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Contact: pluckandsqueeze@hotmail.com

This web site is a project to collect and pass on information about the construction of Selmer Maccaferri guitars.. 

 As a big fan of Django Reinhardt's music it started as an attempt to research and make a similar instrument to his Maccaferri guitar and use it to play rhythm with our ceilidh band, The Pluck & Squeeze Band, which plays Welsh folk dance music. 

The guitars were not readily available in music shops when the project started. 
There was a lot of information on the web about Django and Maccaferri but very little on the construction details.

That situation has now changed with high quality reproduction guitars, books, DVDs and construction plans for Selmer guitars by Michael Collins , R & F.Charle and Roy Courtnall.

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

An 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 final choice as it seemed more suitable for rhythm playing.

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

Plans were bought from Roy Courtnall and later from R.& F.Charle.

The wood came from Touchstone Tonewoods and Dave Dyke.

The reproduction tailpiece was made by Killy Nonis - killynonis@hotmail.co.uk

A construction point in the plans that is still not resolved - the domed top, the soundboard arch, the pliage!
It's  been great to swap ideas, especially Bill Raymond from San Diego and George Parry from North Wales. 
It's an ongoing search for the truth of the "Holy Pliage" - due to there being so much conflicting information on how the arched soundboards for these guitars were originally constructed.

< So it was time to turn this

Into this >

Sides 1 - 2

Back

Front 1 - 2

Soundboard Arch - Pliage

Binding

Body

Neck 1 - 2

Neck / Body

Finishing