Gitane DG-250M

Very attractive guitar. Birds eye maple very attractive and complinented by the ebony binding. Liked the zero fret and the extra width of the fretboard. I played most of the Gitane range whilst looking for a gypsy guitar including some made by another company who were charging double the price. Kept coming back to pick this guitar up time and again after playing the others.
The unusual feature ( for me ) was the fretboard marker being on the tenth rather than ninth fret. This has taken a bit of getting used to but seems natural now after a couple of months.
Tunes well and intonation easy to set and accurate across the whold fretboard. Stays in tune even after a couple of hours rhythm work which is beyond the call of duty.
Mustache bridge attachments (rosewood) provided for you to fit yourself. As you can easily set the bridge intonation with them attached I was puzzled that they were'nt factory fitted.Very well built and carefulloy finished guitar.

Great sound! Loads of percussive punch and good bass ,mids and trebles. Where it beat all the others I tried hands down was the ring and sustain of notes hit from the tenth fret upwards they are so good as to have you looking where they are coming from. The volume is loud but without any harshness.

The fretboard has a contour which is perfect for my hand As an older player some guitars start to strain my left hand and wrist after a couple of hours but this doesn't. Fast movement up and down the neck is excellent due to well fitted frets and a slightly wider fretboard.
As with all instruments though its what ever sits in your hand straight away and says take me . For me faultless action.
Finish good. The high varnish finish to the spruce top may be a bit much for some but I love it.

Like most if not all gypsy players I am very physical with guitars . This one stays in tune all night and appears to be built like a tank. Only time will tell but it's going to be at least as strong as its mor expensive c ompetitors.

No dealings with them

I have been playing for thirty uears and have owned acoustic Gibsons, Startocaster,Telecaster,Cort and Yamaha accoustics and a BB King Lucille Gibson (which was awful) My main electric jazz guitar is a Peerless now.
This Gitane guitar is everything a serious player would want especially if you refrain from listening to the Ticket snobs who say that anything less than a gypsy costing ??10000 upwards isn't the real deal.
eg the Peerless guitar I play is a Gibson E335 apart from the logo which is added by Gibson and the price doubled.
This Gitane is one of the best working accoustics I've ever played and is now a firm favourite.

made in china(?) 2005

solid sitka spruce top which is very straight grained and very lovely in its even grayness of color.

bird's eye maple body and sides (laminate). the bird's eye is absolutely gorgeous to look at. generally bird's eye is not a good choice for instruments becuase of its lack of grained evenness. the "
bird's eye" figures are a terrible thing structurally. However, this is all moot because the body and sides are laminate. that gives the wood all the strength it would ever need to hold up forever. Although the original 1941 selmer models that this guitar is a copy of was constructed of solid maple, one can argue that the laminate makes for a more structurally sound and therefore better instrument than the original. John jorgenson has actually stated something to this effect in an interview.

high gloss finish is a bit thick but done very smoothly, evenly and carefully, and makes the guitar shine like the moon.

decent factory tuners. tuners are not bad at all. however, if you know great tuners, you will probably not want to settle for these. Swap in a set of waverly's as they go right in (perfect fit and no drilling).

Tailpiece is fine. i replaced mine with a chrome DR tailpiece, but when i took the gitane one off, i realized they are pretty much the same in thickness. the only difference that was clear was that the DR comes with a leather padding.

comes with hardshell case for dreadnaught (made by golden gate). I would replace this with a proper fitting case by guardian, which is an awesomely solid case for the money.

I have an old D28, so i know what overtones are supposed to sound like. also, i have extensively played on many guitars ranging in price from 3 to 50 thousand dollars, and can say without question that this guitar is very underpriced for its sonic abilities. Lots of overtones if played correctly. By correctly i mean that the guitar has a sound that is intended for a specific snap and a careful pick. no sloppy playing on this box (or any gypsy box for that matter). All this considered, the guitar's sound compares very favorably to guitars costing 5 to 10 times as much, in my opinion.

The action fit and finish of this guitar were all surprisingly top shelf. Again, i know intimately what a collings, for instance, looks like. and i am not kidding when i say that the fit and finish were almost equal to that. For example, the laquer on the neck is buffed beautifully, but so is the laquer on the sides of the fretboard along the neck. very much like collings actually. inside of soundhole looked very clean. frets were filed perfectly and were perfectly level. all the seams and connections were awesome. no glue. i was truly amazed. if the guitar costed 2000 dollars, i would have said it was worth it.

