Castelluccia guitars?

[Gerry C]

Not perhaps the usual slidey-reso type of question but...

Following a bereavement, a non-musician friend of mine has given me a "gypsy jazz" type guitar (small oval soundhole, long scale, slothead, tailpiece, cutaway, long straight 'moustache'-type bridge with a brass saddle) which belonged to the deceased person. It's fairly old and has clearly been well played but is in pretty good nick: any dings are purely cosmetic. The printed label inside bears the name "J. Castelluccia" and 'Luthier - PARIS' with a handwritten serial number and the statement 'guitare fait main' (=hand made guitar). I have the feeling it may be valuable... Anyone know anything about the maker or where I can find out about current prices here in the UK?

Cheerily,

Gerry C

PS He also gave me a box set of Django Reinhardt LPs - eight of them in the box, absolutely immaculate! ;D

[Bill Stig]

Hi Gerry,
I've not heard of these guitars but there's one for sale here

www.rfcharle.com/HTML/ListeA.html#Gypsy%20guitars

Bill

[Gerry C]

Thanks, Bill, that's the baby! Mine, however, is much older -possibly a 1950s model. Off to pre-order the Ferrari now ;D

Cheerily,

Gerry C

[Michael Messer]

Hi Gerry,

R & F Charle is where I would go for advice. I was going to tell you about their shop, but Bill beat me to it! It is a lovely shop and they are great people. I am sure a conversation with Francois would be helpful. I think he speaks English.

Good luck. It sounds like a lovely guitar.
Shine On,
Michael

[Gerry C]

Thanks Michael - I have e-mailed R & F Charle with some details of the guitar and am awaiting their response, soit en anglais, soit en francais: pour moi, c'est tout pareil!

It's a fab guitar - great sound and it projects almost like a reso! AND it looks, er, 'way cool, man!'

Cheerily,

Gerry C