24, 2004 Members Share Posted August 24, 2004 thanks for the replies. is there a modern day equivalent of these guitars? I believe there is a Chinese made copy of these guitars made under Saga or Gitane. An Ebay search seems to have a lot of the D hole models for sale but fewer of the small oval hole ones. The sound is quite tinny and percussive. A very specialized instrument for acoustic lead guitar playing. They don't sound very full and lush when playing big cowboy chords. I think they excel at cutting through a mix with other instruments playing lead lines acoustically into a microphone. So yea, for that gypsy guitar it makes sense to have one but maybe not the best tool in the bag for singing and strumming. Harmony Sovereign guitars can be had cheap, are made of solid woods, and are ladder braced. They have some of that same Selmer sound for small $$$$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members telenate Posted August 24, 2004 Members Share Posted August 24, 2004 Michael Dunn's Custom Handmade Selmer and Maccaferri Guitars. Mandolin Brothers carries these and I understand they are outstanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted August 24, 2004 Members Share Posted August 24, 2004 Originally posted by guitarcapo I believe there is a Chinese made copy of these guitars made under Saga or Gitane. An Ebay search seems to have a lot of the D hole models for sale but fewer of the small oval hole ones.The sound is quite tinny and percussive. A very specialized instrument for acoustic lead guitar playing. They don't sound very full and lush when playing big cowboy chords. I think they excel at cutting through a mix with other instruments playing lead lines acoustically into a microphone. So yea, for that gypsy guitar it makes sense to have one but maybe not the best tool in the bag for singing and strumming.Harmony Sovereign guitars can be had cheap, are made of solid woods, and are ladder braced. They have some of that same Selmer sound for small $$$$. A jazz-bud of mine has an old Harmony cutaway flat-top that's ideal for the Gypsy-Jazz thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JohnnyD Posted August 26, 2004 Author Members Share Posted August 26, 2004 cool thanks a lot guys i wanna start a gypsy jazz band real bad now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted August 26, 2004 Members Share Posted August 26, 2004 Sounds like torture. The music is impossibly hard to play, it's very hard to find musicians that specialized to play with, the public only eyes it as a curiosity, and no groupies. Sure you don't just want to play rock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JohnnyD Posted August 26, 2004 Author Members Share Posted August 26, 2004 i've had enough of rock. i'm on a mission to learn some proper chords and scales, etc... i'm working out eddie lang's "a handfull of riffs" at the moment and its not proving that difficult.... yet! just wanna do something different to put a smile on peoples faces. i mean, imagine walking down the street and hearing people busking some proper acoustic jazz!!! it'd make my day. i know a really good violinist and a really stunning guitarist who i jam with occasionally. i reckon they'd be up for it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EvilTwin Posted August 27, 2004 Members Share Posted August 27, 2004 Originally posted by JohnnyD i've had enough of rock. i'm on a mission to learn some proper chords and scales, etc... i'm working out eddie lang's "a handfull of riffs" at the moment and its not proving that difficult.... yet! just wanna do something different to put a smile on peoples faces. i mean, imagine walking down the street and hearing people busking some proper acoustic jazz!!! it'd make my day. i know a really good violinist and a really stunning guitarist who i jam with occasionally. i reckon they'd be up for it too. I too am under the Django spell...but I do find some of the Quintet's music very difficult.And it's not really from a techniqe standpoint. A lot of Django's stuff isn't too mind bendingly hard, but tricky none the less. It's some of the feel that really gets me. It's nearly impossible for me to really get into a soloing groove when playing a lot of gypsy jazz. It's quite a challenge for me. I really don't know why, either. Maybe it has to do with the rhythm guitar accompaniment (usually just triads). It's a fun challenge, anyways. Good luck with your undertaking.EDIT: I don't know if you've seen this page, but it contains the only clips of Django where the video's pictures match up with the sound. Pretty amazing stuff, if you haven't seen it. http://www.about-django.com/news/videos/videos.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JohnnyD Posted August 27, 2004 Author Members Share Posted August 27, 2004 Hi,yes i have seen that site but i've only seen the first video so far. my friend is saving them all onto a cd for me. my internet connection is really slow The one i have seen is stunning! I love it, they all look so suave and their playing is great. its nice to be able to see what he's doing.i know what you mean about the feel, its hard just to get the notes right! i'm only gonna try and learn the rhythm guitar parts mainly, my friend is a much better natural lead player so i'll leave him all the hard bits, muhahahaa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JohnnyD Posted August 28, 2004 Author Members Share Posted August 28, 2004 i just watched the rest of those videos. i've never seen anything like it! that young kid was sooooo good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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