A few weeks ago, I took delivery of a new Castagnari Dony G/C, which I bought from Pete at Acorn Instruments. Before I go any further, I would just like to say what a delight it was dealing with Pete, an absolute gentleman, who made it a pleasure to buy from him. Thank you Pete, I am loving this box as much as my other one, which is a Castagnari Laura, (bought a few years ago, from another gentleman, Rees Wesson, with equal pleasure)!
I wanted another box for a few reasons. Firstly, to have a spare box in case anything went wrong with my Laura and secondly, I wanted extra basses and an extra half row in order to allow me to explore some new tunes. Pete happened to have this G/C Dony in stock, so I grabbed it and I am glad I did !
I was more than a little surprised at how very different it is to play, in comparison to the 2 row, 8 bass Laura. It is bigger, heavier and, even though it is also a 2 voice, it has quite a different sound to the Laura, much brighter, more available volume and, surprisingly I thought, far more sensitive, which enables me to play very quietly without losing the pureness of the sound. I don't know why this is, something to do with the bigger case and that the grill is less closed in, maybe. I am slowly getting to grips with the extra basses and having to move my left hand in order to reach them all, something I never do with my 8 bass. I am really beginning to love this box for very different reasons to those that I love my Laura for.
This is the first tune that I have learnt on it - a new piece written by Yann-Fanch Perroches, it is called Arpeges d'Automne.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4JWo4rwIM4
