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Originally Posted by Stringswinger
Keith
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01-14-2020 10:16 PM
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Originally Posted by floatingpickup
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I'm not a gypsy jazz guy, but when my friend had joined a hot club band we went looking for a suitable guitar.
Jacques Mazzeloni had a nice selection of them @ a guitar show.
He played all of them and settled on a D model Dupont, it was head and shoulders above the rest. The only 2 that sounded better were a pair of orig Selmers he had.
Can't comment on Park's but they have a very good rep.
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Originally Posted by floatingpickup
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Originally Posted by wintermoon
Of the Duponts that I have played, most are good and some are great. My Dupont is one of the great ones and now that she is 29 years old and has been well played, sounds as good to my ears as the vintage Selmers that I have played. IMO an early 90's Dupont is the closest thing to a real Selmer that you can get, and at a fraction of the cost.
Parks are a slightly different thing. Their warm tone makes them more versatile and perhaps more to the liking of an archtop enthusiast (and perhaps of less interest to a Gypsy jazz purist)
To my mind neither is "better", they are just different. I am delighted to once again have both.
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btw, just to clarify, when I say I'm not a 'gypsy jazz guy' doesn't mean I don't dig the genre.
I came up on that and Eddie Lang/Joe Venuti way back in my yout
I was so into it I'm pretty sure I have every recording they all made.
But I kinda got burned out on it and moved on to other jazz as far as performing.
That said, Django is still one of the all time talents on any instrument, especially guitar in my mind, regardless of genre and never ceases to amaze me to this day.
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Just for kicks, here's an old picture of my Shelley D. Park guitar. I took her to the Samois Django Reinhardt Festival in 2003 and had some folks scribble their names on it. If you're a Gypsy Jazz fan you may recognize a few... (Fapy Lafertin signed it first. When everyone else saw his name, they wanted to jump onboard too.)
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What a beautiful instrument, and great backstory! Congratulations, and play it in good health!
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Congrats on finding another Park. I just can say enough good about her and her work. I hope you hold on to this one .
Here's one you won't run across elsewhere...
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Originally Posted by splinality
I will be keeping this Encore for sure and I do have a right of first refusal on the Elan 14 that I sold years ago (the buyer is a friend who at the time, was in the Hot Club of San Francisco), though I doubt that I will ever get to exercise that.
Tell us more about your 7 string Shelley Park.....
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My God that is beautiful.
What is that Opal inlay around the D Hole?
And the back of the guitar by the neck heel is as Exquisite a contruction as I've ever seen on a Guitar.
Shelley Park is a Dynamite Builder. Incredible.
Joe D
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Originally Posted by Stringswinger
Troy Chapman gave me the following advice: "Shelley is a tremendous artist. As you know, she is very conservative and traditional; she builds the same proven designs over and over, making very fine adjustments and improvements. This is how she's refined her designs and her work. But to get the very best out of her, you need to hold her feet to the fire and force her to push the envelope a little, get her to the edge of her comfort zone. Then she'll really amaze you." I took this advice to heart.
After a while, we started discussing a possible 7-string build. She was intrigued and saw interesting possibilities. Eventually, the design was clear enough that we proceeded with the project. Here are some of the finished guitar's characteristics:
- Beautiful cedar top
- African Blackwood back & sides -- in person, it is dark as ink
- Amazing reconstituted lapis lazuli rosette and binding -- more on that later
- Alessi "skeleton" Hauser tuners -- more on that later
- Barbera Transducers saddle pickup -- more on that later
- Favino-inspired grande bouche body with 13.5 fret body join
- Very wide (56mm) nut
- Laminated mahogany/blackwood neck
- Two-way trussrod
Regarding the amazing lapis ornament: We knew this guitar was going to be especially beautiful and unusual, so a traditional "racetrack" rosette didn't seem quite special enough. I didn't want anything too gaudy, but had seen some fantastic reconstituted stone work done by Rick Davis of Running Dog Guitars, and I got talking with him and with Shelley about possibly using this technique. She was a bit intimidated at first by the idea, but knew Rick and they talked about what was involved. She quickly got excited by it and made some samples, which were lovely and convinced her to try it. The result is what you see, perhaps the prettiest and most striking rosette I've ever seen. She also put the same lapis inside brass circles for fret markers. This guitar pulls people from across the room to have a look.
Regarding the Alessi tuners: I have used these beautiful tuners on a few guitars. They are striking and wonderful and lightweight. However, I've found the complexity and delays of dealing with an artist in Italy are a bit daunting, so I don't know if I'll be eager to do that again, alas.
