A closer look at Django's Selmer 503 !

Super Mario Maccaferri

... Or should I say the closest ever ?

Michael Bauer

Pure guitar porn! Thanks for posting this.

I wish you'd been able to play a few notes on it. I'd love to hear what it sounds like now.

klaatu

Wow, who do you know that got you this close to it?

klaatu

1.65 kg - it weighs nothing!

Super Mario Maccaferri

... Michael, I WAS able to play it... Just did absolutely NOT feel like doing such a thing. Ever heard of the curse of the pharaoh and stuff like that ? Actually the lab tech said that gloves were required, so as to preserve it completely as is... He said they don't ever touch (or repair) the instruments, and he was pretty sure that he could get Django's DNA by doing an analysis, all over the guitar... "better not mix it with everyone else's"he added. What do you say after that.

As to how I got there, huh huh huh, my name is Mario, but people call me Super

Shawn

OH...MY...GOD!

I wish I had better words to express my feelings upon seeing this, but if I were there I too probably wouldn't be able to play it just for the reason that it was Django's guitar. I mean, the guitar was played by him for a long part of his career...beautiful melodies, astonishing improvisations and feats that most of us only dream about were played on this thing. I'm pretty sure my playing would sound like a child playing a ukulele with 2 out of tune strings...something I just couldn't bear to put this wonderful instrument through .

Regardless, wonderful video, and as Michael stated..."Pure guitar porn"...what more could be said.

Michael Bauer

Mario, I understand about not wanting to play Django's guitar, although I wonder if Django would have wanted his favorite guitar's effective life to end when his did. I'm really torn about this. On one hand I think it's a shame that the guitar can never really sing again because it has become a relic. On the other hand, if it were played...and eventually refretted...and eventually got a new bridge and other repairs that playing would require after time, it would become less and less Django's guitar. I suppose it's better to leave it as it is.

DNA degades with time, so I say get Django's DNA now while they can! And then figure out a way to replace mine with his!

Anyway, thanks again for posting this. I envy you that you got to be that close to the Holy Grail of Selmer guitars.

Super Mario Maccaferri

Michael Bauer wrote:

if it were played...and eventually refretted...and eventually got a new bridge and other repairs that playing would require after time, it would become less and less Django's guitar. I suppose it's better to leave it as it is.

Exactly...The lab man said "the key word is reversibility". In other words, they forbid themselves to do any repair ofr modification which would not be reversible, i.e. allow to get the guitar back in it's previous condition. So, NO refretting, or planification (is this the corrrect word ?).

Why ? well he said, imagine we're 250 years in the future, and as technologies evolve, we're unable to read vinyls, CDs, floppy disks and computer hard disks... what's left is then a few transcriptions, chord change sheets and the guitar. That would put us in the same position where we're right now regarding 15 th century "Cistres" (don't know how to tranlate this), so not touching the instrument would still let us make guesses about Django's technique and style. Were we a bit wiser than today he added, we may well be able to discover from all these clues that the man didn't have the same number of fingers as other players..."

I like the idea...

Ian Rossiter

Thanks for this video. I shared it on my Facebook page too.
What else can you tell us about it? The neck and body depth looked huge in the video. I couldn't imagine the Vibe that thing has. Again, thank you for posting/sharing such a great experience.

jimvence

I don't know man..not a bad instrument, but looks kind of old and beat up.

Would you consider 300 cash and my MIM Telecaster in trade? ;0)

Oh wait, I thought this was the "For Sale" forum

Shawn

jimvence wrote:

I don't know man..not a bad instrument, but looks kind of old and beat up.

Would you consider 300 cash and my MIM Telecaster in trade? ;0)

You'll fit in great around here...gets my vote for Djangobooks "Post of the Year" Award!