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I decided to let my new DG-255 equilibrate for a while before attaching the mustaches, -- but I have just realized that I have now been playing it for 10 years and still haven't attached them. Do you think it is still not too soon to put them in position ?
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09-22-2017 03:59 PM
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Thanks again all ... I've removed most of the ekstra wood under the bridge and it now play very well (I left a wee bit under the treble side of the bridge as it got too low).
With regards to the mustashes. I didn't know that they where seperate. Just thought that there where long bridges and short ones and after seing a few dealers and a youtube vid or two where they where missing, I just thought I've gotten one with a short bridge (lol)
I might find a set and might well look into finding a better bridge as suggested by Stringswinger
Anyways .. This guitar is amazing fun. An acoustic that actually has a punch, who would have thought it? ... Also I was worried that the longer scale might bother me, but it's a non-issues
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It looks like you got yourself a good guitar to get rolling on the GJ scene. Good for you! I spend nearly 20 years closely associated with the GJ community and had hoped to give you some of my thoughts earlier, but the time got away from me. Here are some of my thoughts anyway...
There's a lot more the GJ than just Django Reinhardt and the current crop of GJ players. Be sure to get familiar with the many great players from 50s and 60s like Tchan Tchou, Baro Ferret, Francis-Alfred Moerman, Jacques Montagne, Joseph Reinhardt, Schnuckenack Reinhardt, Maurice Ferret, Titi Winterstein, Ziroli Winterstein, to name just a very few. And don't forget the great players from the 70s too!
People often associate Django with his Hot Club period -- and understandably so, given the great material from that time. His "electric" period isn't as well tended to but I think some his most interesting ideas came during these later years. There are many players who can kinda cop the early Django feel, but very few can play convincingly in his later electric-style.
I was involved in GJ from the late 90's to just a couple of years ago. This was a great time to be involved with the music. Players into the style were there because of genuine excitement and appreciation of the music. At that time, it was a Gypsy player once said, "If you play guitar, you are my friend." Unlike the rock guitar world where you would be hard-pressed to attend a party and hang out with Eric, Jeff, Jimmy or Eddie, in GJ most players were very accessible and delighted to meet you. I met most of the great GJ players and still know them. I consider many of them as friends. I believed it was because, in the GJ world there was only one ultimate master -- Django Reinhardt. Everyone else - from Bireli and Stochelo to you and me - are first and foremost "enthusiasts", and it is this enthusiasm that makes us equals in our love of the music.
Playing GJ is not easy to master. I never did. But the lessons I learned about how to get around on the guitar have been invaluable to me and marked my sense of playing. Someone once said the sound of the Gypsies playing is the sound of Angels in your dreams. GJ has an incredible array of jammable music, but it also has some of the most beautiful and haunting music around. Be sure to take it all in.
We use to joke and people are probably still saying it now: When it comes to learning Gypsy Jazz guitar, the first 30 years are the hardest.
Finally, I'd like to note some of the great people I met through GJ who are no longer with us: Mary Honcoop, Dudley Hill, Patrick Saussois. These were personal friends. GJ is more than the music. It is a community, it is a family.
Enjoy your new adventure -- or as the Gypsies would say "Latcho Drom" or "Good Journey."
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Terrific post Ed! Having Djammed with you more than a few times, I would say you are a pretty fine Gypsy jazz player. Your advice about going beyond early Django is seriously good advice to anyone considering a start in the style. My interest in Gypsy jazz has waned some, though I still play in the style from time to time. The ideas and picking technique that I learned from my Gypsy jazz journey has advanced my other jazz guitar skills. And I did meet some very cool people along the way, you being a prime example!
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Thanks Marc. I was going to mention our meetings in the message but before I remembered to include it, I had already posted. I fondly recall jamming with you at the Saratoga Inn and eating freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. I remember how generous you were in bringing and lending Robin Nolan a vintage ES-175 for his return to DjangoFest. I thought he sounded great that year -- and you and your guitar played a major part in events that year! And I also remember you bringing your band, Mimi Fox and Larry Coryell to DjangoFest. You played a major role in helping DFNW to be successful and become what it has -- the Samois of North America!
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One funny thing about some GJ guitars (not Gitan) is a fret marker dot on 10th fret instead of 9th. I think it's called European style?
One would think it's not a big deal, but yesterday after my gig I ended up going to another spot where the guitarists I knew played their duo GJ gig. They let me to sit in, and to minimize time for a setup one offered me to play his guitar. It was some upscale model, the real deal! I already had a few drinks, and that 'misplaced' dot messed me up a few times pretty bad haha. I was wishing I was blind and learned to play without looking at the fretboard. Lines misplaced by half a step sound pretty... avanguard
Last edited by Hep To The Jive; 09-25-2017 at 01:11 PM.
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No no ... The Gitanes have that 10th fret marker as well
Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive
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Really? The one I got, D-500 doesn't. I guess other models do! I stand corrected. Originally Posted by Lobomov
No no ... The Gitanes have that 10th fret marker as well
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The DG-500 is the only Gitane with a 9th Fret marker. The others have it at Fret 10. Lucky for me, the first owner of my Dupont went to the trouble of having the 10th fret marker moved to the 9th. I have owned many Gypsy guitars with the 10th fret markers and always found them troublesome. I eventually trained my self to not look when I approach that area of the fretboard on a 10th fret marker guitar. Originally Posted by Lobomov
LOL ... and so do I .. I didn't know that the DG-500 had the 'normal' 9th fret marker
I once was on the receiving end of a bunch of insults from a Django Nazi on the Djangobooks forum in a thread about this very thing. A bunch of Django Nazis were discussing how much more "sensible" the 10th fret marker was and one guy said that whoever chose the 9th fret marker in America (back in the early days of Guitar building) was an idiot. Once I defended the 9th fret position, I was called much worse.
The funny thing about the intolerant attitude held by some Gypsy jazzers is that I have never met one of those guys who can play well. The good Gypsy jazzers (like most good musicians) are humble people who recognize that in music, there are many paths one can take to reach a goal.
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Originally Posted by Stringswinger
Well that and nothing to do with gypsy jazz. Mediocre people focusing om something very narrow and going all nazi on that is unfortunately far too common ... I used to hang with people into synthesizers in the early 90s to take an example
Last edited by Lobomov; 09-25-2017 at 05:31 PM.
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I have an instructional video with Birelli Lagrene where he says " The first rule is there are no rules"...
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Back to the 10th fret marker. I always wondered if it might have had something to do with banjo fretboards. A lot of the early guitarists--Django included--started on banjos. Following that thought for a second, does a 10th fret marker make more sense on a four-string banjo given how that instrument is tuned differently than a six string guitar? Your thoughts...?
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I read somewhere that it was because they had a mandolin in the Selmer shop that the 10th fret marker came into use....
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