In the further article(s) of this series we focus and briefly describe the details and features of original Selmer-Guitars with exact description and images.
One of the most important and clearest features to distinguish a real original Selmer-Guitar is (alike original Favino-Guitars) the Serialnumber and the Label.
• all(!) Selmer-/Macafferri Guitar-Models have been numbered with continuesly altered serialnumbers from the very beginning in the early 30ies. That means that these guitars are clearly identifiable alongside off their serialnumbers, of which the year they were manufactured can exactly be determined and categorised.
The serials are to find inside the body on their labels glued inside to the back underneath the soundhole.
The numbers on the label (inside the body) started with No. 001 in the year 1931 and endetwith number 950, the last production series in 1952. After that the production was finally canceled.
Here is an example of a Selmerlabel with serial, the guitar was built in 1951/52 and had the serial no. #863 (see photo 6 right).
A real Selmer from 1936 cannot have a Serialno. #800 for example, because this number has been produced much later around 1949/50. So the serialnumber is one clear feature to distinguish and determin if a Selmer is original or not.
Usually the guitars have been lackered inside so the label was strongly glued inside. But of course there are also SELMERs around that have "lost" their labels over the years or of which it has been removed (for whatever reason).
Should you ever get an offer for a Selmer-guitar of which the label is missing (and thus the serialno. as well), one needs to check and determin closely all the other described and characteristic features: shape of the headplate, three-piece walnut-neck, Brass-Tailpiece and SB-tuners (with the engraved "S") as of its exact measures (see description below) before safely buying it.
For that determination our JM-Guitar-Gallery may a good help. Here we try to build up an extensive archive of old Gypsyjazz-guitars of the Labels Macafferri, Selmer, Busato, Favino, and DiMauro, ordered on their age and serialnumbers to get a most detailed information of as max. features we can offer our readers.
At the moment we have 1.800+ images of old guitars in our archive which worldwide now is one of the biggest archives reachable on the internet on one place. Especially for Selmer-guitars there is a great book "The History of Selmer Guitars" made by Francois Charle that may help you further as well.
• another last and really unique feature to determin the originality of a Selmer-guitar are their measurements. While many of the copies have slightly bigger bodies, the original SELMER-guitars are limitedto the following measures:
(Please note that the measurements, especially of the neck can vary amongst Selmers. In the transitional periode (1938-1940) some experiments were going on. So neck dimensions can vary because of this. (in that period they also experiment with the sound braces. I restored a Selmer with 4 sound braces not 5 as usual.) These infos on the measurements have been supplied to us by Leo Eimers (www.eimersguitars.com/), thank you Leo!
Well, these are the most important features of original Selmer-/Macafferri-Guitars, even if we surely are aware of the fact that this list definately is NOT complete!
If these are not enough details for you or you just might want to know more exact facts on these fabulous guitars, you should definately give a try and have a look at the earlier mentioned book of Francois Charle "The History of Selmer Guitars" (255 pages, 75.- EUR + delivery, you may order directly at Francois Charle online).
This book shows many details of history and lots of images that the guitarexpert Francois Charle had put together into this book. It´s the most detailed one on the market about these great guitars.
Everyone who thinks about buying such a wonderful and great but also real expensive SELMER should take a close look to all the details, as there are always cheaters and forgers around trying to get a hold on other peoples money. There are ones around that are selling cheap forged guitars as "the real thing" like we describe it in our article-series of Fake Selmer, Fake Busato and Fake Favino.
Be sure to also read the article about our 7 important tipps for buying guitars.
(All images remain copyrighted by their respective owners ©2010)
Share this article:
One of the most important and clearest features to distinguish a real original Selmer-Guitar is (alike original Favino-Guitars) the Serialnumber and the Label.
Serialnumbers:
• all(!) Selmer-/Macafferri Guitar-Models have been numbered with continuesly altered serialnumbers from the very beginning in the early 30ies. That means that these guitars are clearly identifiable alongside off their serialnumbers, of which the year they were manufactured can exactly be determined and categorised.
