What Guitar is Django Playing on J'attendrai Swing Video?

placidothecat

Hi,

I am curious about the guitar Django is playing in the youtube video entitled "J'attendrai Swing 1939".

* What brand/style of guitar is it?

* I've only seen the extended fingerboard and petit bouche combination on the Dell' Arte Robin Nolan model, and a few Favino guitars from the Favino pages. Is the Robin Nolan based on the style/model guitar Django is playing?

Thanks

Tele295

It's gotta be a Selmer. Who welse was making a petite bouche like that in 1939. Perhaps it was a prototype Modele Jazz that was given to Django to try out

BluesBop Harry

It's a Selmer transitional model. Oval hole with 14 fret joint but short scale and with the extended fingerboard.

Bob Holo

I don't know what Robin's guitar is - (he has a few) but Django is playing a 640mm scale transitional model Petit Bouche Selmer. In other words, its a Mac fingerboard on a Selmer body and judging from other transitional and non-standard scale length Selmers - likely the bracing was changed to accommodate this. I don't know if anyone knows the serial number of the guitar... given when he played the guitar it may have been in the 420 to 450 range. Not all Selmers were finished in sequence, but that would seem to be the rough timeframe.

Tele295

That would have been my next guess :roll:

I need to get that History of Selmer Guitars book one of these days

Jeff Moore

I just assumed it was 503, but I'd defer to Bob's judgement. His sound (what comes through from the years and technology of the time) is dark - like the Rome recordings.