Anyone know the story behind Selmer #5xx on Ebay?

fillegitane

Please don't misunderstand me. This guitar may very well be authentic. It's just that there are a lot of scams on ebay. Not only guitars, but other merchandise as well. For example, there was a rash of Chinese sellers offering Les Pauls at rock bottom prices but what the buyer actually received was a cheap Asian knock-off and not the guitar pictured in the add.


The seller's explanation, or more acurately, no explanation for not including a serial number is worrisome. Moreover, he 's not posting buyers questions. And I find it hard to believe that bidders aren't asking any.

Fopa

The seller of the guitar has 100% positive feedback and appears to have been active on E-Bay for five years. It is EXTREMELY unlikely that it is a scam. Nope, it's the real deal, ...but who knows how it sounds? I've never had a chance to play on a real Selmer, but I've spoken to guys that have, and from what I've heard, they don't all sound that great.

With two days to go, my guess is that it will end up going for $12,000 to $15,000. Still quite a bargin in todays market.

richdaigle

Don't forget It has had a truss rod installed...not a small event in a guitars life. Like having a new spine put in...you better trust the surgeon.

Wait...I know, Lets 52 of us all chip in and buy it! We'll each have it one week a year...even if it reached 12k it's like $230...HA HA it'll be like the Simpsons when Bart, Milhouse and Martin buy the first issue of Radioactive man!

Klezmorim

richdaigle wrote:

Wait...I know, Lets 52 of us all chip in and buy it! We'll each have it one week a year...even if it reached 12k it's like $230...

Hey... ya know... that's not such a bad idea: a time-shared Selmer! Even if only *10* of us chipped in, that'd be $1000 apiece... and we each could keep it a month. Hmmm....

BTW: There's also a Shelley Park "oot" there with no bids on it, currently. Auction ends a few hours after the Selmer.

Fopa

Looks like the seller changed his mind. The bidding was stopped early.

Klezmorim

Fopa wrote:

Looks like the seller changed his mind. The bidding was stopped early.

V...e...r...y interesting.... I wonder if the item received a little too much "attention" for the seller's comfort???

To answer an earlier comment: If you give the complete serial number of an object (guitar or otherwise) and a set of detailed photos to a counterfeiter, you've just made her job much easier. If at least part of the serial is obscured, the crook has to do MUCH more research in order to fabricate a believable knock-off.

scot

There's no doubt, this guitar is the genuine article. Anyone who ever closely examined a Selmer (I've handled around 20) could see this at a glance. What happened here? The most likely thing is that one of the well-to-do Selmer collectors in Europe - there are more than a few of them - or a guitar speculator went to see this guitar and bought it on the spot. All in all it looks like a pretty nice box to me. I'll bet it sounds great, too. I've heard tell of doggy Selmers but every one I played sounded really terrific - light as a feather, ultra-responsive and loud.

As for the numbers, lots of elderly people selling musical instruments get wacky ideas. That's my experience anyway. Withholding a serial number doesn't seem all that weird to me.

Klezmorim

scot wrote:

Withholding a serial number doesn't seem all that weird to me.

Hey, Scot, you're right: I've seen this for years when it comes to selling other vintage guitars, amps, et al. There's a (legitimate) fear of giving away too much info. Serious buyers will ask the right questions; serious sellers will be happy to answer, as in the case of my recent sale of a 1967 Fender amp.

Anyone interested in a 1967 Gretsch Tennessean or a 1998 Martin D-28? Contact me via PM before I have to pay those farking Paypal and Ebay fees.