Gypsy Guitar with Comfortable Neck?

mccaulem · 5:28AM

I have an Altamira M01D (my first gypsy jazz guitar) and I find the neck to be much less comfortable to play with my aging hands than acoustic flattops and archtops. The wide string spacing and higher action make the guitar more difficult. Which brand and/or model of gypsy style guitar has a neck that is as comfortable to play as a regular flattop or archtop?

voutoreenie · 8:58AM

It's could be tough to find one with string spacing that's less wide, all of these guitars are more closer to classical guitar string spacing than flat tops from Martin/Gibson/Taylor/etc. The Gitane DG-250M has a much more noticeably thinner "shredder" neck than most but even then, the string spacing is still fairly wide, although less than an Altamira (I own a M10). I also have a Cholet that has a very "modern" profile neck w/string spacing that's less wide than say a Dupont, Barault, Holo, etc. In fact, a luthier could probably build one more to your preferences and as discussed in other threads, a lot of them do 660 now in addition 670.

Also, and although you might still not like the string spacing, but 12 fret models "feel" more like traditional flat tops, or at least to me due to the similar scale length vs. 14 fret models.

But if looking for an inexpensive model, I'd say it might be worth trying out a Gitane DG-250M to see if you like it more. I actually have one for sale and they're also fairly common on Reverb but I do believe they've been discontinued so might be tough finding a brand new one.

Last, you can easily play this style on a non-Selmac guitar. You won't get the same tone but it really doesn't matter so long as you're enjoying it! Tommy Emmanuel for one plays swing on the same guitar he plays everything else and while the projection might slightly lacking compared to Selmac, it sure sounds fantastic.

Russell Letson · 9:16AM

A "comfortable" neck involves a bunch of variables, and one person's comfort might be another's discomfort.

The variables include: width at nut; neck profile (shape and depth); flat or radiused fingerboard; string spacing at nut and bridge. Then there are scale length and string height, though the latter is adjustable.

As my left hand has aged, I find that a deeper profile and a radiused fingerboard matter more than width-at-nut. I have both 1-3/4" and 1-7/8" flat fingerboards, and in both cases, it's profile depth that determines comfort.