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spotted at a local auction.......

AndyWAndyW Glasgow Scotland UK✭✭✭ Clarinets & Saxes- Selmer, Conn, Buescher, Leblanc et.al. // Guitars: Gerome, Caponnetto, Napoli, Musicalia, Bucolo, Sanchez et. al.
Sold last Saturday at a local auction here in Scotland, UK.......

lot0318-0.jpg

who knew - the rare stuff still turns up......
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Comments

  • Craig BumgarnerCraig Bumgarner Drayden, MarylandVirtuoso Bumgarner S/N 001
    Posts: 795
    Is that what it looks like? :shock:
  • AndyWAndyW Glasgow Scotland UK✭✭✭ Clarinets & Saxes- Selmer, Conn, Buescher, Leblanc et.al. // Guitars: Gerome, Caponnetto, Napoli, Musicalia, Bucolo, Sanchez et. al.
    Posts: 599
    Is that what it looks like? :shock:

    yep, it is what it looks like. Number 335, i think.
    the phrase "ripe for conversion to six string" springs to mind.

    it sold for about US $ 2050 plus auctioneers commission,
    Possibly to one of the local GJ players, we shall see......
  • Craig BumgarnerCraig Bumgarner Drayden, MarylandVirtuoso Bumgarner S/N 001
    Posts: 795
    AndyW wrote:
    ....about US $ 2050 plus auctioneers commission,

    YIKES!
    AndyW wrote:
    Possibly to one of the local GJ players, we shall see......

    Hope so.

    cb
  • HotTinRoofHotTinRoof Florida✭✭✭
    Posts: 308
    For those of us not yet privy to the well of knowledge you guys have attained...
    What are we looking at? :D
  • AndyWAndyW Glasgow Scotland UK✭✭✭ Clarinets & Saxes- Selmer, Conn, Buescher, Leblanc et.al. // Guitars: Gerome, Caponnetto, Napoli, Musicalia, Bucolo, Sanchez et. al.
    Posts: 599
    it's a mid 1930's Selmer-Maccaferri "Eddie Freeman Special" 4 string tenor guitar, bodily almost (?) identical to Django's 6 string -they are, nowadays, it seems, often converted to 6 strings.

    Think "4 string version of the holy grail" ....
    $2K seems like a steal to me..... :wink: any opinions ??
  • rimmrimm Ireland✭✭✭✭ Paul doyle D hole, washburn washington
    Posts: 605
    ..Its worth about 5 times that and if I had have known about it I would have bidded like a b**stard.
    But who would you get to convert it? Dupont? Hahl?
    AWESOME :shock:
    I got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell
  • HotTinRoofHotTinRoof Florida✭✭✭
    Posts: 308
    AndyW wrote:
    it's a mid 1930's Selmer-Maccaferri "Eddie Freeman Special" 4 string tenor guitar, bodily almost (?) identical to Django's 6 string -they are, nowadays, it seems, often converted to 6 strings.

    Think "4 string version of the holy grail" ....
    $2K seems like a steal to me..... :wink: any opinions ??


    :shock:
  • Craig BumgarnerCraig Bumgarner Drayden, MarylandVirtuoso Bumgarner S/N 001
    Posts: 795
    AndyW wrote:
    $2K seems like a steal to me..... :wink: any opinions ??

    Definitely a steal. A Henri Selmer in any condition other than a pile of pieces in a basket is worth $2K. It obviously needs work. Looks like some significant movement along the crack in the top. The whole right third of the body looks like it may have shifted downward. Maybe its just the picture, which isn't very good, but it looks like it might need more than just a crack repair.

    Conversion of tenors to six string is, from what I hear, fairly common. I saw one last summer still sporting its four string tailpiece. The middle two strings were doubled up on the two center posts with their neighbor strings, terrific.

    I've never even gotten remotely close to doing a conversion like this, but I can imagine it is fairly routine. Remove the old neck (done all the time), make new out of authentic woods (french walnut and ebony) to authentic dimensions and install. It is possible the tenor has a smaller head stock that may need to be reinforced or enlarged somehow, or maybe the joint modified from the standard six string dovetail to fit. It would be nice if the new neck could have the Selmer engraving on the head stock. (that's probably why Maurice Dupont will get the job instead of me :( ..... :lol: )

    Nicely done, this guitar could easily be worth five times the purchase cost plus the cost of repair, or even more. But who cares about that! At $40K+, these guitars are out of my league forever. At $2K, I could be swingin' with Django. Oh Yeah! :P

    cb
  • crookedpinkycrookedpinky Glasgow✭✭✭✭ Alex Bishop D Hole, Altamira M & JWC D hole
    Posts: 921
    I did not buy this but attended the auction and also inspected the guitar at length the day before.

    Although there was substantial damage and movement it definitely was repairable and - with a bit of work - could have been converted to a six string.

    In terms of damage the right third of the top had slipped down to the right of the crack and there was separation of the top and back around the tail block area. The top and back overhung the tail block by about 2 - 3 mm with the section to the right of the crack protruding a bit further.

    The heel area was intact and the back and sides were solid with no cracks or de-lamination in evidence.

    The head stock had suffered a very clumsy repair with a steel bracket holding the headstock to the neck with a clear gap between headstock and neck but it looked as though it had been that way for some time.

    There were also a couple of frets missing and although the moustache ends were fine the mid section of the bridge had long gone and a square piece of hardwood had been used in it's place. This was simply a sqaure block of wood and I suspect that using this bridge contributed in part to the large crack in the top as the bridge would have rested solely on the top and not on the transverse braces.

    For all of that it was a fabulous instrument and with a bit of work will make someone very happy. I don;t know who bought it as the winning bid was made by phone.

    It was almost impossible to get the exact serial number as it was obscured by years of dist and dirt but it WAS a genuine label with the correct handwriting and decription.

    One very strange thing was an ormanentation which had been added at some point - looks like the emblem of Germany from the 20s/30s but I'm guessing at that. Anyway here are some more pics - including my notes on how it might be restored/converted
    always learning
  • Posts: 49
    Considering all the work this would require to be converted to 6 string, I would hope they would just make a new neck. There are so few original EFS Selmers around it would be a shame to lose the original simply to make another frankenselmer. Unfortunately everyone wants to be Django and no one wants to be Eddie! :cry:
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