GITANE D500 MACCAFERRI D HOLE JAZZ ACOUSTIC

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Description GITANE MACCAFERRI-STYLE JAZZ GUITAR Item Number: D-500 Saga Warranty Fans of Gypsy-Jazz guitar as well as guitar afficionados of every stripe will applaud Saga's re-introduction of the classic Selmer-Maccaferri style jazz guitar...the NEW Gitane D-500! All measurements and characteristic features of this guitar were faithfully recreated to make this the highest quality and affordable guitar of this kind on the market today! Your Gitane is fitted with 'Manouche' Strings. To get the best tone out of your new Gitane guitar, it is important to use "Manouche" specific strings. Manouche strings are made of silver-plated copper, wrapped over a steel core. This reduces the tension needed to bring the string to pitch and makes the guitar extremely easy to play. More importantly, when combined with the percussive tones of Gypsy Jazz guitars, the strings add a softer side to the guitar that is evidently clear in the music. Solid spruce top Rosewood back and sides Horizontal cutaway Multiple ebony/maple purfling on all edges Characteristic large “D” soundhole Moustache bridge with movable center Thin, comfortable, bound mahogany neck Dovetail neck/body joint Slotted headstock with rosewood overlay Extended 24-fret ebony fingerboard Mother-of-pearl dot markers Body size- 12-fret neck joint - Scale length 25 1/4” - Nut width 1 7/8” - Body length 18 1/2” - Lower bout 16” - Upper bout 11 1/4” - 14:1 ratio geared nickel-plated tuning machines Adjustable truss rod Trapeze tailpiece Lustrous dark stain matte finish Bone nut, zero fret Shop-adjusted Finished in an amber tint, the solid spruce top is bent, mandolin style, just below the line of the bridge. Back and sides are laminated rosewood and all body edges – including theneck/body junction on the cutaway side– feature black binding that frames a strip of alternating light/dark wood. The large D-shaped soundhole has a rosette of light, dark and coloured woods. In fact throughout, the construction here is top-notch with details such as the mitred body binding being particularly impressive. The interior of the guitar is clean while the use of authentic non-slotted lining demonstrates an attention to detail exceeding expectations at this price. Attached at the bottom of the body, the gold tailpiece is embossed with an S (presumably for Saga rather than Selmer!) and fitted with a black plastic insert. Though the insert’s appearance is reasonably authentic, it feels a bit flimsy. SOUNDS Lightly built the gitane is lively and responsive SAGA GITANE D-500 BODY, NECK & PARTS The Gitane’s headstock is attached via a scarfe joint positioned about one inch above the nut. Though visible from the back, this can’t be seen from the front thanks to the latter’s dark ‘rosewood’ overlay. Three-on-a-strip, sealed tuners attach from the side, ‘classical style’. Fitted with white plastic buttons, these are gold plated, as is the remainder of the hardware. Although the slots that accommodate the tuner barrels are dressed away, this proves insufficient to prevent strings one and six contacting the face of the headstock. This ‘fault’ is an aspect of the original Selmer design, which Saga has chosen to leave unchanged. As strung, the third and fourth strings rub against the headstock’s centre section, though this could be avoided by adjusting the angle at which they are wound. A zero fret sets the action height, the bone nut merely acting as a string spacer. The other end of the fingerboard extends out over the soundhole, carrying an additional four frets. This results in a full four-octave range, relatively common on electric guitars but unusual on acoustics. Simple pearl dots underline the Gitane’s elegant but understated vibe, while the set up and fret work are uniformly excellent. The use of the zero fret circumnavigatesproblems regarding nut height, resulting in a low, relatively buzz-free action. The mahogany neck has the flat cross-section to the rear encountered on classical guitars and this, together with a fingerboard that measures 1 7/8 inches at the nut, results in a feel quite different from the average steel-string acoustic.

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