looks like it was made from the leftover parts when someone added a new 6-string guitar’s neck to an old Selmer Eddie Freeman tenor body. Me? - I’d avoid
Jangle_JamieScottish HighlandsNewDe Rijk, some Gitanes and quite a few others
Posts: 271
It's convenient that the only part of the label missing is the number! What's the body then? Harmsworth and Willis?
Jangle_JamieScottish HighlandsNewDe Rijk, some Gitanes and quite a few others
Posts: 271
crookedpinkyGlasgow✭✭✭✭Alex Bishop D Hole, Altamira M & JWC D hole
Posts: 925
Strange that the label says it's an Orchestra model. The bodies of Selmer 6 string and tenor guitars were identical and a lot of the tenor models were subsequently converted to 6 strings, but this one is an oddity. The neck looks like it has a correctly shaped heel and the tuners look original but the Selmer engraving is really suspect. I'd avoid it as well.
I acquired this via French site Leboncoin - some interesting instruments can appear there but you usually need a French phone number and mailing address.
It needed some attention: raising the fingerboard and replacing the bridge in ebony to make it more playable in the higher register.
This video shows some of the process and gives an idea of the sound
@BillDaCostaWilliams It has such a nice tone. Warmer than any mandolin I heard (not that I heard that many), you almost get a sense that it's tuned octave lower. I think that's my favorite sounding mandolin.
Comments
looks like it was made from the leftover parts when someone added a new 6-string guitar’s neck to an old Selmer Eddie Freeman tenor body. Me? - I’d avoid
It's convenient that the only part of the label missing is the number! What's the body then? Harmsworth and Willis?
Strange that the label says it's an Orchestra model. The bodies of Selmer 6 string and tenor guitars were identical and a lot of the tenor models were subsequently converted to 6 strings, but this one is an oddity. The neck looks like it has a correctly shaped heel and the tuners look original but the Selmer engraving is really suspect. I'd avoid it as well.
Went for £1,232.12.
Incidentally there's a 1960s Selmer parlour guitar going for £169.
Could someone clue me in on which of these auctions will ship to the US? I'd love to get my hands on some of these for restoration projects.
1930s René Gerome French mandolin
I acquired this via French site Leboncoin - some interesting instruments can appear there but you usually need a French phone number and mailing address.
It needed some attention: raising the fingerboard and replacing the bridge in ebony to make it more playable in the higher register.
This video shows some of the process and gives an idea of the sound
Cool, Bill. Is that a tortoise-shell "pickguard" below the sound hole?
@billyshakes I'm not sure, but I don't think it's tortoise-shell.
Seems like it could be some type of plastic imitation.
The Gerome mandolins often featured this as did other European and US made mandolins of the time.
I'll ask on Mandolin Café - there are folks there who have studied these details exhaustively.
@BillDaCostaWilliams It has such a nice tone. Warmer than any mandolin I heard (not that I heard that many), you almost get a sense that it's tuned octave lower. I think that's my favorite sounding mandolin.