This guitar represents the final culmination of over 50 years of Favino guitars. Jean-Pierre has taken the lessons of his father to improve the playability, volume, and tone of the Favino guitar. The body is smaller then the original Favino. It is actually nearly identical to a Selmer: 15 3/4″ wide, 4″ deep.  Scale length is 666mm which is slightly shorter then a Selmer (670mm). The back and sides are amazing Brazilian Rosewood, the top is Spruce, and it has a Maple neck. Other innovations include the solid wood tailpiece (ala Benedetto) and a fingerboard extension that goes all the way to up the 24th fret. This guitar also has very cool little position markers which I’ve only seen on one other Favino. There is a piezo pickup mounted under the top, with a jack on the bottom bout.

This guitar is without a doubt both the loudest, and most playable Selmer type guitar I’ve ever come across. Rarely do these two attributes occur in one guitar. The smaller body yields a clear, cutting high end that is incredibly present yet not harsh. The sound is very dry with no sympathetic ringing, strange harmonics, etc. Every note has a very strong, and clear fundamental. And unlike most guitars with a smaller body, this guitar still has some decent low end. So it can still handle rhythm well. The guitar “speaks” very easily….even the lightest pick attack will produce substantial volume.

Overall, I would definitely describes this guitar as the ultimate modern Gypsy jazz lead machine. If you like to play Minor Swing one moment, and then Donna Lee the next, this is the guitar for you. Any of the high speed, modern Gypsy-Bop licks of Bireli, Stochelo, etc. are easily executed on this guitar. It almost plays itself.

The guitar is in excellent condition with no cracks or dings at all. Looks like it has less then 100 hours of playing on it.

Learn how to instantly reharmonize any jazz tune with the following techniques: Adding Tensions, Tritone Substitution, ii-V subs, Gypsy Style Turn-Arounds, and Deceptive Cadences. 9 notated and MP3 audio examples are included. 7 pages of text (from my Gypsy Jazz column in Just Jazz Guitar August, 2005).

For more info or to download go to: Lessons Online

Liven Up Your Playing with Django’s Hot Rhythms. Learn the following rhythmic techniques: Shuffle, Long, Hit, Roll, Triplet, Double Time, Tremolo, and Syncopation. Advanced rhythmic arrangement of the classic I’ll See You in My Dreams included. 10 notated and MP3 audio examples are included. 8 pages of text (from my Gypsy Jazz column in Just Jazz Guitar November, 2005).

For more info or to download go to: Lessons Online

This lesson will explore the techniques that Django Reinhardt, Stochelo Rosenberg, Biréli Lagrène, and other Gypsy guitarists use to create brilliant unaccompanied guitar compositions. You will learn authentic Gypsy chord voicings, Gypsy style reharmonization techniques, arppegiations, and numerous other techniques which will allow you to create your own unaccompanied Gypsy style versions of any song. You will also learn an unaccompanied version of the Reinhardt classic Manoir des mes Rêves (which doesn’t appear in my book Unaccompanied Django). 4 notated and MP3 audio examples are included. 10 pages of text (from my Gypsy Jazz column in Just Jazz Guitar February, 2006).

For more info or to download go to: Lessons Online