Chet Atkins on a selmac?

drolling · May 2005

On page 315 of Romane's L'Esprit Manouche book there's a picture of Chet with an oval hole guitar. Looks like it could have been a club date, but it got me wondering if he ever used a GJ style guitar for recording. I've seen pictures of some odd-ball guitars from his collection, tho' the CDs I've got feature only electric and nylon string instruments as far as I can tell. His fingerpicking especially has always blown me away - was he also a master of gypsy technique? He certainly recorded prodigiously, and I'd like to know if there's a side to his playing that I've completely missed out on.

Thanks,
david

bjorn · June 2005

I know Chet had at least one Selmac-type guitar, a Michael Dunn. I don't know if Chet played gypsy style, and neither did Michael Dunn when I asked him. I do know that Michael is of the opion that his guitars are suited for playing in a wide variety of styles.

Incidently, Chet payed full price for the guitar - a rarity. (he had a reputation of always angling for freebies. I would too if I could get away with it) .

drolling · June 2005

Thanks Bjorn,

I have played a couple of Michael's guitars. One in Vancouver at "Not Just Another Music Store" and one here in Montreal. Very nice guitars, both, but unlike the rather plain petite bouche that Chet's holding in the photograph I referred to. I was checking out Michael's 'Hot Club of Mars' website and was intrigued to see that he plays a brass bodied tricone resonator rather than one of his own creations.

nwilkins · June 2005

he does play his own gypsy style guitars, but sometimes plays a resonator.

bjorn · June 2005

Last time I saw the hot club, he was playing a very cool guitar that he'd built for himself recently - a petite bouche in all black woods/black finish. The only colour on it was the tuners, which were a sort of metallic purple colour, and the rosette, which was an adonized aluminum in a matching colour.

Might sound like a whacky, but it looked great. And I love that Michael goes his own way. . . there's plenty of people making exact copies already.

btw, there is a book out called "Chet's Guitars" or something like that - I know his Dunn is shown in there. I can't recall what it looks like, but Michael does produce some very simple, elegant petite bouche guitars. Did the one in the picture have a solid headstock? Many of his do.

drolling · June 2005

Yes, both the Dunns I had the pleasure to play were non-traditional combinations of light and dark woods - very striking. One had a solid headstock. The new one you describe sounds very cool indeed. Nice to hear that Michael's still pushing the envelope. When his name first came to my attention, I don't think there were any other luthiers working with selmac designs in North America.

The small blurry B&W picture clearly shows a standard slotted headstock. If I had a scanner, I'd sharpen it in Photoshop and upload it for you to see for yourself. On the other hand, I got the book in the sheet music section of a local music store here in Montreal. If you're in Vancouver, you could pop into Long & McQuade sometime and check it out. Pg. 315, top right.

Thanks for your interest, Bjorn,
david

bjorn · June 2005

Hmm...I didn't actually have to go as far as L&M - I had a copy in my bedroom

Well, the mystery deepens. I found a picture of the Dunn that Atkins owned

http://www.michaeldunnguitars.com/body_belleville.html

And it had a solid headstock. So maybe he owned more than one? I assume that photo was taken when Romane was in Nashville - perhaps Chet was trying out one of Romane's guitars?

Ah, I love this type of stuff!