Nat King Cole & Billie Holiday.

What an incredible surprise, to say the least.

i transcribed Louis Armstrongs solo on Dinah live in Copenhagen 1933 on guitar and of course i knew about the huge influence he had on Django but wow, this really opened my eyes regarding that influence horns might had on another level.

So many "Djangoisms" do make so much sense regarding how he possibly came up with them to me now. F.e. the fast chromatic runs, the heavy vibrato, the tremolo picked single note lines. Yes, maybe not the only single factor but i'm convinced it was a huge one.

Maybe now i see what was completly obvious to you guys but maybe it's interesting for some though haha

What's the coolest archtop you've ever played? It doesn't have to be one that you owned. Please limit your responses to 2. I'll start with mine:

1) my friend's old 80's Epiphone Joe Pass. It had that cool red sunburst finish. He sold it to me and I replaced the neck pickup with a '57 Gibson humbucker. Like a fool, I sold it back to him a few years ago, and I sometimes regret having let it go.

2) Marc's Gibson Tal Farlow.

So I'm reading Alan Furst's 1988 spy novel, "Night Soldiers", set partly in 1930s Spain. I also happen to have just started learning Spanish.

Thus, I was excited when I got to a section that is a radio announcer announcing the start of his show:

"Hay veinte horas, y la hora para el jazz hot. La selección primera.....

Oh, cool, I thought...now I know the word for hot jazz, as I flipped the page on my kindle...

"..."In a Sentimental Mood," con Louis Vola tocando el violón, trum-trum-trum,..."

Hey, I know him! Cool...

"...Marcel Bianchi y Pierre Ferret en guitarras,"

Them too!

"Django Reinhardt en la guitarra sola, y, entonces, el grande Stephane Grappelli tocando el violín. Gusta bien, todo el mundo, gusta bien."

Quite a happy surprise!

As guitarists pushed for more volume and a clearer, more controllable sound than microphones and early piezo and contact solutions could deliver, French radio engineer Jean Guen and his brother Yves Guen began experimenting with magnetic pickup technology.

In 1945, Jean opened a small radio workshop at 39 rue d’Alençon in Courbevoie. Early experiments included the P46 and R46 pickup prototypes.

A major turning point came with Django Reinhardt. In 1947, after his 1946 US tour, Django asked Yves to look into creating a pickup that could give him a more electric voice while still playing his acoustic Selmer-Maccaferri guitar. Django’s request helped shape the direction of Stimer.

Their collaboration evolved into the first industrial, mass-produced Stimer pickup, the ST48, introduced in 1948. Using a Stimer ST48 paired with a Stimer M12 amplifier, Django became the most influential early ambassador for the Stimer sound, helping popularize the amplified tone heard in his later recordings.

In 1951, Stimer introduced a no-drill alternative for guitarists who wanted amplification without modifying their instrument, the S51. It refined the concept into the iconic “monkey on a stick” rod system: a clamp anchors behind the bridge while a sliding rod suspends the pickup above the top. This also allows positioning between neck and bridge to shape response and harmonics. The design is compatible with most archtops and Selmer-style acoustic guitars.

In 1958, the Guen brothers ended their collaboration. Jean pursued other projects in French electronics and musical gear under Garen and Shade, while Yves retained the Stimer business and continued production until his death in 1986 and then continued by his son Christian until 1996. Pickups produced after the brother's split can be recognized by the “Yves Guen” trademark added in small print to the Stimer hardware.

Decades later, the Stimer sound continues to inspire builders and players. Modern reissues and faithful replicas remain a staple in gypsy jazz for that bright, direct attack and unmistakable “Django-era” color, with its unique and vibrant tone.

In 2014, Christian resumed production, now under his father's name Yves Guen. The Stimer name is no longer mentioned on his pickups, since the Stimer trademark is currently registered by another company.

The "new"(?) one is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFTjsIF9mnM - music from around 2:56 onwards...

Regards - Tony

I'm compiling a list of (unofficial) live recordings of the WASO quartet. Their influence on Gypsy Swing post-Django is tremendous but there aren't that many recordings available compared to other great artists.

