If anyone is curious about what the Jim Dandy Parlours sound like in a mix, look up Cottonwood Firing Squad on your music streaming app or RU-vid. All of his acoustic parts are written and recorded with a JD Parlor
I was in a guitar shop yesterday looking at Taylor GS Minis and asking the staff how to get an old-fashioned blues/folk sound. All they did was suggest some different strings. Sounds as if they should have been recommending this, but I guess they wanted to sell me a more expensive guitar. Luckily, I didn't go for it. This review, after a few others, has convinced me to get a Jim Dandy Parlor.
There's something really nice about that rough 'Blind Lemon' sound that I can't get with my expensive 12 fret guitars. I think there's a place for these in anyones collection.
Absolutely. As a total novice back in the late 80s I went the length and breadth searching for an acoustic guitar that would give me that bluesy sound. eventually I met a salesman that just shook his head and took me to the upstairs room where, displayed in the corner was an old 1936 Parlor guitar just like the one on the famous Blind Lemon Jefferson picture. "This is what you want" he said "but they don't make 'em like that anymore" I wasn't offered the chance to play it. There was no price tag but we all knew I could never afford it... and it'd be wasted on me anyhow! As soon as I saw, or rather, heard the Jim Dandy on a YT Demo I knew it was the one I'd been looking for. The parlour sized is a great beater for leaving out around the house and it has that old fashioned boxy scratchy tone that's so bad it's good - other guitars sound too "nice" for the kind of fingerpicking I like to do!
I love my Gin Rickey. It's like having two guitars, acoustic and electric with a really rootsy sound. It was a bit boomy andf boxy with the string gauge it came with, but after changing to a lighter set, it works a lot better now.
Always fancied the Gin Rickey, but not the parlor size. Now there's a midsized version, no excuses! Getting me one of those. Thanks for a really enjoyable demo, gents.
Hi again Ben and Peter. Just want to let you know that due to your great demo and review, that today I am also the proud owner of the Jim Dandy Deltoluxe Concert model. The sound fit and finish is fantastic! I play them through a Fender Mustang LT 25. 😊
WoW! That little jam you guys had at the start, I was waiting for Muddy Waters or Johnny Winter to grind their bluesy voices in. You fellas have really demonstrated some great value guitars. Thank you
Good review. I have an older Gretsch Roots parlor. Everybody needs a Gretsch in their pile-o-guitars. Jim Dandy's have a sound that makes "old timey" music fun. Pete needs to get his old apple green Country Gentlemen back, or another ... 😁
I play a humming bird and a godin as my main acoustics. Totally a dreadnaught warrior, but for smaller guitars I have always used my martin backpacker with nashville tuning or an old Aria ovation rip off fitted with nylon strings. The Concert guitar blew my mind in this video. Even the dreadnaught, that sound for the price!? It is insane. Parlor guitars are cool but the concert is just fab. I wanna sit down with all 3 of the black ones and make a decision.
I have the concert model. Every site, including Gretsch, has the specs for the concert as a 18 fret and 12 fret to the body. It’s a 14 fret to the body and 20 frets total. Andertons has it listed wrong as well. The one thing I can’t seem to clear up is the wood type. Gretsch has it listed as Basswood, Andertons lists as all Laminated Sapele. Guess I’ll have to call up Gretsch.
@@JohnMoseley Yeah, I took back the G9500 because I had it for a week and was bulging behind the bridge. It was the string through model, the new ones have bridge pins. I like the concert. Put on some Curt Mangan 38305 Monel Round Core 12-53 strings and it played pretty good after I worked on it a bit. Had eye surgery and I just about ruined two of my Martins by almost knocking them over.; depth perception was way off. This concert was bought because I didn’t want to damage my higher end stuff, but I still like to play it. I keep it out and still constantly grab it.
I have a Godin, a Martin, and an alvarez, but more often than not if I am just sitting around the house and want to play, I will grab my Jim Dandy Parlour guitar. My only issue has been that the finish is brittle and will chip.
Great now I’ll have to get one… 😳😜😂 I like the plugged in sound … it’s almost like an electric guitar sound with a slight distortion sound. ❤ great for blues!
Now the tone on that intro was straight out of some old blues record. I have to wonder if you can buy the pickup separately. I can't say I was blown away by how these sound without the amp though.
