Maccaferri Guitar Project

(Peter Davies)

Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelli quintette

This website is an ongoing project to collect and pass on information about the construction of Selmer Maccaferri guitars.

As a big fan of Django Renhardt's music it started as an attempt to research and make a similar guitar and use it for playing rhythm with our barn dance / ceilidh band, - The Pluck & Squeeze Band, which plays music for dancing - Welsh folk dance music, jigs and reels, at ceilidh, twmpath, barn dances.

These guitars were not widely available when the project started. 
There was a lot of information on the web about Django and Maccaferri but very little on the construction details of the guitars.
Over time the situation has changed with high quality reproduction guitars, books, DVDs and plans for Selmer guitars by Michael Collins , R & F.Charle and Roy Courtnall.

The aim of this site is to share what I've been able to learn so far and to continue developing as things progress.

Selmer Maccaferris D-hole and oval hole guitarsAn early decision was to choose which of the two models to build - the D-hole or small oval sound-hole version.
The D-hole model with the 12 fret neck was the first choice, as it seemed more suitable for rhythm playing.

The Musical Instrument Makers Forum has proved to be invaluable for construction advice.

Plans were available from Roy Courtnall and  R.& F.Charle (now Galarie Casanova)

Wood from Touchstone Tonewoods and Dave Dyke Luthier Supplies.

Reproduction tailpieces made by Killy Nonis - killynonis@hotmail.co.uk

For me, this is an absorbing personal interest, without any commercial objective, although, as the guitars accumulate I do need to keep the numbers down.

 

Progress so far:

Mac 1
Click for photos.

 

Mac 2
.
Construction photos.

 

Mac 3
Click for pictures of Maccaferri 3 Project.

 

Mac 4
A Selmer guitar from a reclaimed school science lab worktop.

Mac 5
A second guitar from the same science lab worktop.

 

 

Mac 6

 

A construction point in the plans is the domed soundboard arch, also called the "pliage" (French for pleat or fold).
This was a challenge and this is how it's progressed so far - Soundboard.

 

 

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Contact: pluckandsqueeze@hotmail.com