“That is the best acoustic 12-string ever made.” said Grant as I sat strumming the Guild F412 in preparation for this review. It’s not everyday I hear such praise coming from Grant, nor is it a statement that is easily dismissed. With almost 40 years experience in guitar restoration and repair, Grant’s opinion on any guitar is something I try to pay close attention to. I asked him to elaborate; “The sound, construction quality, design, even the look… this is the guitar all other 12 strings are aiming to beat. The sixties and seventies era Guild 12 string guitars were the only ones that didn’t need constant repair and service. They have a timeless design and I am happy to see the they have gone back to their historical roots.”
MORE →All New Instruments
The Gitane brand of guitars fills the needs of Gypsy Jazz enthusiasts who want an authentic sounding instrument that plays well and is affordable. We have received a few shipments of the DG-500 ‘Grande Bouche’ instruments with the twelve fret neck joint and large D-hole but this is the first example of the long scale 14 fret ‘Petite Bouche’ version! We have just negotiated a better price on these instruments from our distributor (please email us for the new price).
MORE →The DG-300 is the first Signature Series guitar from the Gitane company. This instrument was made to John Jorgenson’s specifications and features hand-selected solid spruce top, eye-catching Brazilian rosewood used for the back and sides, a custom designed mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard – shaped to John’s specific dimensions, and tortoise style body binding.
MORE →Gypsy jazz guitar player Django Reinhardt will forever be connected with the Selmer/Maccaferri guitars manufactured in the 1930’s and 40’s in France. There are many handmade replicas of these wonderful flattop guitars, but very few affordable alternatives available to musicians pursuing the Gypsy Jazz idiom. The new Gitane D-500 definitely fills this void!
MORE →It is hard to get a real sense of just how radical the CF-100E was in the early ’50s when it was introduced. This was the first production cutaway acoustic guitar with on-board pickup ever made for goodness sakes! Before this model came along, folks just had to stand as close to a microphone as possible to attempt to be heard when performing … and if you wanted to take a lead, you were definitely playing below the 14th fret!
MORE →The Modern Classic, where new and old features unit to create a superb flat top guitar. The J45 Modern Classic Custom guitar features a beautiful Adirondack spruce top, nitro cellulose finish, modern classic neck profile, nickel Grover tuners and an L.R.Baggs Element pickup. The pre-war Advanced Jumbo style bracing on this guitar helps to provide more bass response and volume while the classic Adirondack and Mahogany wood pairing is well balanced with a crisp note fundamental and lots of headroom. This guitar loves to be played loud and hard with the notes jumping to life and you dig in with your picking hand. The neck shape is a more medium to low elliptical profile which is very comfortable and easily facilitates fast flat picking passages. Available in natural or dark sunburst finish this guitar looks great and combines the best new and classic features!
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