Hi guys, I have the former Gin Ricky Parlor with the delatone pickup. I hated the way it sounded with the acoustic strings that came with it, so I changed to a set of Dadario Chromes 10 gauge flatwonds. Really smoothed out the sound of the pickup and allows me to do roots, folk, blues and 30s style jazz and gives me some more bass acoustically IMO.😎
I find the Jim Dandy's are bad value for the money comparative to other brands, but they do have a charm! I played one yesterday, and had to make myself put it down.
I have the Jim.Dandy Dreadnaught in Rexburst. Not bad little guitar, action comes a little high though so I gotta get that fixed but otherwise I like it
We all know "plays great, sounds great, is great" these are "plays great, sounds kinda crap, is great" which are often some of the more inspiring instruments to buy.
"Jim Dandy" was a way of saying something was ok/good back in the day. sometimes it would just be "Dandy or even "Just Dandy" you could use it sincerely "Hey how are you!?", "Oh not too bad at all. Yeah, I'm Jim Dandy." or I'm sure as years went by and it's usage began to tire it was used more sarcastically(that's mostly how I remember it being used). "What, you backed into my car?! Well that's just Jim Dandy."
In the same way I’m not a fan when epiphone put a big ‘e’ on the pick guard, I don’t think the ‘G’ on these enhances the look (which otherwise I really like) - guitar makers, please keep your branding limited to the headstock, thanks!
As an acoustic pickup, that sounds terrible. As a pickup doing its own thing, it's kind of cool in its distorted grit. The looks are sharp (binding for those prices is impressive), but the unmiked sound was underwhelming. I'd agree with Ben that the Concert sounded the best of the three sizes. A bit toyish even for the cheapo price, but fun.
Just goes to show that these chaps can make an orange crate with fishing lines sound good 😂 "What do you expect for 300 quid?" "What do people expect sound wise?" Alvarez ad30 or yamaha FG/FS8xx? As a third or 4th guitar sure. It serves a purpose i guess. As an only guitar you can do better. I held one at a gc some time ago. I did not think that it felt good.
Question for the rest of you; I've been playing for 20 odd years, mostly metal and rock. I want to start getting into that style that Ben is playing, can any point me in the direction of any good books etc? I've played Hendrix and "Rock" blues for years, but the acoustic stuff eludes me..
The one teacher who finally helped me get it was Tom Feldmann, his video courses with PDF tab help tie it all together and work through tricky bits until you get it. The style you're looking for is called country blues, pre-war blues, and finger picking blues, or there abouts.
Does anyone know if the saddle is slanted for intonation? I want to convert one to a lefty and if the saddle is straight this would be easy (ofc need to replace the nut as well). I’ve seen some photos where the saddle is slanted but the ones Ben was playing looked like a straight saddle. Any advice from current owners of these guitars?
Do you detractors realize the "crap" sound is precisely what Gretsch was going for? It's only crap if you're not playing it properly and for the proper purposes. As stated many times: Not a high-end experience. Well worth the cash outlay, imo.
I wish they had a fat neck and wide fretboard like the guitars they are modelled after. 7:20 thats probably the worst amp/sound you could have found, obviously you have no clue what your are dealing with. You might look at this guy for example: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-f3NepVTWRqw.html
Hey, been watching your videos for a long time. I don't think (or at least I don't hope you guys get to choose which ads get played during your videos, but I just had to endure, a video of some weird guy telling me how to "get hard." Hocking some kind of probably dangerous Erectile dysfunction "remedy.") I've had crazy right wing conspiracy videos, ads about stuff that actually makes me so uncomfortable that I left the video to watch something else. I know youtube has you guys over a barrel for your monetization, and I totally support you good creators. But they are selling adspace during your videos that is at best uncomfortable to watch and makes me want to do something else, and at worst truly damaging to society. I love this format and I literally watch no other "T.V." anymore. Someone needs to hold youtube responsible. I am in your corner. I'm not sure the solution. But youtube is starting to get uncomfortable and its been a long time coming. I see a similar thing when I read the guardian or the independant. I'm trying to get "non corporate" news, but at the expense of millions of ads that are predatory or misleading or just plain weird.
