Gitane D-500 Django

WOW!
Loud and expressive, perfect for Manouche style but not only this...
I have many others Manouche style guitars cost twice or much much and I say this guitar it's amazing for th price.

The tailpiece screw was bad drive...And the tail piece was orrible inclinated!! 0_= Argh! I have to close and remake the holes!
How its possible??

I believe this to be an honest review. I have played many gypsy guitars.

D-500 Non-varnished interior. Rosewood back and sides, solid spruce top. Arched back, slightly curved top. Classical width neck (which I like as I play classical too). Truss rod. I paid about ??500 with case.

Loud, but most hand-made Selmer and Maccaferri copies are louder, with more character (but are obviously a lot pricier). Tone is quite cutting and metallic, a little tinny, but just enough sweetness. Very easy to express yourself on this guitar, and get the results you try for. The maple 250M by Gitane is a louder guitar, with more bass and less tinnyness - a fantastic recreation. In conclusion, for the money, and with Argentine or similar strings, the D500 has a good gypsy voice, but the 250M is better.

The action was set up low for me. A little too low actually, and it began to buzz. I built the floating bridge up, so now no buzzing, but action around the 12th fret is a tad high, but bearable. The tailpiece I can confirm is cheap (like others have commented), and mine snapped across the bend, while stored in its case. My hand-made Killy Nonis reproduction is a perfect fit, even the screw holes were in the same position. Looks better too! Apart from the tailpiece, the rest of the guitar is very well finished. Like others have said, the varnish is far too thick, and must surely change the sound characteristics. The guitar is also quite heavy compared to most hand-made copies.

I've been playing my D-500 for five years and apart from the tailpiece snapping, no problems. Durability, the thick finish withstands knocks and scrapes, the trade-off being the sound. Ebony fingerboard has no real wear yet. Raising the action at the nut requires a new zero fret - mores hassle than just jacking up the nut.

Not had reason to contact Saga or Gitane. I decided to sort the tailpiece out myself as it was two years after I bought the guitar.

I've been playing guitar for nearly 20 years, gypsy jazz for 5. I own quite a few classicals, hofner president + some other acoustics and electrics. I've played some high-end gypsy guitars, and for the price (about ??500), the D-500 is excellent value and a great guitar. I prefer the sound qualities of the maple 250 M by Gitane if given the choice now. With a bigger budget of ??900 - ??1200 I would go to Paris and find something hand-built and a bit more unusual. Rome Instruments on Rue de Rome do some affordable gypsy guitars, some of which sound beautiful. For ??500, the D-500 is great, but I would spend a bit extra and get the 250M.

Rosewood back, sides, spruce top with glossy finish, ebony fretboard w/24 frets, basically a beautiful copy of Django's Macaferri guitar. No electronics, so I'll rate her with a 9.

Tons of tone, very loud and articulate. The sound is VERY strong in the midrange and trebles, the basses are O.K. I play lead guitar in an acoustic band playing jazz, latin, etno etc. Cuts right through the mix and is easily the loudest string instrument in the band.

I was getting a slight buzz around the 11th/12th fret, so I lifted the floating bridge a little. It sounded much better with Argentines than with stock strings, but I really wanna try John Pearse Nuages. It looks and feels like a quality instrument.

The tuners feel a bit cheap, but they do their job just fine. Time will tell how this guitar will take live perfomances. I take it to live shows without a backup, just use an extra set of strings.

Never dealt with'em.

Been playing for 15+ years, also own a Cuenca classical, Giralda flamenca blanca, Ibanez AR 300 and S 540, Fender 50th deluxe strat, 75' Twin reverb, 87' Marshall VS 8240 loads of effects etc. Playability is awesome, very loud and it's beautiful. I owned a Fender semi-acoustic (korean crap IMHO), Takamine (excellent) and played acoustics from Ibanez, Garrison...this one is by far the best sounding and best looking guitar of the lot. It doesn't get any better than this for 600 EUR!!!

This is a copy of the original Selmer Maccaferri guitar (minus the resonator)with a very nice solid spruce top and laminated rosewood back and sides. Same specs as the original D-hole guitar made famous by Django. Mine came with a hard shell fiberglass/plastic case which is very protective. The strings it comes with are ball-ended bronze strings--the brass tailpiece will accept either ball-end, or loop-end (as many of the european strings are). This is made by Saga instruments which produces most everything in China, but delivers very high quality for the money. Check out their Blueridge line of flat-top acoustics sometime for a great deal.

The scale of this guitar is somewhat short with 12 frets to the body. The headstock is slotted and tuners are quite functional, but certainly not ornate. Ebony fingerboard with standard dot position markers. This is a very playable guitar thanks to the short scale and familiar position markers. The small oval-hole Selmer style has a marker at the tenth fret instead of the ninth. This is hard to get used to...you don't realize how much you rely on those until they are in a different spot, like the Selmer's. This model has them in the standard location, so that helps.

The finish is nice, but perhaps a bit thick. this definitely gives away that this is not a hand made boutique guitar, but it does have a certain vintage petina, and is nicely polished. I'd give the finsh a 7. The overall appearance is very nice. Looks good on the stand or on the wall. Since this has everything a Maccaferri should have, I have to give it a 10 on features.

The sound of this guitar is really the standout. It is addictive to play it, since it's so fun to just listen to the huge tone. Extremely Django-esque, and perfect for gypsy jazz. I play gypsy jazz, but also solo, chord-melody jazz with it. This would really be very versitile, but has "that" sound for gypsy music. Traditionally, the D-hole models are considered the "rhythm" guitars of gypsy jazz, but it does great for lead, too. I have used a number of different strings, but there is no comparison to Argentines (.11's). These are not the easiest to find on the shelf anywhere, but you can order them from several places online. It can be warm or bright depending on the attack, and definitely should be played with a very heavy pick. Mine was intonated perfectly, and took just a minor tweak of the truss rod to set up to my liking. I do get the occasional fret buzz, but the action is awesome so I'll live with it. I've found most guitars will buzz if played very aggessively, so I don't think much of it. I wish they would put better strings on these when they ship them. I noticed recently that Saga is making new gypsy strings, so maybe these will be put on the new models standard. That would help to pick them up off the shelves and really see what they are made of. Either way, sound is AWESOME! Perfect 10!

I've already mentioned most of this stuff. I did have to make about a quarter turn to the truss rod, so I guess I can't give a 10, but I certainly have no complaints about this. The top on mine has a beautiful bookmatched grain pattern which looks very nice. the moustache bridge has an adjustable insert in the center to perfect your setup if it isn't dead on right away. I have noticed the action varies a bit on these, but mine is very low and comfortable. I mentioned the minor fret buzz, I could relieve the neck and shim the bridge and this would probably take care of that, but this is very minor. All and all, this is very sold setup.

This guitar is very lightweight and a great guitar to tote around. It does have a certain fragile feeling to it, and I'd be a little afraid to subject it to a lot of abuse. The hardware is very basic, and nothing special, but the tuners seem to hold pitch well. Because of the laminated back and sides, this should be less sensitive to temperature and humidity changes, but I try to pamper it anyway, since I don't want to lose it. I don't feel I would need a backup, though. This should be tough enough to hold up under normal use.

Haven't had any experience here, no need to deal with them directly so I have no opinion on this one.

I have played guitar for about 20 years, and have become exclusive to jazz over the past 5 years or so. I have a 1959 Jazzmaster, a Stromberg cutaway archtop, and an Eastman archtop. I have also owned several solid electrics. I own a Yamaha solid acoustic. These other guitars collect a lot of dust since I got this one about a year ago. I've never had a guitar I enjoyed playing so much. It's like a guitar and amp in one lightweight package. I love the sound, I love the looks, I love the playability...what else do you want? Nothing similar is even close to the price. Saga has made me a believer in Chinese craftsmanship. What a tremendous value. If you like gypsy jazz, you won't be disappointed in this guitar.

Standard D 500. I think it's an older model as the finish is much darker than most d 500s I've seen. Also the finish seems to be a satin rather than gloss finish on newer models. In my opinion it sounds better most D500s too. If anyone knows more about it please give me some info! Guitar Number 106. Serial number 0104050009

attorneywknox@hotmail.com

The tuners aren't so great.