I love these old live recordings as they contain such a strong energy, creative arrangements, great rhythm by Vivi and Michel, incredibly amazing Fapy solos and beautiful and strong playing by my Grandfather. They also feature many quite funny song introductions by him haha. Some of these recordings even include some great non-Gypsy Swing repertoire; traditional Romani and Hungarian songs, which I absolutely love.

If anyone ever finds any recordings of WASO: I'd love to hear them!

Here's a great recording from 1977; where they opened for Tom Waits!

https://youtu.be/Jz5YHAopiFI?si=V09LDcGurk6KqFgX

He may also have been influenced by Gibson’s F5 mandolin launched in 1922.

Emberger Neapolitan mandolin

Gibson F5

In a 2016 conference paper Russell Spiegel of the University of Miami writes:

*********************************

“At his Paris workshop, Maccaferri began by organizing the tools and machinery

and started training the workforce. All the moulds, templates and special tools were

designed by Maccaferri and made on site. It was then that his revolutionary design began

to take form. At Henri Selmer’s request, Maccaferri had been asked to make designs for a

number of different models – classical, concert harp (with between two and six extra

resonating strings), Hawaiian, and, due to the aforesaid popularity of jazz bands, a steel-

string “jazz” model, known as the ”Orchestre,” of which this paper is concerned with,

along with a four-string version. 

The first guitars began production in 1932 with Maccaferri concentrating first on

classical models. To learn more about jazz he began frequenting the Paris clubs and got

to know what guitarists there were looking for. Though virtually all the instruments

Maccaferri constructed for Selmer entailed design improvements, for him the most

important features were incorporated into the Orchestre model, which introduced a

number of improvements that were to influence guitar makers worldwide.

 One look at this instrument and one immediately recognizes they are looking at an

instrument quite different from the guitar of Torres. Inspired by Neapolitan mandolins

Maccaferri’s guitar incorporated a vast series of innovations which will be shortly noted

here:

 The Body: The majority of the backs & sides were made of 3-ply laminated Indian

rosewood. Some used laminated Brazilian rosewood or mahogany, and a few used

solid birdseye North American Maple. At the time laminated wood was an

innovation – Maccaferri noticed that solid wood bodies tended to damage more

quickly and laminated woods tended to be stronger and last longer, as well as

making the body lighter. Inspired by the F-style mandolin the instrument also

incorporated a distinctive cutaway to allow better access to the higher frets

The Top: Always made of 2 halves joined at the middle of European spruce, the

tops of the Orchestre were curved without being archtops. 

 The Neck: The vast majority of necks were 3-piece European walnut lined with

three or four 2x12mm duralumin plates, lightened with holes bored in them.

Though non-adjustable, they added to the stability of the neck. The fingerboard

was made of ebony and also boasted a zero fret on the basis that it improved

intonation. On D-holed instruments the fretboard continued allowing 24 frets on

the 1st string only. Oval holed models stopped short of the soundhole.

Tailpiece: Maccaferri again used mandolin design to come up with a unique

tailpiece that affixed to the bottom of the body. 

 Bridge: Here Maccaferri used the mandolin principle of having a floating bridge as

opposed to a bridge glued to the body. These guitars came with a number (usually

seven!) of bridges with different heights to accommodate the needs of any player.

Another very characteristic element in the design of this guitar were the

“moustaches” on the sides of the bridge. The use of these “moustaches” were not

merely ornamental as they served as guides to align the bridges correctly.

Tuning Machines: These represented an entirely new design patented by

Maccaferri that enclosed the gears inside a casing fixed to a base plate. This casing

protected two cog wheels ensuring permanent self lubrication of the gears, which

was not possible with open tuning machines. It also increased the number of teeth

and improved the tooth angle so that at least four teeth were in permanent contact

at any time leading to greater sturdiness, precision, and less wear.

