Gypsy Jazz at Keith Holland Guitars
EVENTS:
We are committed to serving the Bay Area's Gypsy Jazz community through our inventory as well as through our events. We host a monthly Gypsy Jazz club for players of all levels and all Gypsy Jazz instruments. As a participant in the club, you will jam on the classic repertoire of this music and discuss theory, technique, equipment, group dynamics, history, and more. On top of all this, we go out of our way to bring special guests, such as Douglas Martin, a jazz guitarist and a chief designer of Eastman's new line of Gypsy Jazz guitars, and the team at Saga Musical Instruments.
In addition, we have hosted several Gypsy Jazz clinics with the Hot Club of San Francisco's Paul Mehling, and look forward to having him back. Click the picture to go to our Events page for more information about the Gypsy Jazz club, as well as our other ongoing and special one-off events. Stay tuned for clinics, concerts, and more!
In addition, we have hosted several Gypsy Jazz clinics with the Hot Club of San Francisco's Paul Mehling, and look forward to having him back. Click the picture to go to our Events page for more information about the Gypsy Jazz club, as well as our other ongoing and special one-off events. Stay tuned for clinics, concerts, and more!
STRINGS:
We carry high-quality, loop-end, round-core strings for Gypsy guitars from Argentine and Optima, as well as sought-after jazz strings from Thomastik-Infeld. Strings are of extreme importance for achieving an authentic Manouche sound, and these products from both Argentine and Optima have been re-engineered to last much longer than the original designs, which were notoriously fragile.
PICKS:
Picks are always an important part of getting great guitar tone, but in the realm of Gypsy Jazz, this is doubly true. A pick can make or break your sound for this style; too thin and you won't get heard over the rhythm player, shaped wrong and your articulation won't sound right. At Keith Holland Guitars, we stock high quality picks from EML, Golden Gate, Chicken Picks, Gravity, Dunlop and more so that players can find the perfect acoustic sound for their Gypsy Jazz guitars, or for any other guitar or style. A little pick goes a long way!
DJANGO GUITARS PICKS
From DJANGO GUITARS:
"The next generation of DjangoGuitars custom plectrums have arrived. The construction of real Turtle shell picks has long been an arcane tradition with much mystery around why certain plectrums have a particular color and attack to their sound. Over the years our team has been granted access to measure and study many of these coveted picks belonging to the most prolific artists of the Gypsy swing guitar. The result has yielded us the most authentic and accurate replica to that of genuine shell."
"The next generation of DjangoGuitars custom plectrums have arrived. The construction of real Turtle shell picks has long been an arcane tradition with much mystery around why certain plectrums have a particular color and attack to their sound. Over the years our team has been granted access to measure and study many of these coveted picks belonging to the most prolific artists of the Gypsy swing guitar. The result has yielded us the most authentic and accurate replica to that of genuine shell."
EML PICKS at Keith Holland Guitars
EML Picks are handmade from a proprietary Casein compound, and provide superior tone for acoustic and electric instruments alike. When you switch from a standard, thinner pick to an EML pick, you'll be floored by the difference in bass response and pick attack, as well as the reduced effort in playing provided by thicker picks.
From EML:
"EML Picks is a one person operation in the Central San Joaquin Valley of California. There are two purposes with this brand in order to best serve fretted instrument players: to provide original EML Picks shapes (such as the Gypsy Jazz Special) that play better than anything currently available, as well as to take conventional shapes and turn them into better playing and sounding tools than they have been so far. No efforts have been spared to produce a high-quality, hand-crafted pick, and you will certainly feel the difference."
From EML:
"EML Picks is a one person operation in the Central San Joaquin Valley of California. There are two purposes with this brand in order to best serve fretted instrument players: to provide original EML Picks shapes (such as the Gypsy Jazz Special) that play better than anything currently available, as well as to take conventional shapes and turn them into better playing and sounding tools than they have been so far. No efforts have been spared to produce a high-quality, hand-crafted pick, and you will certainly feel the difference."