Amazing! One of the best sounding guitars I've ever played and I never post on these rating sites. Hard to believe this was not made in a boutique. Came with great JP Manouche strings. Incredible tone. I tried the Argentines and the sound was drastcally reduced on the bass strings. Sounds even better tuned down a step or two in open tunings.

Pretty good. Buzzes in spots but I need to have alot of work done. There are three major cracks on sound board that may be contributing to the buzzing issues.

I will definitely put a pick up in and play it live.

I gave Saga my serial and model numbers but I was told I need to send them pictures if they are to speculate about when and where it was built. Strange.

Professional

2005 D-500. All the features have been described in previous reviews.
Came with case.

loud, aggressive, flamenco-like tone in a steel string context.
Echoey, resonator-like harmonics are possible. Very unique sound.
You cannot purchase any other guitar in the world for several hundred bills that will sound better than the D500. Saga did their homework on guitar sound and the Gypsy Jazz style.

Mediocre fret job, neck is shaped a little too wide for my tastes.
Action cannot get low enough without E-string buzzing a bit too much.
Solution is fret job, but $100 repair bill on a new guitar doesn't make
one happy, so might wait a while to do this. Finish milkshake thick. It does not make sense to smother a guitar in finish. It must degrade the guitar sound, even with how good it is under the finish.

Very ruggedly built.

Sent Saga email asking them some question and got no response.

Been playing since Gypsy Jazz was invented and own tons of gear - guitars, amps, pedals and this is the most fun guitar ever purchased.
The quality for the humble price of several hundred bucks is astounding.
Hate the thick finish. Tuning pegs suck, too. Also, the damn guitar should have been set up properly with a good fret job. Saga doesn't
seem to care about that. Go play one of those Blueridges, and
they buzz too much and have @#$%^& up action. But, like the Blueridge,
the Gitane has a magnificent sound, second to none. And action can be
at least partly fixed on a cheap guitar. So, therefore, the Gitane
is the bargain acoustic.

This is an update to my prior review.

I played the D-500 at a gig with just an AKG CS1000 running through the house PA. The guitar performed very well. Punchy, clear, retained it's wonderful dynamic response whether I played fingerstyle, flatpick, blues or swing. I use metal fingerpicks with a plastic thumb.

I also tried a set of extra-light bronze d'Addario's on the guitar and tuned it down a whole step to complement my baritone-range singing. The guitar played great, no buzzing, with the high E set to 3/32 at the twelfth fret.

Since the gig, I installed a Baggs i-Beam into the guitar and that also sounds wonderful through my Bose PA. You need to carve out a semi-circle in the foot of the i-beam to straddle the centerseam reinforcement on the D500's spruce top.

I've put the Argentine medium strings back on for the more authentic Selmer tone. Forget medium or light gauge bronze strings at normal pitch. They simply won't do justice to the guitar. It would be like putting truck tires on a Mazda Miata.

These are great guitars. I've also ordered a DG300

Beautiful rendition of the Selmer-Maccaferri Grande Bouche jazz guitar. Made as the originals: solid spruce top, laminated rosewood back and sides, mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard, GORGEOUS ebony and wood body binding.
This is definitely one of those guitars that makes you wonder how the heck they can Mfg. these in China with such awesome quality and great price.
Domed top and back, ladder braced, key to the signature Django sound.

One of the most expressive and dynamic acoustics I've played. Thanks to the domed top, you cannot overdrive it with hard strumming. It just gets louder and more dynamic. The 500 has a lovely percussive quality to it and goes easily from the rythmic chunk of swing or jazz to soft, melancholy legato passages. It's one of the most soulful acoustics I've ever played. I'm sorry I waited to long to try this style of acoustic guitar. I play fingerstyle with metal picks and a plastic thumbpick. The guitar is also unforgiving of any mistakes. It's clarity and note separation is a players dream.

