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21st Century Selmer by Shelley Park
langleydjango
Langley, WA USA✭✭✭✭
Well here it is. What I consider to be a 21st Century Selmer. A Work of Art by Shelley Park.
A true electric Selmer-style jazz guitar.
It's a bit hard to tell from the photos but it is a bit smaller than a normal Selmer
style and much thinner, about 2 1/4" at the heel to 3" thick at the endpin. 25 1/2" scale length (640 mm D hole scale).
It is extremely comfortable to play. It sits beautifully and is very light. The thinner body lets your arm float very nicely above the body.
It has a magnetic pickup (humbucker) with volume and tone control. It also has a
bigtone in the bridge that is controlled externally- with a volume pedal (or amp volume).
Both pickups are wired to a stereo output jack so they can be used simultaneously.
Sound- The guitar unamplified sounds like a Selmer style guitar with less volume
due to the smaller body size. The guitar is not designed to be played in a jam session unamplified! But if you were to listen it to the guitar by itself
you would know that you were listening to a gypsy jazz guitar.
The Bigtone sounds like all Bigtones, etc. The sound you get out of it is very much a factor of your preamp. I'm using a LR Baggs and it sounds fine. If you want a great acoustic guitar sound mic your guitar. Everything else is a distant second place.
The sound port on the side of the guitar adds a fantastic way to mic the guitar. I place a good quality lavalier mic inside the port facing the bridge. I've used this technique for a few years now and combining the mic with the bigtone provides a
great combination of tone and volume.
Electric with the humbucker the guitar sounds like a jazz guitar (as it should, since it IS a jazz guitar). A beautiful, round tone with a touch of that Selmer "zing". Just great sounding! I usually play through a Carr Rambler and the combination of the guitar and amp is unbeatable.
For the way I play, and the styles of music I usual play, gypsy jazz and straight ahead jazz, this axe is PERFECT. I can show up at any gig and be prepared to play and have a great sound. I'm sure it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but man it works for me!
This is one awesomely beautiful guitar and sounds every bit as good as it looks.
The pix look better if you enlarge them, I think.
A true electric Selmer-style jazz guitar.
It's a bit hard to tell from the photos but it is a bit smaller than a normal Selmer
style and much thinner, about 2 1/4" at the heel to 3" thick at the endpin. 25 1/2" scale length (640 mm D hole scale).
It is extremely comfortable to play. It sits beautifully and is very light. The thinner body lets your arm float very nicely above the body.
It has a magnetic pickup (humbucker) with volume and tone control. It also has a
bigtone in the bridge that is controlled externally- with a volume pedal (or amp volume).
Both pickups are wired to a stereo output jack so they can be used simultaneously.
Sound- The guitar unamplified sounds like a Selmer style guitar with less volume
due to the smaller body size. The guitar is not designed to be played in a jam session unamplified! But if you were to listen it to the guitar by itself
you would know that you were listening to a gypsy jazz guitar.
The Bigtone sounds like all Bigtones, etc. The sound you get out of it is very much a factor of your preamp. I'm using a LR Baggs and it sounds fine. If you want a great acoustic guitar sound mic your guitar. Everything else is a distant second place.
The sound port on the side of the guitar adds a fantastic way to mic the guitar. I place a good quality lavalier mic inside the port facing the bridge. I've used this technique for a few years now and combining the mic with the bigtone provides a
great combination of tone and volume.
Electric with the humbucker the guitar sounds like a jazz guitar (as it should, since it IS a jazz guitar). A beautiful, round tone with a touch of that Selmer "zing". Just great sounding! I usually play through a Carr Rambler and the combination of the guitar and amp is unbeatable.
For the way I play, and the styles of music I usual play, gypsy jazz and straight ahead jazz, this axe is PERFECT. I can show up at any gig and be prepared to play and have a great sound. I'm sure it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but man it works for me!
This is one awesomely beautiful guitar and sounds every bit as good as it looks.
The pix look better if you enlarge them, I think.
Comments
Just a gorgeous guitar! So glad that it meets your needs of tonal quality and amplification and playability of the style of guitar you play. Such a journey: the original Gallato, Favino, Shelly Park w/sound port, and now this acoustic jewel!
We are so fortunate to have great creative luthiers and players here in the NW US and Canada evolving their craft!
Post a solo MP3 soon so we can hear it!
Rocky
Can I ask how much$$$ do those beauties go for??
not yet a standard production model but I'm sure if there is enough interest
she would be happy to build 1 or 100 more.
It would interesting to see different versions i.e. spruce,cedar or koa top,
rosewood or koa sides. You get the idea.
It is one hell of a gigging guitar.
BTW, it's interesting how many people are moving towards magnetic pickup systems these days. Years ago when I first got into this music it seemed like magnetic pickups of any kind, even a Stimer, were somewhat taboo as they were considered "electric." The alternative was piezo pickups, mics, or the Schertler pickups. But nowadays it seems that so many players have rediscovered the convenience of using magnets...Troy's guitar is just one example. Just about everyone else that plays Gypsy in Seattle seems to be using a Stimer or a humbucker these days. In the wider world I've noticed Stochelo using a Stimer most of the time and Robin Nolan has a nice archtop with a humbucker.
Anyway, just an observation....
As always, Shelly's guitars are works of art. Congrats Troy!
Often I play rhythm entirely acoustic and just turn the pickup on for lead....that's what a lot of the guys like Tal Farlow and Herb Ellis did back in the day. Works well as long the rhythm doesn't need to be super loud...or if you have a mic on stage it will capture the acoustic rhythm.
Also, I use the Benedetto S6 pickup with an acoustic Image amp....turn the mids all the way off and you can get a pretty crunchy amplified rhythm sound. You may need to use the high pass filter to cut some lows as well.
'm