DjangoBooks.com
Welcome to our Community!
Categories
- 19.8K All Categories
- 1.1K General
- 446 Welcome
- 57 Archtop Eddy's Corner
- 134 CD, DVD, and Concert Reviews
- 380 FAQ
- 26 Gypsy Jazz Italia
- 22 Photos
- 199 Gypsy Picking
- 21 Unaccompanied Django
- 15 Pearl Django Play-Along Vol.1
- 16 Gypsy Fire
- 40 Gypsy Rhythm
- 1.3K Gypsy Jazz University - Get Educated
- 126 Gypsy Jazz 101
- 208 Repertoire
- 205 History
- 693 Technique
- 46 Licks and Patterns
- 5 Daniel Givone Manouche Guitare Method Users Group
- 20 Eddie Lang Club
- 1.2K Gypsy Jazz Gear
- 735 Guitars, Strings, Picks, Amps, Pickups and Other Accessories
- 420 Classifieds
- 43 Recording
- 62 Other Instruments
- 18 Violin
- 5 Mandolin
- 22 Accordion
- 7 Bass
- 10 Woodwinds
- 312 Gypsy Jazz Events
- 135 North America
- 95 Europe
- 82 International
In this Discussion
Who's Online (0)
Comments
It is definitely odd to me when you see really nice, older luthier built instruments selling here for $2k what the financial incentive is here.
It's a cool strategy but why? That Eastman Bourgeois collab is cool but it's still just under 3K guitar. You're not creating a budget guitar. But in the case of a new Selmer brand you might be undermining people's perception of its quality. If Dupont can have a small team of people and build guitar in their price range and sell them at that price, so can Selmer I'd think. I'm also a little confused about why are people down on them resurrecting a guitar line. If they build good guitars, sell them at a reasonable market price and slap a Selmer logo on it, I think that's fun. If they ask 10K for it then it's like "go f*** yourselves". We'll find out soon enough I guess.
This is probably as close as he'll get...😊
What might be more surprising would be if they decide to defend a trademark against that original selmer design on the headstock like below. Seems a lot of luthiers building these replicas have adopted that style but used their own name or variation. When Selmer wasn't creating guitars any more, it probably wasn't a problem. Now that they are starting to again, will they try to make others cease and desist? And while it is a legal case that might be won by the smaller luthiers, do they really have the appetite and $$ to do so? If Selmer did choose to do this, I'd be even less inclined to buy one of their products.
The first thing that occurred to me when I saw this was that they'll choose an atelier we all know to partner with or aquire. With enough capacity to make instruments. In France. With history.
I feel like there's only one name "qui correspond aux critères." It's not hard to imagine that perhaps the Veille Reserve Duponts would be worthy of the Selmer name. Direct lineage as well (Selmer -> Favino -> Dupont -> current Dupont luthiers). Quality already respected etc.
Fun to have a little anticipation here...
While DuPont seems a fairly obvious choice I find DuPonts sound and feel like DuPonts pretty much up and down the line including the reserve (I have one). Really doesn’t sound or feel like The Selmer’s I have played. Really great guitars Selmer like, but like other makers doesn’t nail the Selmer thing IMHO. Again the other side is Selmer’s are not consistent so…
www.scoredog.tv
Selmers are also likely 70 years older as well? Hard to compare old and new instruments. Even though I don't think old instruments are necessarily "better" I think they likely sound "different" from when they were made.
The thing is prices on Selmer style guitars are super ghettoized. $3k for a Martin style guitar is super cheap. $10k is very common for mid level luthier guitars in the finger style world. But 10k is the very high end of modern Luthier made Selmer guitars and you can get a lot of guitar for 3k. It absolutely doesn't pay to make these instruments. I can only assume a lot of people do it because they are fascinated by the instruments. I can tell you 3k doesn't go very far in paying expenses, much less paying myself. I'm lucky I have a job that pays my bills and leaves me a lot of free time because I've been busting my ass for 3 years and have lost tons of money (my choice, just saying)
But for a company to get in the market and sell guitars with the intent of making a profit, employing people, marketing, etc....$3k doesn't move the needle much. For a quality instrument, anyway. That's why offshoring a lot of the production of parts makes sense. Chinese luthiers kick ass at fine level production stuff.
You want a handmade guitar made in France that's crafted to be comparable to the original selmers and tuned to sound to some definition of perfect? Gonna be a a bit more money.
I don't think that they can defend a trademark now if they haven't defended it so far. I would imagine that ship has sailed legally, but don't quote me.
Dupont does well enough on their own, I doubt they would want to change anything. My guess is they'll hire someone established to lead a team of people. But someone who currently has a small output but knows the job.
You're right, Paul, I often say that selling even at 4-5K nobody is getting rich when you talk one person operation.
Probably 90% of luthiers in this genre either uses or have used a Selmer logo on their guitars. While nothing is impossible, going after anyone that's used the Selmer coat of arms would be a foolproof way to earn the animosity of just about everybody that plays these things and kill the business before it even took off.