The serials are to find inside the body on their labels glued inside to the back underneath the soundhole.
The numbers on the label (inside the body) started with No. 001 in the year 1931 and endetwith number 950, the last production series in 1952. After that the production was finally canceled. Here is an example of a Selmerlabel with serial, the guitar was built in 1951/52 and had the serial no. #863 (see photo 6 right).
A real Selmer from 1936 cannot have a Serialno. #800 for example, because this number has been produced much later around 1949/50. So the serialnumber is one clear feature to distinguish and determin if a Selmer is original or not.
Usually the guitars have been lackered inside so the label was strongly glued inside. But of course there are also SELMERs around that have "lost" their labels over the years or of which it has been removed (for whatever reason).
Should you ever get an offer for a Selmer-guitar of which the label is missing (and thus the serialno. as well), one needs to check and determin closely all the other described and characteristic features: shape of the headplate, three-piece walnut-neck, Brass-Tailpiece and SB-tuners (with the engraved "S") as of its exact measures (see description below) before safely buying it. For that determination our JM-Guitar-Gallery may a good help. Here we try to build up an extensive archive of old Gypsyjazz-guitars of the Labels Macafferri, Selmer, Busato, Favino, and DiMauro, ordered on their age and serialnumbers to get a most detailed information of as max. features we can offer our readers.
At the moment we have 1.800+ images of old guitars in our archive which worldwide now is one of the biggest archives reachable on the internet on one place. Especially for Selmer-guitars there is a great book "The History of Selmer Guitars" made by Francois Charle that may help you further as well.
Measurements:
• another last and really unique feature to determin the originality of a Selmer-guitar are their measurements. While many of the copies have slightly bigger bodies, the original SELMER-guitars are limitedto the following measures:
Model Maccaferri (D hole, 65' short scale):
- Neckjoint at 12th fret
- Body at the widest point 40 cm
- Body at the smallest point 25,8 cm
- Body at cutaway 29 cm
- Length of the body 46,8 cm
- Width of the neck at the zero fret 4,8 cm
- Width of the neck at the body joint (12-th fret) 5,9 cm
Model Selmer (oval sound hole, 67' long scale):
- Neckjoint at 14th fret
- Body at the widest point 40 cm
- Body at the smallest point 25,8 cm
- Body at cutaway 29 cm
- Length of the body 46,8 cm
- Width of the neck at the zero fret 4,5 cm
- Width of the neck at the body joint (14-th fret) 5,8 cm
(Please note that the measurements, especially of the neck can vary amongst Selmers. In the transitional periode (1938-1940) some experiments were going on. So neck dimensions can vary because of this. (in that period they also experiment with the sound braces. I restored a Selmer with 4 sound braces not 5 as usual.) These infos on the measurements have been supplied to us by Leo Eimers (www.eimersguitars.com/), thank you Leo!
Well, these are the most important features of original Selmer-/Macafferri-Guitars, even if we surely are aware of the fact that this list definately is NOT complete!
If these are not enough details for you or you just might want to know more exact facts on these fabulous guitars, you should definately give a try and have a look at the earlier mentioned book of Francois Charle "The History of Selmer Guitars" (255 pages, 75.- EUR + delivery, you may order directly at Francois Charle online).
This book shows many details of history and lots of images that the guitarexpert Francois Charle had put together into this book. It´s the most detailed one on the market about these great guitars.
Everyone who thinks about buying such a wonderful and great but also real expensive SELMER should take a close look to all the details, as there are always cheaters and forgers around trying to get a hold on other peoples money. There are ones around that are selling cheap forged guitars as "the real thing" like we describe it in our article-series of Fake Selmer, Fake Busato and Fake Favino.
Be sure to also read the article about our 7 important tipps for buying guitars.
(All images remain copyrighted by their respective owners ©2010)
Share this article:
