del vecchio or alternative that is the question

[guitarchuck]

Roger,
I don't think anything truly sounds like a Del Vecchio except a McGill.

Chet's DV with the "V" sound hole inserts was a short scale. I think he got a better vibrato effect with it. The louvered sound holed guitar was given to him by Doyle Dykes. It had the standard 25.5" scale I believe.

[guitarchuck]

Craig got the answer in before I got mine typed in on my phone!

Craig, I had one of those Conrad Del Vecchio clones once. I thought it sounded close, but the first guy I sold it to sent it back to me. He said it didn't sound anything like a Del Vecchio. There was also a "Shaftesbury" brand made like the Conrad.
Do you know what the scale length & neck width was on Chet's McGill?

[craigdobbins]

Hi Chuck-

Not exactly. I played it a time or two. As i recall, the neck was maybe 1 7/8" and the scale length was in between- longer than the short scale, but not a full scale.

Bill Piburn had the best sounding McGill I've ever heard. Great guitar. It had rosewood back and sides, and I think top also. When he had it up for sale at Gruhn's, I played it and the whole store stopped dead quiet and listened. It wasn't my playing, it was the sound of that guitar.

Craig

[guitarchuck]

Thanks Craig!
You're always great for info. I'm glad you told us about Chet using the unwound 3rd on his long scale DV and the wound 3rd on his short scale DV. Great info.
I was digging around looking for info on the "Shaftesbury" DV copy and found that Doyle Dykes has one. In his book "The Lights of Marfa" He says this in the section "Some of my favorite guitars are" :

"A Del Vecchio I got on a missions trip in Brazil and a Del Vecchio copy designed for Rose Morris, UK, under my pal Robert Wilson. I bought it at Guitar Guitar, Glasgow, Scotland." (After searching I found that Rose Morris had the Shaftesbury Del Vecchio copies made.)

So it sounds like Doyle Dykes likes his DV copy.

Here's a photo link that I found of a Shaftesbury resonator. My Conrad looked just like it:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/Marshcat/Shaftesbury.jpg