ALD Dream Catcher Hand built by Gérald Alonso

THE QUEST FOR THE PERFECT GYPSY SWING GUITAR

French guitar builders of swing manouche guitars are in general rightly conservative. It should be and sound exactly like the Maccaferri-built Selmer guitars made famous by Django Reinhardt. If you want a gypsy swing guitar with a neck that sits better in your hand and with a slightly better sustain than the 'canny' sound of the Selmer guitars of the 1930’s – 1940’s, then you shouldn't ask a French luthier.

But the quest for a gypsy swing guitar adapted to the wishes of the client, led to luthier Gérald Alonso, a young french luthier best known for building the guitars of Angelo Debarre and to his specifications. The highly renowned French-born Romani guitarist Angelo Debarre, has been the premiere bearer of the french Swing Manouche tradition for the past decades, a genre introduced and popularized by the French Romani Django Reinhardt.

There are of course other prominent Romani guitarists such as the Dutch brothers Stochelo and Mozes Rosenberg, but their interpretation of Gypsy Swing also bears traits of Be Bop and modern jazz. French Angelo Debarre, on the other hand, is a bearer of the tradition not only of Django's music but also of the French music that Django grew up with and was inspired by. This makes Angelo Debarre more faithful to Django and his French roots, while at the same time being an amazing guitarist. Contrary the Rosenberg brothers, Angelo Debarre is rarely seen outside of French and Romani contexts.

When Gérald Alonso was contacted about the possibility to build a gypsy swing guitar with some alterations, the response was not negative like from other French luthiers. Au contraire  (quite the opposite). Angelo Debarre had just comissioned a new guitar from Gérald. A guitar with a slightly better sustain than traditional Selmer guitars, but without deviating too much from the traditional Selmer sound. He wanted to better capture the feeling in Django Reinhardt's recorded guitar improvisations, which were inspired by French composers like Claude Debussy - hence the desire for a slightly better sustain. In addition, all the decades of guitar playing have worn his fingers hard, which are now starting to show signs of osteoarthritis. A slightly narrower and rounder neck was thought to relieve the strain on the fingers.

Gérald Alonson asked if a sibling to the Angelo Debarre commissioned guitar could be of interest. Exactly the same material, exactly the same specifications. A custom-built and Master built guitar, an exception to the gypsy swing guitars that Gérald Alonso normally builds and sells. An exception and favour for his friend Angelo Debarre. Of course it was impossible to say No. Especially as Gérald Alonso is considered the foremost luthier of French gypsy swing guitars.

His reputation as a luthier of the best gypsy swing guitars has now led to him being commissioned by Maison Henri Selmer to build 60 copies of the last Selmer guitar Django Reinhardt owned played on, the legendary #503 which is now owned by and on display at the Musée de la Musique – Cité de la Musique-Philharmonie de Paris. The strictly limited edition is a tribute to Django Reinhardt and with a € 15 450 price tag. The first of the 60 handmade guitars will be delivered in January 2027. Meticulously crafted replicas, made on the same Selmer equipment as Django's #503. You can read more about this exclusive project on the Maison Henri Selmer website.

The Maison Henri Selmer commission is the finest recognition a French luthier who builds swing manousche guitars can receive. This means that Gérald Alonso will not be able to build any of his own swing manousche guitars in the years to come, little less custom-built gypsy swing guitars.

The back and sides of this guitar are of the finest Ziricote. The top is of Jura Spruce S Grade (an extra fine spruce top, the designation is the luthier grading of spruce used for the tops). The neck is of exquisite flamed maple with an ebony fingerboard. The neck is according to the specifications of Angelo Debarre: a little narrower and rounder, shaped like Gibson's D-necks of the 1950’s. The neck sits extremely well in the hand.

All materials are of the highest luthier grade as well as the building itself, which creates a guitar with an exquisite tone separation that can only be compared to for instance master-built Santa Cruz guitars but rarely in, for example, Martin guitars.

The guitar is in the same condition as when it departed from the ALD workshop. Even the smell of wood and nitrocellulose lacquer, is as strong as the guitar was completed only a few days ago. A Masterbuilt guitar cannot be in a more mint condition. Newly built luthier guitars need time to settle in and must therefore have a careful set up after about six months. After this was done in the winter of 2024, the guitar was tuned and then left in the case. When we opened the case, almost 18 months later, the guitar was still in perfect tune and the guitar was perfect with no dead or buzzing strings. All the marks of the highest luthier class.

The guitar was named The Dreamcatcher and with the unique label name Maison de mes rêves (House of My Dreams), both of which are related to songs by Django Reinhardt. Only the custom built guitars by ALD, receive baptismal names and unique baptismal labels.

The guitar top is painted by romani artist Lauren, who paints Angelo Debarre's guitars. The painting is based on Romani symbolism, a Romani version of 'The Little Prince' (France's perhaps most famous children's book, written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry). The book is written for children and addresses fundamental questions about life and the human nature. Lauren wanted to tie in with the reflective theme of the book and originally proposted a variant of the classic ‘Little prince’-drawing of the ‘little prince’ sitting on a planet with a fox by his side and his back facing the viewer. Gérald Alonso and Angelo Debarre thought that the drawing would be too similar to the drawing in 'The Little Prince' if the boy was painted sitting on the sound hole of the guitar with his back to the viewer. Instead, Alonso suggested to have 'The Little Prince' seen in profile instead, but still recognizable by his characteristics: the yellow hair, the flying scarf, the oddly formed stars and a cat instead of a fox. The boy was also suggested to be dressed in the Romani colors of green and blue (the earth and the sky) as seen on the romani flag, and that he was to play a guitar. In short, Romani symbolism that combined the reflective aspect of 'The Little Prince', with the Romani colors and the guitar seen as a dreamcatcher.

All this makes the guitar an exquisitely built dreamcatcher. A guitar for a gypsy swing guitarist who wants a superbly built guitar that combines both modern demands and traditional Selmer guitars. A guitar commissioned and endorsed by Angelo Debarre.

A gypsy swing guitar for the collector who wants a master-built, unique guitar at an affordable price before the price tag on custom built guitars by Gérald Alonso's will skyrocket as the Maison Henri Selmer commissioned 60 Selmer #503 guitars becomes available. 

This unique guitar comes with a 35-page booklet with photos documenting the construction of the guitar including a greeting from Angelo Debarre. In addition to this, all the case candy that came with the guitar + a humidifier, an original hard case and four sets of Savarez Argentine 1610-guitar strings (010 – 045) favoured by Angelo Debarre and most of the French gypsy swing guitarists.

Despite of all of this, the price tag will stay below what a master-built Custom Shop guitar costs from Gibson, Fender or even Santa Cruz.

This is a once in a lifetime investment with provenance and of increasing future value, whether you invest in your music or in your collection of unique guitars.