Comments

• voutoreenie "the good land"New

  October 31 edited October 31 Posts: 466

  No experience with this model in particular but if you already love Altamira guitars, it's hard to see why you'd regret purchasing one. I personally feel like French polish makes any GJ guitar sound a bit more "open" compared to the polyurethane on inexpensive models but I have no proof of that other than personal vibes; that said, I really like the way French polish feels in comparison to a thick poly finish. Personally, I do think Altamira does a decent job with their standard finish not being too heavy, which is a great quality to find in any factory guitar imo (I have a M10 that's nowhere near my best guitar but is really fun to play, great neck).

  Only other factor worth considering is once you're around $2,000+ for a GJ guitar, you're getting into luthier guitar territory and for me personally, I'd wait for something in the $2,500-$3,500 range because you can find some really nice deals on high quality instruments if you have enough patience to wait for one to appear, especially on Reverb or even on here - Michael will occasionally have a killer deal on a great axe, although those guitars tend to sell pretty quickly because those who know, know. But then again, if you already love Altamira guitars, I'd guess you wouldn't go wrong buying this one either...either way, just some food for thought on pricing.
• billyshakes NoVA✭✭✭

  October 31 Posts: 1,902

  I'll go a different direction with my comment. Its great you already have 2 Altamiras. (I used to own one too.) Why not try something different? Another forum member just posted this great looking Castellucia that is a vintage guitar at an Altamira price. I have no dog in this fight, other than I considered purchasing it myself. :-)

  https://djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/22033/1950-castelluccia-parisian-14-fret-d-hole-gypsy-manouche-guitar

  
  

  
• paulmcevoy75 Portland, MaineNew

  October 31 Posts: 982

  My opinion: on a production guitar the variations between each individual guitar are going to overshadow any of the differences in model you're talking about. You're better off playing a bunch of guitars and seeing which one you like vs having expectations about a certain model sounding a very specific way.

  Any thinly applied finish should sound roughly the same. Back and side woods are of minimal importance species wise in production instruments (maybe mahogany vs rosewood is quantifiable but in general, nah).

  I'd agree though you get a lot of used guitar for the money these days.

  
• [Deleted User]

  October 31 edited 2:11PM Posts: 0

  The user and all related content has been deleted.
• lorenzop Madison Wi & TucsonNew Risto Ivanovski

  October 31 Posts: 81

  This on reverb:

  https://reverb.com/item/103286876-custom-made-gaffiero-gypsy-jazz-guitar?bk=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJqdGkiOiJkYTk4ZDU4YS0wMDE2LTQzZjQtYjMwMS04ZmMwYThiYjA3YWQiLCJpYXQiOjE3OTM0ODc0OTcsInVzZXJfaWQiOiIiLCJzZXNzaW9uX2lkIjoiZjY2ZDIyNWItNDljMS00ZmNmLTlhYjMtYmNmNmNiYWUyYjkzIiwiY29va2llX2lkIjoiNjQwMWY0ZGMtY2Y1OC00NzJmLWI1MGUtYzIxMDQyNjgxZGIyIiwicHJvZHVjdF9pZCI6IjEwMzI4Njg3NiIsInNvdXJjZSI6Ik5PTkUifQ.oT8SnJuAv3zIpiLBTt4F2eU-vUk5nlC3dAEVnn1WMfE

  He will sell for $1900 if you are a member of Robin Nolan's Club - where you can get a free 14 day trial. I'm tempted to buy it but I already have a guitar and still can only play one at a time.

  
• paulmcevoy75 Portland, MaineNew

  October 31 Posts: 982

  Personally I would not pay any attention to the idea that a production guitar is French polished.

  A) whatever thin finish you use makes no difference

  B) French Polish is not magic

  C) French Polish is very laborious. If they are producing an inexpensive guitar that's French polished, I dunno...they may be skipping other steps or in some other way making up the difference.

  Not saying it is or isnt a bad guitar but this seems like marketing more than anything.
• flaco ✭ 2023 Holo Traditional, Shelley Park #151, AJL Quiet and Portable

  October 31 Posts: 324

  I don’t know why a person would want 3 Asian factory guitars when you could get a handmade luthier guitar for that price.
• [Deleted User]

  October 31 edited 2:30PM Posts: 0

  The user and all related content has been deleted.
• Jangle_Jamie Scottish HighlandsNew De Rijk, some Gitanes and quite a few others

  3:41AM Posts: 503

  That Gaffiero looks great. A good buy for someone. Interestingly, the slightly larger oval hole and thinner profile body are features of Jerome Duffell's guitars. If they're anything to go by, it'll be fantastic.
• pdg ✭✭

  8:22AM Posts: 715

  The Gaffiero just sold.