When/How did you decide to spend the Big Bucks for that special guitar?

Jazzaferri

@rgrice Probably the DuPont as my Dunn was finished on Jan 23 2010 and I doubt Michael will still be around 2110 if something happened LOL


Actaully have an ancient Aria GJ that the neck has been re shaped to my liking. Not too bad for a $150 beach party special.

rgrice

@Jazzaferri I'd say for the price of the Aria that's correct!

pickitjohn

@Chiefbigeasy

Hope your Guitar arrives soon, let us know what you think.

Chiefbigeasy

Will do. Any day now.

Chiefbigeasy

OK. The guitar arrived today at work. Opened the case and played it a bit. It's a beauty.

Then . . . the sky opened up, Django descended and blessed me with extra dexterity on the spot.

But then, his evil twin whispered in my left ear, and told me to meet him at midnight at the end of the bayou road at the farthest tip of the Louisiana boot. He said to bring a catfish backbone, a set of used strings, and a chip of a slate roof tile to use as a pick. He said if I did what he said, the world would be mine.

For the moment, I'm just trying to figure out whether to keep it strung with light guage (.10 E) or medium, which is what I'm used to. The lights seem a little slinky and not as deep throated. Will try different pics and see what I think later. Also going to visit my favorite local luthier for some fine tuning setup work, but I'm going to give the guitar a few days to acclimate to New Orleans weather first.

Meanwhile, the bayou road looms. Stay tuned.

Jazzaferri

Happy for you

pickitjohn

Oh Boy, what fun, hope you have lots of time to Pick & Play.

Enjoy

rgrice

That's great hoodoo poetry, son! I'd say go with 11s especially as you're used to them. It does feel like you got a lot better real quick, doesn't it! Curious about what time ups are needed.
Have fun!

Jeff Moore

Your description of how your ears changed when you first played a GJ guitar was a perfect description, only my ears just keep changing. I have, and have had a few more, very good GJ guitars, and I've sat "in a room full of great GJ guitars to test out" several times.
Your first two paragraphs describe life as I live it. The whole quest for sound has come down to "how I'm feeling today". It's nice to sit with those few good examples and pick one, then the other, but I really need new storm windows because any good bright loud GJ guitar with a big fat wide neck will do the trick for me. The one I pick up 8 days out of 9 is the D 500 I modded 15 years ago to a 16 fret neck with added neck angle and a tall bridge, and that was before I had a clear sense of what GJ guitars were about.
I play a wide mix (not just GJ) so maybe that's why seeking a "grail" guitar has diminished for me.
The Dupont bashers are chumps of course. His MD-50's and VR's rock.

Jazzaferri

Wait til I get my act together with recorded pick demos. The difference in sound on my DuPont when picked with the right pick at the right angle is huge. Big fat round piano-like clarity, that midrange focus yet still Gypsy...only way I can kinda describe it...and that for a short scale D hole Maple.

I would never have believed that a pick could make such a big difference in a guitar if I hadn't experinced it for myself. In all honesty DuPont had been pretty much sidelined as I didn't like the sound I was getting from it much until the edge discussion on picks got me thinking and trying it again. Then I got my Kenny Smith 60........