Jim is looking for info on his "Triumph" archtop guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Jim writes:

Hi Gavin,

I'm a fan of the Guitarz blog, it's been a great read. I started to learn how to play last year, and I'm finding the instruments and their history very interesting.

I bought this guitar in a junkstore yesterday (pictures attached), I was hoping someone at Guitarz might be able to tell me where it's from, how old it is? It's got a 'Triumph' sticker label on the headstock with a 'Foreign' label on the back, also stamped with number '13547'.

I think it's a cheap copy, but I've kinda fallen in love with it and I'm going to get it cleaned up and looking a bit healthier. It's currently smells of old books! Hope someone might be able to fill in some it's history, as I can't find anything about it.

Thanks for the great blog - it's been a really great resource.

All the best, Jim

Hi Jim, I believe what you have got there is a Selmer Triumph guitar. It's hard to pinpoint it to an exact model because the Selmer Triumph name encompassed several different guitar designs and a few amplifiers too.

To give some background, Selmer were a musical instrument manufacturer established in the early 1900s and based in Paris (surely their best known guitars were the gypsy jazz guitars as played by Django Reinhardt). By 1928 they had aquired a semi-independent UK branch. From the 1950s and through to the 1970s some of Selmer UK's own-brand guitars were produced by Germany's Höfner especially for the UK market.

However, rather than being a Höfner this particular guitar looks to be very similar to the Framus Studio 5/51. We've looked at one of these before here on Guitarz, although that example was unusual in having just a single f-fole.

Speaking of the f-holes, you'll notice that these Framus guitars have very distinctive shaped f-holes which omit the crossbar of the "f".

So, in brief, Jim, your guitar would be made in Germany, most likely in the 1960s. For further information you might want to check out this exchange I found on an internet forum, which concerns another very similar guitar.

By a strange coincidence, it also looks very similar to a guitar owned by my friend Frank, which has recently been restored by luthier Jeff Beer.

G L Wilson

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1960s Selmer Freshman

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Now this is a Guitarz guitar if ever there was.

After doing a bit of research, I found out this is 1964(ish) Japanese built, Selmer imported, Freshman. Despite what the seller says (and previous owners' "doing up"), it seems pretty much original including the bridge. Not surprisingly, this was a budget guitar among budget guitars in it's day, selling for the princely sum of £15.

It does have it's charm, two tone scratchplate and wood covered pickups being especially groovy. I don't image it plays well all that well but I'm sure it could be induced to cough up some sweet chunky funk in the hands of someone like Jamie Hince.

It's attracted some attention already and, as it's quite a pretty and desirable collectors piece, I think there'll be a bit of a scramble at the end, which is just 13 hours away, as I write.

Here's what the seller says:
This is an old late 1950's or early 1960's solid electric guitar.
I would say a collectors item, not for playing.
It is marked FRESHMAN and also Foreign.
When purchased at the car boot the previous owner said he had "Done it up".
He had given up when he had tried to modify the rhythm solo switch to a pick up selector and got in a mess.
He says both pick ups work but it needs sorting out.
I have tried it on a little amp and the only thing that works is one volume control.
The other volume, tone and solo/rhythm switch do nothing to the sound at all.
The paintwork is all original as are all the other parts except the bridge looks odd to me for an electric guitar.
A rough little guitar needing a lot of cleaning and sorting out. All beyond me.

By the way, I found this scan of a Selmer catalogue, thanks to Laszlo ℅ the indispensable Vintage Hofner web site.

David in Barcelona

  © 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - 10 years and counting!

Selmer vintage lap steel with integral case

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I've not seen another guitar like this before, and I suppose a lap steel (or console guitar) would be the only kind of guitar that would suit this format. It's a Selmer-branded lap steel which is actually built into its own case. That is to say, the case forms part of the guitar body. All you need to do is open and detach the lid, plug the guitar in and you're ready to go.

Selmer were a musical instrument manufacturer established in the early 1900s and based in Paris (surely their best known guitars were the gypsy jazz guitars as played by Django Reinhardt). By 1928 they had aquired a semi-independent UK branch. From the 1950s and through to the 1970s some of Selmer UK's own-brand guitars were produced by Germany's Höfner especially for the UK market. With the logo on this particular example proudly proclaiming "London, England", it's possible that this is a Höfner-made instrument. Unless you know differently...

Unfortunately the eBay auction for this guitar has already ended, although it did not sell despite a starting price of £175 (which I'd say was cheap for a vintage lap steel, and a possible Höfner-made one to boot). If you are interested, keep checking those auctions as maybe it will be re-listed at some point.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Selmer archtop guitar with the weirdest-looking pickup

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here we see a vintage Selmer archtop guitar with a very strange-looking pickup unit attached. At first I thought it might be an aftermarket pickup for electrifying acoustic guitars, but the unit and the guitar itself both bear the Selmer name and as the pickup seems to be firmly bolted into place perhaps the guitar actually came like this new.

It's certainly the ugliest looking thing I've seen clamped to the front of a guitar since Godley & Creme's Gizmo sustaining device (and never mind that came later).

Selmer were a musical instrument manufacturer established in the early 1900s and based in Paris, although by 1928 they had aquired a semi-independent UK branch. From the 1950s and through to the 1970s they imported German-made Höfner guitars. Some of Selmer UK's own-brand guitars were actually produced by Höfner especially for the UK market, and that is most likely what we are seeing in the example pictured here.

Thanks to David Brown for bringing this guitar to my attention.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!