Please help me identify this guitar!

Buco

@EmmetRay
So yeah, thanks again man, it was best I could do at the time (I'm not sure if I can do any better today...), I appreciate the pat on the back.

Risto... I could probably find one my many posts talking about his guitar and paste it but here goes. He really is one of the under the radar luthiers in this genre who's skills far exceed his fame. And talk about the bargain for a high quality hand made instrument: 1700 euro delivered, with choice of either solid maple or indian rosewood. You get to pick a scale length, nut width, fingerboard wood, even finish. You can find out about all of that on his website and he's pretty quick to respond to emails for questions.
Not many give you that freedom of choice for such a (relatively) low price.
He gives a lifetime warranty on his instruments and stands by it too. I sent him back my guitar and he replaced a fingerboard: $0.00.
He's a true Django devotee and very passionate about this music.

If your budget goes that far, I'd email him.

crookedpinky

Just to echo what Buco said about Risto's guitars. They are, to my mind, excellent and I would love to own one. There are/were a number of clips of him playing his guitars on Youtube - including a non-cutaway gypsy guitar with a dark sunburst finish - which sounded amazing.

Buco

crookedpinky wrote: »

There are/were a number of clips of him playing his guitars on Youtube - including a non-cutaway gypsy guitar with a dark sunburst finish - which sounded amazing.

Haha yes! That was the one that after watching it and hearing it I said to myself "man when I get the money together, this guy is getting it".
Luckily I tracked that guitar to Chicago where I met and became friends with the owner Bill, and played it before I asked Risto to make me one.
Recently Macedonian guitar wizard Damjan Pejcinoski has been playing Risto's D hole. Both the guitar and the player sound amazing.

EmmetRay

Thanks, @Buco ! I checked out his website, and his prices seem really fair for the quality he delivers, and my budget perfectly fits the price he wants! I want a vintage, pure sound in my GJ guitar, and it seems that he accomplishes this in every guitar he makes (I also watched the video of him playing the dark sunburst non-cutaway), and was even more convinced that he is the luthier for me!

I think it's funny how a simple curiosity of mine made me sign up to this fantastic forum to ask for help, only to find people who inspire me to get even more involved in this music, and even find a guitar that seems to speak to me the way yours did, @Buco .. That's quite beautiful if you as me. But hey, that's pretty much how forums usually work, haha.

@Buco I hate to ask so many questions, but is the video of you playing "Nuages" your own rendition, or did you learn that same version from somewhere else? I'm only asking because I got obsessed over it, and I really wanna learn the version you played, so if you have tabs for it, I would be forever grateful!

Buco

This forum is one in a million. I pop in probably way too often but I certainly wouldn't do that if the people weren't this great and if I didn't read something interesting, educational, funny, inspirational...just about every day. This genre of music being so infectious doesn't help to keep me away either.

You should tell that to Risto, he'd be happy to hear. His English is fluent too, you wouldn't have trouble communicating with him.

Man, I'd have to relearn that Nuages version myself. I came up with that myself but it stays pretty close to the original. In part because I think the melodies are too often lost in jazz improvisations but also because I just didn't have any larger musical vocabulary to do more. You could try to figure it out yourself and ask me for specific parts that seem harder but nothing there is very complicated.
I appreciate the compliment though, you justified the whole thing worth doing.