Dupont MDC60

JSanta · May 13

I have that same model Gaffiero, and it has a super thin neck. My band mate has it now, but that made me stop playing it pretty quickly. But Cyril is a fantastic person and makes great guitars. A lot of the young players in this genre use his guitars. That being said, I'm not familiar with Cholet other than that players rave about his instruments, and they do look fantastic. I believe that Sebastien Giniaux recently took delivery of one.

Marin has had some seriously impressive people using his guitars and they still do. There's some great videos of players like Harry Diplock on a Marin.

JSanta · May 13

I should add that regardless of what I or anyone else says, if you can try out a couple of these first, that's your best bet. Choose the one that speaks to you the most. Because then who made it or whatever becomes irrelevant.

JasonS · May 14

You just have to go play them or take a chance on one. All of those guitars are handmade and used so its impossible to say much more about them. If you can link the listings that would help though.

Buco · May 14

Every one of those names was played/owned by someone notable. DuPont,...well, who didn't play or own a DuPont at some point... Fapy had a Gaffiero, Adrien M, played Marin for a while (maybe he still does), Sebastien G, a Cholet as noted. Also a few people I know have a Cholet and say it's a lifetime guitar for them. All of them are illustrious names in this world of guitars. So in that sense they're all a safe choice. Which one would you like the best...if you know what you like in a guitar, like the neck shape, nut width, where does the tone lean towards etc...ask the sellers and decide based on that.

JSanta · May 14

To add one more thing to what Buco said, on paper a guitar can appear great, but there are so many factors that will make one guitar over another better for you. I thought I might want a thinner neck on a guitar coming from my years pantomiming as an electric guitarist, but after a short time with that Gaffiero Originale, my fretting hand wasn't having it. Eventually what I found (working with Jerome Duffell) was what I think is an ideal neck shape/thickness for my playing. Had I had the chance to try the guitars I've either had or have now, I probably would have made some different decisions.

All of those builders/ateliers are extremely well regarded, but take it from many of us who wished they could have made different decisions informed on playing an instrument first.

Tomschelfaut · May 14

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/121454#Comment_121454

The main thing would be playability for me... tye Dupont I had for a while felt okay enough... necks that are too thin don't always agree with me (thin as in from front to back, wide necks i hate). I'm leaning towards the Marin now..

JSanta · May 14

https://djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/121457#Comment_121457

So I'd stay away from the Gaffiero for sure, because that's going to be on the thinner side unless the original buyer modified the build. I've always admired Cholet's work, and if I was more a collector than a player (not to say I wouldn't enjoy having more instruments), my next guitar order would probably be from him, or at least he'd be one of just a few I'd consider, including Marin.