Altamira Guitars

MichaelHorowitz

The most bang for the buck of any Gypsy guitar available!

The most bang for the buck of any Gypsy guitar available!

jscook777

Hey Michael,

Are you planning on doing video samples of these?

Thanks,
Jason

MichaelHorowitz

Yes... I plan to. Although you can just watch the Latcho Drom vids as it's the same guitar and sounds just like it.

jsiutryk

Hi Michael,

Im new to the forum, but not to the site, and I'm hoping to purchase a guitar from you in the coming weeks. I'm sort of torn between the Gitane DG-300 Jorgenson or the Altamira M-01.

Without going crazily ($$) overboard; what upgrades to each guitar would you consider essential before purchase?

With or without those upgrades, is there one of the two guitars that you would hands down recommend over the other?

Thanks!
-jeff

MichaelHorowitz

Hi Jeff,

I'd go with the Altamira, there really isn't anything like it in this price range. Very traditional tone....snappy highs and one of the driest sounding guitars under $2K. It's actually pretty good out of the box...action and general setup are good, but would need to be adjusted if you want it to play really easy with sub 3mm action. The tailpiece seems fine, only time will tell how long they last. A preventive measure would be to upgrade to a DR or better but hard to know if that's necessary until they've been time tested for a few years. Probably the biggest complaint is the tuners, which can easily be swapped out. The Schaller Deluxe tuners would be the obvious choice.

The DG-300 usually needs a little more work. Fret level, setup, and a custom bridge really do wonders. Even so, I'd say your best bet is the Altamira.

Thanks!

Michael

seeirwin

If you're interested, I have a great Manouche Latcho Drom that I'll sell you for the same price as a new Altamira. I'm not dying to sell this guitar, but I have since acquired a new one and this one doesn't get played much anymore. I would love to see it go to a good home. I selected this guitar from about 10 that **** (the guy that runs Dell'Arte) had on hand in his house/shop. It has been gigged extensively and sounds even better now that it has opened up. It has a custom bridge made by Alain's guitar tech, and a hardshell case. PM me if you are interested.

Best,

Chris



seeirwin