Regarding the Barbera saddle: I am a huge fan of these pickups. I have used them on several guitars. The piezo elements are formed within the saddles themselves, in direct contact with the strings, as opposed to how undersaddle pickups work. The result is a very pure, accurate sound -- like the acoustic instrument, but louder, and without feedback or body noise issues. For nylon strings, I haven't seen anything to compare. With steel strings, you get a clear, bell-like tone that is just like the acoustic instrument. I prefer the passive installation, with just a volume thumbwheel and without a preamp.
The guitar plays like a dream. It has a wide dynamic range with a dark middle, which is what I was after. I use this for a range of musical styles, not just Django tunes, and although I like the "bark" of the traditional GJ guitar, I also like playing this guitar with less attack, to exploit its more flattop-sounding range. I often play it with my fingers, as a solo guitar. It's not super loud, though it has plenty of punch. At present I have put bronze wound strings on it, and am enjoying a very different playing experience versus the usual Argentines (plus a Thomastik-Infeld .081 round wound low A string; or possibly it's a Newtone .085).
Again, I can't say enough good about Shelley's work. I keep hoping for a chance to get another of her guitars, though I'm not a collector -- all my guitars work for a living. Unless I join a regular GJ band, rather than just subbing from time to time as I do today, and thus really need a Django-style guitar, I probably won't have a justification for a nice petite bouche. But this seven is unique, and it will continue to be a treasure.
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Originally Posted by Max405
Last edited by splinality; 01-16-2020 at 05:08 PM. Reason: add image
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Lapis is a strikingly beautiful semi precious gemstone that ironically tends to have pyrite flecks already in it.
It looks like she did the same with the inlayed bindings in the channel cut around the body.
Gorgeous guitar. Outstanding craftsmanship.
I love it. Thanks for sharing pics of such a beauty.
Joe D
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Originally Posted by splinality
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Splinality,
Thank you for sharing. Your guitar is quite beautiful. I might suggest to you (and all others reading this thread) that Shelley's guitars are quite versatile (they are not the typical "banjo" like Gypsy jazz tool) and those who like an acoustic guitar for jazz, might find that Shelley's guitars can do the job as well (or better than) any flattop or acoustic archtop that they might find.
She is a true master and her prices are quite reasonable. IMO, her guitars on the used market are a bargain.
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Shelley's fit and finish has no peer IMO. My Avatar here is Shelley's #134 from 2004 that I've had for at least 10 years. It's a 12 fret D-hole with back & sides of Big Leaf Maple and has her more slender Mahogany neck. It sounds great to my ears and is more versatile than most other GJ guitars I've played while still retaining a good GJ sound. I've known Shelley since her Pearl Django days so I called her after I got it. She looked it up and said this is the one she took it to a Djangofest in San Francisco when it was new and Gonzalo Bergera scratched up the top with his pick. Yikes! When she got it home she buffed it up the best she could and it was later sold to a fellow on Whidbey Island (not Troy) who eventually tired of GJ and sent it to David Horowitz at Djangobooks to sell.
When I showed up I played every guitar in the shop looking for a petit-bouche long scale Rosewood instrument but nothing was working. Finally David said 'there's one more in the closet but its short scale D-hole in Maple, the opposite of what you're looking for." To make a long story longer, he handed me the guitar and when my hand took the neck it just felt right. It fit. The voice was huge, rich and crisp. More overtones than most of the other GJ guitars. I played it for about 5 minutes and went home with it. I've never been sorry, and I learned a valuable lesson. Guitars I've bought since then have been chosen with my ears.
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Originally Posted by AlohaJoe
I have jammed with Gonzalo several times and his guitars always have damage on the tops. Gonzalo is a great player and I am sure that if he chose your guitar to do a set at the Throckmorton Theater, it must be a superb guitar. Buying a guitar with your ears rather than your eyes will always work out better in the end.
Thanks for sharing your story!Last edited by Stringswinger; 07-05-2024 at 11:59 PM.
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Originally Posted by Stringswinger
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Originally Posted by Jehu
Last edited by Stringswinger; 01-19-2020 at 11:57 AM.
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Originally Posted by Stringswinger
People who play this one are always slow to give it back. I think the placement of the bridge on a 12-fret guitar has a major effect on sound and tone.
ps - I suspect we have some Bay Area friends/players in common.Last edited by AlohaJoe; 01-19-2020 at 07:23 PM.
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