Comments

• bopster St. Louis, MOProdigy Wide Sky PL-1, 1940? French mystery guitar, ‘37 L-4

  September 2014 Posts: 513

  There are many owners of both guitars here on the forum. Someone will chime in with their experience!
• VeedonFleece London✭✭ Altamira M01D

  September 2014 Posts: 13

  Hi Roberto,
  I would say that if you have the opportunity, then go with the Altamira. I have the Gitane DG-500 and the Altamira M01-D, so effectively the D hole versions of the ones you are considering. The Gitane is a good guitar and served me very well when I was starting out learning gypsy picking style. I have found it a lot of hard work to keep it in good playing order -- but some of this is no doubt due to the extreme conditions it has been kept in (mostly not climate-controlled rooms in the Eastern Mediterranean -- acoustic guitar hell!). It is loud and does have a reasonably close version of the 'gypsy sound'.
  
  But the Altamira is a clear step above -- it is truly a lovely guitar, both to look at and to play. It's really got the dry, French sound and projects wonderfully. I usually have very impressed looks from audience members who tend to think it is worth orders of magnitude above what I paid for it. If I wasn't a terminal sufferer from GAS, I would probably be quite happy to keep this as my main guitar for years and years to come.
  
  Having said this, I bought the Gitane about 7 years ago and since then I have tried some newer ones and they have impressed me greatly (so much so that I was asking myself did I really buy an actual Gitane all those years ago, or some strange knock-off). At the same time, when I bought my Altamira, I played another M01-D that was hanging right next to mine but with different wood (and cost about £100 more) that I honestly would not have paid even half the asking price for -- it sounded very dead and characterless. So, I guess the lesson here is very much -- play before you buy!
  
  But my Altamira is wonderful.
  
  Hope this helps.
  
  Chris
• JSanta NY✭✭✭ Dupont, Gaffiero, AJL

  September 2014 Posts: 262

  I had a DG250 before I purchased my Altamira MO1 and to me there is no comparison. The Altamira is a far nicer guitar with a more authentic tone. The neck is a bigger C profile which I love, it's more in line with the archtops I'm used to playing rather than the thinner C on the Gitane.
  
  Having owned both, the answer is without a doubt the Altamira. Make sure you get the proper setup as well.
• Jazzaferri Victoria B.C.Moderator Dunn Ultrafox, DuPont MDC20 Gretsch Chet Atkins CG

  September 2014 edited September 2014 Posts: 3,707

  While it is always best to try before you buy if you can..........my recollection of comments here is that you would have a better chance of getting a good guitar with an Altamira.
  
  There seem to be a few decent used ones that come up here from guys upgrading to a custom guitar.
  
  If you get one that isn't quite what it should be, a little TLC on the bridge can make a pretty big difference.

  The Magic really starts to happen when you can play it with your eyes closed
• DragonPL Maryland✭✭ Dupont MD 50-XL (Favino), Michael Dunn Stardust, Castelluccia Tears, Yunzhi gypsy jazz guitar, Gitane DG-320, DG-250M and DG-250

  September 2014 edited September 2014 Posts: 172

  I had a bad experience with a really crappy Altamira, which was almost like a kid guitar that you can get for a $100 (but it cost 10x more) . I have both the DG 250 and 250M and love them, and play them a lot. I'd consider the Gitanes, especially now that as you can see on this site, their prices went down. (Hopefully not the quality, I got mine used, which is something you can consider too)