Selmer Vibro Effect - Busato tuning Fork

MichaelHorowitz

I'd say these generalizations are mostly true. But they are just generalizations, and ultimately every guitar is different. For example, the two Selmers we have right now are night and day (520 is warm, dark, with a rich bass register while 863 is bright, loud, and singing in tone).

I'd add that Busatos usually have a lot of bass (but few mids, so it's a "ghost" bass, but very deep) They have bigger bodies then Selmers. Also, Busatos are generally the loudest guitars out there....I think of them as "muscle guitars." Loud, aggressive, with tons of character.

Favinos are not nearly as old as Selmers/Busatos so they don't have as much age (30 years of Favino mojo vs 60 years of Busato/Selmer mojo). The biggest thing I always hear with Favinos is the nasal upper mids. But not all of them are like that...

And these generalization apply only to the real vintage guitars. The copies are all over the place, depending on the maker. The closest copies I'd say are:

Selmer - Dupont VR, Barault, Holo
Busato - Dupont/Bob Holo
Favino - Dupont

Passacaglia

Great help, thanks, Michael. I'd say, then, Busatos (again, in general) wouldn't be an obvious choice for rhythm guitar (unless needing it, to stand up to all kinds of other ambient sound)?

Can you also please go a bit more into what you mean by "nasal" quality in the Favinos - I think I get you, but if you could talk a bit more about it, it would be appreciated.

My generalizations did come from your wonderful examples on you tube, the DuPont, Dell Arte Busatos, Selmers, Favino emulations. I know this is a ridiculous (and leading) question - but if looking for a dry, warm guitar that is plenty (but not too) loud, that would be the yeoman's handmade guitar for both rhythm and lead, for an aging player (i.e., possibly, a short scale?) - any immediate thoughts (or is this dangerous political territory... )? I'm just really a fan of that certain, lush, percussive softness for accompaniment, if that makes any sense, but do anticipate lead playing down the road.

(I'll add - I'm either perceiving it differently, or I'm just plain wrong - but I do think I'm getting more "dryness" out of my DG-300 than I was previously, just by trying to get closer and closer to what I hear....better left/right hand coordination, even using a bit of my right fingers/thumb pad while strumming...anyway, perhaps it's also my guitar getting worn in?)

woodamand

MichaelHorowitz wrote: »

a wrote:

farty

you mean thr overdrive sound? that could be his playing or it could be the recording technique.

no, it's the guitar. Just had one in my hands and it did the same thing.

'm

That is truly crazy! All these years I thought it was tape flutter. I know this is not possible, but it almost sounds, with each single note, that the note is out of tune with itself!!!! Man would I love to play one of those guitars, although if I did my head just might explode................

woodamand

I wanted to try the Selmer, but there was a severe time crunch so I was sadly unable to do that. **********Sigh********

MichaelHorowitz

stuart wrote: »

Good thread to bring up, I've not seen this one before. I'd be interested in an update from @Michael Horowitz now that he's had a few more Selmers through his shop.

@stuart Not much has changed. I've had many more examples of all the great vintage makers since then (wow I posted this 7 years ago!) Selmers still generally have more mids and tend to have that vibro type effect whereas Busatos will be really clear with a thumpier bass.

The biggest differences you see with Selmers are the pre-war vs the post-war models. The pre-war models are generally fuller sounding with more mids and bass but not as loud or as bright as the post war models which are more heavily built and have a bigger pliage. This amazing 1934 Selmer I have here right now is the ultimate example of that pre-war sound: http://www.djangobooks.com/Item/selmer-transitional-model

Busatos vary a lot more with some being much darker, brighter, etc but they still all share that clear, flute-like tone that is so unique.