Selmer 503 on display through January 14?

Bob Holo · January 2007

I was at the Cite Musique site to see if I could find the Xray photos to understand more about the missing brace on Selmer 503 and how it relates to Favino's designs... that led me to Albert Giordian who photographed #503 and googling that led me to find out that Cite Musique somehow licensed rights to use his photos in a "travelling exposition" of guitars... including #503??? which supposedly has been locked in a vault virtually since it was donated in 1964 (various versions of this story exist)

If you read French, would you go to this site and figure out whether it's a virtual exhibit or a real exhibit? Our European friends may be able to go see Selmer #503 ... which would be cool. Personally, I'd like to see it on display in some world class facility (I mean, what would Cite Musique have to lose by letting a great museum display it?) The guitar display at the Albert is fantastic - as is the Guraneri/Stradivarius display in Firenze (don't remember the name of that museum) Oddly enough though I'm American I've never been to the Smithsonian's instrument exhibits though I'm sure they'd be competent to transport and display the guitar without damaging it. I've also never been to the Louve and so I don't know if they display instruments but if they do - that would be easy and almost completely without risk due to transport.

OK... if you read French, please let us know what's up with this.

http://www.cite-musique.fr/francais/min ... index.html

Heretic · January 2007

Cheers, Bob:

Considering the nature of this forum, it would be smashing to have a really good photograph , or a few, of Django Selmer as a sticky.
What do you think, Josh?

Josh Hegg · January 2007

Sure! If we can get pictures the we can post legally I'll make a sticky for that.

Cheers,
Josh

Bob Holo · January 2007

In spirit I agree, but in reality - that's a William Gottlieb in the upper right hand corner... they tend to be very expensive to license. I think the last thing we want to do is get a rights attorney poking around Michael's site. I'm going to assume that he's done what he needed to do to secure the rights to everything he uses and call it good at that, because if he has unwittingly made some error - I don't want to be the person who surfaces it and puts him on the hot seat.

Does either of you know what the Cite Museum's traveling guitar exhibit is? Do either of you know if the #503 Selmer is actually seeing the light of day for the first time in decades? I want to find out if it is - and if so - to trumpet it as loud as possible so as many of our friends who can go see it - are able to go see it. If they put it away for another 40 years, a lot of us will be pushing up daisies by the next time they bring it out in public.

So: back to the thread topic... if you read French, please let us know what's up with this. (hope I'm not too rude in pushing back to this topic... but unless this is something other than what it appears to be... there may be a rare 10 day window in which people can go and physically see Djangos guitar in person)

:arrow: :?: OK... if you read French, please let us know what's up with this. Is Django's guitar really "travelling" IE< is it being exhibited.

http://www.cite-musique.fr/francais/min ... index.html

Josh Hegg · January 2007

Pertaining to Django's guitar:

From a translating site:

Spiritual father of many guitarists, Django Reinhardt incarnates with him only the jazz manouche in all his splendour. This Selmer guitar of 1940 is the last which it played. In 1964, it is given by the widow of the virtuoso to the instrumental Museum of the Academy of Paris. She from now on is exposed to the museum of the Music of Paris.

Cheers,
Josh

Elliot · January 2007

I'd bet you it's not going anywhere. The French do not lend Art objects out easily if at all, and let's face it, this guitar is the Mona Lisa of instruments. I think one would be able to recognize tour dates and places, but there is no sign of any of that there. It would be nice to be wrong, though, since I'm driving distance from Chicago!

sockeye · January 2007

Speaking of the Gottlieb pic in the upper-right corner, I think that's the Levin guitar he was presented on the US tour. Any of you played one like that? If so, how was it? They made some pretty nice flattops back in the 50s. Never seen one of their archtops in person.

John

Bob Holo · January 2007

"She from now on is exposed to the City Museum..."

That sounds a whole lot like they've taken #503 out of basement storage and put it on exhibit which would be wonderful.

It's such a crime to have Django's guitar in a storage locker somewhere. To use the Mona Lisa analogy... they wouldn't put Mona in a basement catacomb... and I personally find Django's guitar a whole lot more interesting than a picture of a smiling broad in a brown dress... (no offense intended, but I bet Mona Lisa, whomever she was, couldn't find a C triad with a map and compass.)

brandoneon · January 2007

The museum's entry for #503 indeed states that the guitar is on exhibit. There is also a 6-string Hawaiian SelMac that is not on exhibit. And it doesn't appear to be a travelling exhibit: my guess is that the exhibit's title refers to the history and evolution of guitars.
C'est dommage!

At least the air guitar videos are entertaining...

scot · January 2007

Selmer 503 wasn't actually in storage for all that long - you could see it in a tableau with the Gomez-Ramirez guitar and one of Stephane Grapelly's violins in the early 90s and probably for longer than that. I think it was put away just a few years ago. There was a letter from the curator of the museum explaining exactly why it was placed in storage that circulated around the web a few years ago - there was no conspiracy to keep it from the public or anything. This "Travelling Guitars" is an exhibition at the Cite - basically it's about guitars of all types, but it isn't a travelling exhibition at all.

The Levin guitar in the Gottlieb photos wasn't exactly presented to Django - it belonged to Duke Ellington's guitarist, Fred Guy. I've never played a Levin archtop so I don't know what they sound like but they get a pretty good price these days. I agree with Sockeye, the Levin flattops I've played sound pretty good.

Jack · January 2007

Heretic wrote:

Cheers, Bob:

Considering the nature of this forum, it would be smashing to have a really good photograph , or a few, of Django Selmer as a sticky.
What do you think, Josh?