BYO Gypsy Guitars in Bristol, UK

Peter Davies · July 11

There was recent discussion enquiring about gypsy guitars available in the UK, so I thought I’d post, if allowed, that there are two Selmer Maccaferri type guitars that I built, on sale at Hobgoblin Music, Bristol.. One is an oval hole 14 fret to the body, made of wood recycled from a school science lab desktop. The other is a 12 fret to the body d-hole, with a rosewood body and walnut neck. If anyone is passing by and fancies trying them out, any feedback would be appreciated and useful for future builds. Oval hole - £1950. D-hole - £2599.

Cheers, Peter Davies

BillDaCostaWilliams · July 11

They sure look nice!

That wood recycled from a school science lab desktop must have already absorbed a few resonances in its lifetime.

billyshakes · July 11

Agree with Bill....nice looking work!

Peter Davies · July 18

A few construction details

. The soundboards have a heat bent arch (pliage). The finish is French polish. The fifth brace on the oval hole is half the height of the other braces, a compromise with Django’s guitar that doesn’t have one there.

Jangle_Jamie · July 18

Wow, this is great to see!!! So you heat bend the top before the two pieces are joined? Is that the usual method? Why not join them first, then bend the whole thing? I ask as a novice!!!

Peter Davies · July 18

The first plans had that instruction and I just stuck with doing it that way.

bbwood_98 · July 18

Good work. Those both look nice!

Jangle_Jamie · July 18

Thanks!! All those numbers on the top - is that you thicknessing it and 'tuning' it? Fascinating!!

crookedpinky · July 18

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/122227#Comment_122227

That's the way Selmer did it when they were making them. I've seen pictures of the underside of a Selmer top and you can see the heat maeks from the bend don't match up on each side. BTW I hope to make the August Inverness session.

billyshakes · July 19

I wonder if they were glued together first if the heat would loosen the glue joint anyway? Isn't that how they loosen the glue for rerpairs is through heat/steam?