No glue globs inside the box, and I checked with a mirror. Outside finish and detail work makes the D500 eye-candy. The tuners work very smoothly and are attractive in an art-deco sort of way, very appropriate for the guitar.

Too soon to tell. Not playing? Put it in the case. I won't hesitate to gig with this guitar. Can't wait! It's very well built. For example, the top and back braces terminate in notches cut in the inside solid wood lining. That's the sign of a well-built instrument.

No opinion

This is an exceptional guitar and, in my opinion, a must have for any serious acoustic fingerstyle or jazz/blues/swing player. Folkies may not care for it. It demands to be played, and played well. All opinions are based on 40 years of playing and 8 years of building and repairing instruments. www.kozelguitars.com

Others have described the features, so I won't state everything again.

Having said that, I have one that's a little different. The INSIDE of the guitar has a laquered finish, like the original SelMacs. Nobody on the Hot Club Forum has heard of a D-500 with interior finish before mine.

With crappy original strings- It didn't sound bad with the stock strings. Great for blues, slide, fingerpicking etc. Not so good for Manouche.

With silverwound "correct" strings (Galli ball end 10's made in Italy)- HOLY CRAP!!! This is the best sounding acoustic I have ever owned. And I've owned many. It is also the LOUDEST acoustic I've ever heard!!!!

Sounds great with whatever style or attack I lay down on it.

To pick nits, I did find some finish issues. The finish on the body, (where a pickguard would be on a drednaught) was cloudy. There is a very slight ridge at the neck joint (slight, but I noticed it).

This guitar is built like a tank. Someone mentioned crappy tuners earlier. I just want to state that mine are very smooth and I don't ever forsee any problems with them. Heck, I don't forsee any problems with anything on the guitar.

I've been playing guitar for over 30 years. After getting this, I have sold EVERYTHING else. I fully expect this to be my "last guitar." I will be buried with it. If stolen or lost, I would instantly get another. I always wanted a gypsy-jazz guitar. now I have it. I chose this model over an oval-hole one, because I like the look of the D hole and extended fingerboard. Also, I've always been a fan of 12 fret necks.

For the price, this guitar is truly in a class of it's own. They could have sold it for $2000 and it would have been worth every penny. For $599, I feel like a bandit!!!!

If you have questions about my D-500, feel free to email me. Put "Your D-500 Gitane" in the subject line, so I don't think you're trying to sell me Viagra and delete it without reading it.

Purchased online May 2005. Made in China. D-hole acoustic with gloss natural finish, tailpiece, compensated (and movable) "moustache" bridge. No strap buttons. Has a zero fret. This is an exact replica of the Selmer Macaferri design played by the legendary Django Reinhardt.

This is extremely LOUD - the loudest acoustic guitar I have ever heard. It was designed to cut through sax/piano/violin even when playing single-note lines, and I believe it will do so.

However, the instrument I purchased was also quite boomy (overly resonant) on some notes - particularly on the middle strings (D & G) and frets 0-5. This bothered me enough that I returned the instrument. In fairness, I had previously played another instrument of the same model at a music store and found it be loud and clear, without the boominess.

Several reviewers have discussed strings. No question that the original strings are terrible. I initially tried putting nylon strings on it, but I found the buzzing on the open top 2 strings was intolerable. What happens is the larger nylon treble strings sit higher on the nut, so they are not tight against the zero fret. IMHO, you would have to cut the nut slots wider to use nylon strings. I then installed Savarez Argentine 010 strings, which are definitely bright and strong. Still, did not cure the boominess.

Everything looked really good to me. No obvious fit or finish flaws. Neck appeared to be straight and action good. A fine-looking instrument.

Looks like it would last, but haven't tried it.

I have been playing 41 years, did some paying gigs when younger. Play all styles from classical to heavy blues/rock. Own a variety of guitars; my main steel-string acoustic is a Martin OMC-15E which sounds gorgeous. Main nylon-string is a Cordoba Gipsy King, which I probably play more than any other. Also the usual Strat & 335.

As I said above, the sound was too boomy for my taste. I realized going in that this guitar wasn't going to have the rich sound of my Martin, but loud and clear would be good, not loud and boomy.