The Soundbox: Another distinctive characteristic of the Selmer Maccaferri is the

the big D, or “grand bouche” soundhole. In part created for a bigger sound, but

also to compensate for the guitarist leaning over his instrument thus muffling part

of its tone, and inspired by 19th century romantic guitars and harp guitars he had

learned to construct in Mozzani’s shop, Maccaferri improved on the design to add

volume, tone, and clarity to the guitar, receiving a patent in 1930. Basically a box

within the body, the resonator had a reflector that enabled the sound to be directed

out of the soundhole. The D soundhole’s function was thus purely pragmatic as

Maccaferri found that with a smaller soundhole he was not able to achieve the

desired results. 

 Overall, around 200 guitars were produced in the first year with almost all being

sent to London. In 1933, while Maccaferri went back to concert touring the factory turned

out fewer guitars, the majority being 4-string models. Around this time, however,

Maccaferri had a falling out with Henri Selmer (the actual details are unclear, but it had

evidently to do with the limited duration of his contract) and left the company with the

oversight of construction of the guitars falling to Maccaferri’s deputy Lucien Guerinet."

*********************************

A similar argument is made on page 63 of the 2025 doctoral thesis by Brazilian guitarist Leon Bucaretchi.

Leon has been a regular at jams here in Lisbon while working on his study.

The thesis is in Portuguese but the abstract is in English:

"In this research, we studied the vibratory characteristics of the Manouche guitar in the laboratory and detailed its morphology, referencing discussions with luthiers specialized in this instrument’s construction. Two years of fieldwork allowed us to view this instrument inserted into context, observing how it is used, by whom, and the importance of community practice and the pedagogy of jazz Manouche in the sound we hear when a musician plays a Manouche guitar.

Therefore, this thesis elucidates how the characteristics of an instrument, sound conceptions of musicians of the Manouche genre, and performance techniques interconnect to define the sound of the Manouche guitar."

Here's an example: Angelo Debarre "Charleston" en session TSFJAZZ !

Does anyone know why wasn't it ever released and what happened to the recorded material afterwards?

I know they do dampen the top a bit... But I would also think a hole in the top might also effect the tone.

I know many busatos have guards.

*Edit double negative.

I'll get it started:

When I was a kid, I was enchanted by my dad's vast record collection (all vinyl, it was the 70's). I knew these treasures were extremely important to him, so I wanted to understand this magical world that brought him so much joy. In particular, I remember him listening to albums by Wes Montgomery, as well as Charlie Byrd. Coming from my young teenage rock-n-roll fantasy world of Van Halen, AC/DC, etc, these sounds were strange & foreign to me. But I heard something in it that was mysterious & compelling. I have good memories around this and I'm glad I had those experiences which helped put me on this path.

https://youtu.be/-4r3XNi5aPE?si=CnVqMCYbi68SBrGU

English text lower in article. Photos found in archives not seen for 77 years!

For those that still listen to rock music (I do occasionally), or used to enjoy it, what's your favorite rock band? Try to post only 1, and repeats are fine. I'll get it started and we'll see where it goes:

Credence Clearwater Revival.

transcribed the intro from the Django recording, thought it might be helpful to someone.

As most people play it in D minor nowadays the flageolet on the high e string is not possible so i came up with two solutions. One with fretted notes and one with a different flageolet:

i saw that this movie featuring Django can be seen on Youtube in full now:

Although i have seen a few posts on Manouché guitars every one is a little different and doesn't answe my queries. So, can anyone tell me anything more about this guitar specifically? as you can see the Manouché label has been signed i think by John? or Andy? Vickers the serial number is 00 and it has M J ELITE...there is no headstock decal

From my initial inspection the guitar doesn't seem to have a truss rod, can anyone confirm that these models were "trussrodless" they must have some support rod in the neck? at the moment its not playable above the 10th fret as the fingerboard on the body has kicked up (still firmly attached) causing buzzes across all the strings and the remaining upper frets. A neck reset would only make it worse so I'm thinking of taking the upper frets off planing down the fingerboard at the upper end to create some "fall off" and re-fretting...any suggestions?

If I have posted this in the wrong section I apologise

Thanks in advance

Regards Johnnie from Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

+NOTE+ His pronunciation on some things is not the most precise.

Fender Blues Jr. (for gigs where I played lead & rhythm)

Roland 50watt Street Cube (for gigs where I only play rhythm).