I would definitely depend on this guitar in any situation. very good product.

not yet dealt with customer support.

I bought this Chinese made Maple Maccaferri copy about eight months ago from the USA through Ebay before they were available here in the UK. In addition, I got it ridiculously cheap considering its superb construction and finish, and its incredible similarity to the original "Maccaferri" construction plans. Trust me, this instrument might have been made in China, but this is a very playable, very well constructed, incredibly finished, and remarkably authentic Maccaferri copy, the original of which would cost you a double-fortune, even if you could find one! According to Francois Charles book "The story Of Selmer Maccaferri Guitars", there were only approximately twenty of the originals made between 1941 and 1942. My Gypsy Jazz Playing partner and I both have a DG-250M, and we compared them to the original plans ....... very, very accurate; except today?s model has a truss rod! I can assure you; even Django himself would have loved playing one of these! We do! I had to pay extra for a case, and it arrived with hideous phosphor-bronze strings, which I immediately replaced with a set of Savarez Argentines, but apart from that, there was no need to adjust the truss-rod, the action, or the intonation! Incredible!

Obviously this guitar was designed to play Gypsy Jazz with a heavy pick and light strings, and it suits that purpose perfectly: it is loud, brash and jangly! However, I also play acoustic blues, and it's perfectly useful for that, especially with the light Argentine strings, as well as blues-slide with a string change! In fact, choose your strings wisely and I honestly can't see why this guitar shouldn't be used for any style!

Truly fabulous! Superbly well built and very well set up! I've imported three from the USA so far, and all have been excellent! They are however, readily available in the UK now, along with three other Selmer Maccaferri models. UK readers see, http://www.gremlinmusic.co.uk/gitane.htm .

As for reliability and durability; the purpose of this guitar is to play Gypsy Jazz, and Gypsy jazz is played with a heavy pick, light gauge strings, and a free sweeping pick hand and wrist (not resting on the bridge or body). If this guitar was in anyway weak or unsuitable, it'd break within a very few hours! I'm proud to also own a #1500, Rob Aylward, hand made Maccaferri copy, but I still enjoy the art-deco design, the sound and the playability of the Saga Gitane DG-250M, especially at this price.

Yes, I have actually conferred with Saga (USA) and Gremlin Music (UK) and their customer support, care and advice is exemplary.

I've amplified this guitar with a "BUG" pickup under the wooden bridge, and it sounds wonderful through my Marshall Acoustic amp. I permanently leave it out on a guitar stand, just for its looks as much as it's superb playability, so I can just reach out and pick it up! This is one SEXY guitar!

This 2004 guitar from Saga was probably made in China. A Maccaferri copy, it has 21 frets on a flat, wide fingerboard. It is solid spruce topped, with maple back and sides, laminate, I think.
This is a copy of a rare Selmer original and has a solid headstock and petite bouche (small, oval soundhole). With a wooden bridge and brass tailpeice it all looks rather lovely. Before you even hear this beast you are knocked out by the looks. Art Deco meets the "Mac". The finishing is superb, as is the construction, even the cheap, open machineheads look cool. Well, to me anyway.

This guitar was built for one purpose. To play gypsy jazz. And in this it is a wonderful success. It's very loud, even with the lightest Argentine strings and it has the solid, middly punch that lovers of the maccaferri sound, want. It has a long scale and wide neck, so it's a bit of a beast to play if your not used to it. But I recommed you do get used to it. It'll never have the full tonal range of a Martin but the volume, clarity and separation in it's unique tone makes it all worth while. And I'd say that even non-gypsy jazzers might get inspiration from this baby.

The action on my guitar came a little highish, but with ordinary guage, bronze strings. I whipped on some Argentine lights and yes, all was well. It came straight from the box with good intonation, which I suppose was a stroke of luck, with this primitive type of bridge. Top quality workmanship here though, all the more remarkable for it's low cost. Very little tweaking was needed here. Very satisfying.

It's only a few weeks old and is playing in already. Nothing has gone wrong (yet). I'm fairly confident that it will continue that way.

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I had a Saga Mac. copy many years ago and always regreted selling it.
This ones even better. I've been playing on and off for over 30 years now, bass, guitar, mandola and a few other stringed oddities.
Normally I prefer the simple, earthy, woody look. But this Decoesque beast makes a welcome change.
It's definitely not for everyone though. The choice of a built in transducer would have been nice too.