Description
Modern Gypsy-jazz guitars, or guitare manouche (named in honor of Django Reinhardt and the Manouche Gypsies of Belgium and Northern France), stem from an instrument designed by classical guitarist and inventor Mario Maccaferri. From 1932 to 1934, Maccaferri built instruments for Selmer, a woodwind manufacturer based in Paris. “The original Selmer Maccaferri guitars had a 12-fret neck, a D-shaped soundhole, and an interior resonating chamber,” says Jorgenson. “Later, when Maccaferri and Selmer parted ways, Selmer switched to a 14-fret neck, removed the chamber, and changed the soundhole to an oval shape. Django played that model until his death in 1952.
