BUYING A 12-STRING
CSN&Y; TRANSCRIPTIONS
BUILDING A SELMER COPY
I'm shopping for a 12-string. What qualities should I look for? Will all 12-strings be much harder to play than my six-string?
Declan O'Rourke
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Look for precisely the same things on a 12-string as you'd want on a six-string: balance, comfort, and intonation. Alas, however, these characteristics are all much harder to find in 12-strings. To a great extent, production 12-string guitars are overbuilt because of a general misconception that the doubled number of strings is putting them under a double amount of stress. The makers try to resolve this perceived problem by beefing up the structure of the instrument, resorting to double truss rods, massive necks, enormous bridges and bridge patches, and oversized (sometimes doubled-up) soundboard braces. The result is a massive, thin-sounding, hard-to-play instrument.
An excellent 12-string should not be any harder to play than a good six-string. A skilled 12-string maker battles the moderately increased tension with a thoughtful selection of materials and an efficient design. Cheap imports are infernal machines. You may even be disappointed with the sound and action of many mid-priced models. You are more likely to find what you are looking for at the top of the line among guitars by companies such as Martin, Santa Cruz, and Guild. But keep in mind that you must evaluate each instrument on its own merits and not by its label. I've seen more than a few fabulously expensive 12-string duds!
--William R. Cumpiano
I was wondering if you might be able to help me in my search for a music and tab book published in the early '70s. It contained music from David Crosby's solo album, If I Could Only Remember My Name, and stuff from the first two Crosby, Stills, and Nash and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young albums. I believe the author was the group's photographer, Joel Bernstein.
Dave Londergan
Granger, Indiana
The book for the David Crosby album If I Could Only Remember My Name is out of print, but Warner Brothers publishes two books of tablature of early Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young albums: Classic Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young: Selections from "Déjà Vu" and "Crosby, Stills, and Nash" and The Guitar Collection: Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Cherry Lane publishes the songbook of David Crosby's solo album Oh Yes I Can.
--Michael Simmons
I would very much like to build a copy of a 14-fret Selmer guitar and wonder if detailed plans (with dimensions, bracing, tuning machines, etc.) are available.
Peter Smith
Chipping Sodbury, England
The Selmer guitar design sprang from the mind of Mario Maccaferri and was significantly modified by unnamed luthiers working in the Selmer shop after Maccaferri parted ways with the company in 1933. From the '30s to the present day, a host of other makers have made guitars based on the various Selmers. The first-generation Franco-Italians, notably DiMauro, Favino, and Busatto, certainly stand out, and none of them replicated Selmers. Of the contemporary fine makers--LeVoi, J-P Favino (the son), Kyle, and others--only Maurice Dupont makes precise Selmer copies, which he learned to do from having restored so many of the old ones. And even his copies incorporate some innovations.
There were variations in the old Selmers, there were variations in the early "copies," and there are variations in the new ones--some fairly wild and some strikingly successful--so exact plans may not be the most useful course. The only plans I've heard rumored to exist are for a D-hole, which is not what you want anyway.
Instead, I recommend that you locate a really good specimen or two and study them carefully. Take photos and measurements, then make drawings and plans. Don't slavishly imitate details. Selmers have very large necks, and that may not be what you want. Forget about finding Selmer tuning machines--there aren't enough to complete the old guitars, and there are new machines that work great. Worry more about tailpieces, which are really tough to duplicate.
The D-hole models, by the way, had a 648-millimeter (25 1/2-inch) scale, while the later oval-holes had a 670-millimeter (26 3/8-inch) scale. At 18 inches long by 16 inches wide, Selmer bodies are relatively short compared to the body of the average American guitar (20 by 16). Favinos were generally larger than Selmers. In general, these guitars were all ladder-braced like Neapolitan mandolins. Understanding basic principles, however, is more important than memorizing small details.
Contact the Guild of American Luthiers, 8222 S. Park Ave., Tacoma, WA 98408. A long interview with Maurice Dupont that included construction information was published several years back in the GAL's quarterly, American Lutherie. Dupont also delivered a lecture specifically dealing with building Selmers at the August 1995 GAL convention; a transcription of that lecture should appear soon in that same quarterly.
--Paul Hostetter