Any Gretsch 'Jim Dandy' players out there?

equalsql · June 2014

I'm looking for a cheap and small bluesy acoustic for taking on holiday. These look like the perfect solution.

Do any of you guys play one of these? If so what do you think of it?

Any alternatives?

octatonic · June 2014

Don't own one, but I've seen a bunch.

They are decent beach guitars if you have fairly low expectations.

They aren't bad, but they aren't exactly good- but for the money they are ok I guess.

Honestly, I would buy something used from Gumtree- an old 80's Yamaha or something.

ICBM · June 2014

Never heard of those before but they look really cool.

Probably sound similar to what they look like - a cheap 1960s 'folk' guitar. Good if that's what you want, not so good if you want something that sounds like a D-28...

Phil_aka_Pip · June 2014

I've begun to really like mine. Its tone is far better than @ICBM suggests. And it IS possible to get them to play in tune. 'Tis true you can get better by spending more, but VFM-wise the Jim Dandy is all right, and if you're on a budget you won't get better for the money. I've had mine for nearly a year and I think it gets better with use.

ICBM · June 2014

Phil_aka_Pip said:

I've begun to really like mine. Its tone is far better than @ICBM suggests. And it IS possible to get them to play in tune. 'Tis true you can get better by spending more, but VFM-wise the Jim Dandy is all right, and if you're on a budget you won't get better for the money. I've had mine for nearly a year and I think it gets better with use.

Damn, I think you've made me want one now

.

(Probably should mention that if my first post sounded harsh, I really like cheap 1960s folk guitars!)

equalsql · June 2014

Check this out then, I believe the guy's using Martin phosphor and silk strings...it sounds sublime

Rigid_Digits · June 2014

I've had mine a couple of months now and am still playing and enjoying it every day. I concur with what Phil said above. For just over £130 it's well worth it in my opinion.

ICBM · June 2014

equalsql said:

Check this out then, I believe the guy's using Martin phosphor and silk strings...it sounds sublime

That does sound really good - but definitely like what I was expecting! It has that slightly boxy zing to it with no real bottom end, almost like it's in Nashville tuning.

Definitely a candidate for what I'm looking for, especially at the price. I will have to go and check one out…

equalsql · June 2014

ICBM said:

equalsql said:

Check this out then, I believe the guy's using Martin phosphor and silk strings...it sounds sublime

That does sound really good - but definitely like what I was expecting! It has that slightly boxy zing to it with no real bottom end, almost like it's in Nashville tuning.

Definitely a candidate for what I'm looking for, especially at the price. I will have to go and check one out…

Yep.. I really like the boxy blues sound, almost like a wood resonator. I've got a Walden solid-wood acoustic for my 'normal' playing and it sound lush, but it ain't got that dirty-cheap blues honk that these little parlour guitars have. I've also been looking at the Vintage V880N as it can be picked up just a few quid more, but it appears to be a more refined instrument and not so much of a 'blues-dawg' as the Gretsch.

octatonic · June 2014

ICBM said:

equalsql said:

Check this out then, I believe the guy's using Martin phosphor and silk strings...it sounds sublime

That does sound really good - but definitely like what I was expecting! It has that slightly boxy zing to it with no real bottom end, almost like it's in Nashville tuning.

Definitely a candidate for what I'm looking for, especially at the price. I will have to go and check one out…

Silk bass strings account for a lot of that.

ICBM · June 2014

octatonic said:
Silk bass strings account for a lot of that.

Not at all, it's extremely clear on the plain strings too - listen to just the first few notes after the initial bottom-string one. It's almost like the fundamental is being chopped off leaving just the harmonics.

I don't think it's just the (probably) phone mic recording either. I had a little 50s or 60s Hofner slot-head folk guitar many years ago, which I stupidly sold. It sounded almost exactly like that.

octatonic · June 2014

ICBM said:

octatonic said:
Silk bass strings account for a lot of that.

Not at all, it's extremely clear on the plain strings too - listen to just the first few notes after the initial bottom-string one. It's almost like the fundamental is being chopped off leaving just the harmonics.

I don't think it's just the (probably) phone mic recording either. I had a little 50s or 60s Hofner slot-head folk guitar many years ago, which I stupidly sold. It sounded almost exactly like that.

It will be a combination of all those things- the silk strings definitely account for some of it.

I strung up the parlour guitar I built with silk and steel and it sounded very boxy.

A set of phosphor braze strings and it largely disappeared- more sustain, more volume.

Smaller bodies actually equate to a bigger bottom end, especially for recording.

The lighter a guitar is built, the better the bottom end too.

equalsql · June 2014

Well, I ended up buying a Jim Dandy from Dolphin, next-day free delivery too.
My initial thought of 'Oh this looks like a toy' has been dispelled by just how well it plays and sounds. It's a blues machine through and through.

The action is perfect, high enough to use heavy bottle slide, but low enough for comfortable fretting. The sound is the wonderful delta-blues boxy tone I've been after and tuned to open G it just sings.

The frets are very smoothly finished, a real pro job. Very pleasantly surprised by the guitar and have just spent a most enjoyable hour ringing some dirty old blues out the mini beast. I think she and me are going to be spending a lot more time together.

Phil_aka_Pip · June 2014

Good GAS Sir!

Rigid_Digits · June 2014

Glad you like it as much as I do. Enjoy!

equalsql · June 2014

Thanks chaps.

In these days of modern guitars, amps and FX it's amazing how rewarding the simplest basic combination of wood and strings can be

ICBM · June 2014

I was beginning to seriously consider getting one of these, but this morning I bought a 'Lignatone' 1960s Czechoslovakian folk guitar from my local Oxfam for a tenner, so it will have to wait!

equalsql · June 2014

ICBM said:

I was beginning to seriously consider getting one of these, but this morning I bought a 'Lignatone' 1960s Czechoslovakian folk guitar from my local Oxfam for a tenner, so it will have to wait!

Now that was a lucky find! Makes me think we should have a new 'lucky-finds' thread

knuckleberryfinn · July 2014

I just bought one for my kids. It's so good I'm going to get another for myself. The all-over black satin finish does make it feel a bit toy-like, but it plays really well, sounds very good for its size, and most importantly is really good fun to play.

equalsql · July 2014

I must admit, I've has it a couple of weeks now and I love it. It small enough to stick down by the side of my old leather chair and just whip it out to play without banging my elbows on the walls.
It doesn't matter if gets knocked about and every time I start plucking away at it, the sound reminds of some old blues player sat on a porch in deepest Mississippi.

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Any Gretsch 'Jim Dandy' players out there?

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