Manouche on the cheap, anyone?

[Rob DiStefano]

Intrigued by the sorta kinda Selmer-Macaferri "Django" acoustic that Rondo/SX offers for $200, including a hard shell case. It arrived a few dayze ago and I must say there is some serious quality happening with both the guitar and super deluxe case. OK, it's not in the league of a custom luthier Django guitar rendition, but it's not too distant from the stock Gitane knock-offs.

The DJG1 is the small hole, 14 fret model - however, the scale isn't the longer 26.4" scale, it's yer standard 25.5" "Fender scale". The body is lam rosewood, solid cedar top, mahogany neck. The overall Chinese craftsmanship is excellent, bordering on superb. A very light under 5# acoustic, with a not-too-thick resin finish. The floating mustache bridge is solid rosewood. A very comfortable guitar to hold ... and for me, to play - one may have a hard time getting used to a wide and dead flat rosewood fingerboard.



I changed the supplied 12 gauge D'Addrio phosphor bronze strings for the same brand/type in 11 gauge. It will take some time to find the right strings for this guitar, for me. The initial action was quite high and there is no height adjustment to the one piece bridge/saddle, so ... I sanded off about 1/4" of the bridge/saddle top, took a bamboo BBQ skewer and sanded one side flat, cut it to size and used that as the "saddle". This lowered the action considerably and for much better playability. This kind of "saddle shim" appears to work well, and later I'll replace the bamboo with buffalo horn that's routed into the bridge top, for relatively easy string height changes. I may even go so far as to remove the zero fret and install a horn nut in it's place ... maybe.

[gmello]

I've played this before.. to me it just just like a regular cheap acoustic, nothing special about it.. and I played a few Selmers in the past.. they're a completely different type of instrument.

[Rob DiStefano]

As I said in my post, it ain't a real deal Selmer. But it's not at all a tin toned acoustic, either - at least not the one I've got. It did have that typical Selmer nasal plunk tone when I first played it, and that was a bummer - I was hoping the cedar top would offer a warmer tone than those Selmers and Gitane spruce tops. But a change to new strings strings and the bridge tweak made quite a bit of difference in tone and playability, as did spending time to help "break in" the cedar top and getting a warmer tone. It's taken me decades to learn to accept that each instrument really needs to be evaluated on its own, and in its own time. Based on the DJG1 I have, I absolutely recommend it for any aspiring Django wannabe, along with the caveat that tweaks will be in order, particularly the mandatory re-engineering of the bridge/saddle (not for fumble fingered types). YMMV.

[Rob DiStefano]

I'm REALLY diggin' the DJG1 .... the tone is very dynamic, meaning that how you play (your style), where you play (on the strings) and what you use to play with (fingers. pick, slide) will *greatly* determine the overall tone. Playing fingerstyle (sans fingerpicks) can illicit mellow jazzy gypsy sounds, and using a heavy pick near the bridge will cop very doable Django tones. Absolutely killer guitar for the money. And that case ... wow!

As to what will need to be tweaked, and IMO, aside from a change of strings, there's only one mandatory mod ...

You must lower the bridge/saddle. I just drew a pencil line 1/4" down from the top of the bridge and sanded down to that line using a sanding station wheel (but using a sanding block and coarse paper, or even a belt sander, would get the job accomplished just fine). That will leave a wide, flat platform to accept a real saddle, that can be made from most anything that's reasonably hard, with a rounded top. I used a 1/8" bamboo skewer, with one side sanded flat. Using the stock strings, adjust the bridge and saddle for playing action height - both the bridge and saddle can be sanding to achieve that goal. When the height feels right, change the strings for a new set of a type and brand to your liking. I'm using D'Addario 11-50 phosphor/bronze acoustic strings right now, but there are other flavors and gauges to choose and test.

[Lefty Geek]

Honestly, I can't believe a Rondo guitar costs $200. Did you get it over the net or drive down to the store?

[Rob DiStefano]

Purchased online - the Rondo store has been closed since last year and it's all mail order.