1949 Selmer Petite Bouche #788

Selmer Petite Bouche #788 from 1949, in very good preserved and playable condition.

This is a superb example of the timeless model produced by Selmer in Mantes-la-Ville, France, manufactured in the last years of the production period – at the end of the 40s, sales of guitars were struggling compared to the demand for woodwind instruments and in particular saxophones, so much so that there were in fact only two workers left in the lutherie workshop: Lucien Guérinet, the pillar of the operation who was already present alongside Mario Maccaferri in 1931, and Pierre Roulot who joined him in 1945 when production resumed after the war.

This model condenses all the elements developed and refined over the course of almost two decades preceding its construction, and which made this type of guitar dominate the jazz scene in the 30s and 40s, particularly thanks to the intervention of Django Reinhardt: we find the typical soundboard with a slight fold under the bridge in the style of Italian mandolins, a characteristic transposed from the concepts Maccaferri learned with his teacher Luigi Mozzani in Italy; the small oval rosette to which the model owes its nickname of Petite Bouche; the body and neck joined at the 14th fret; a rounder neck profile and a reduced width at the nut compared to the first generation of guitars. Spruce soundboard; rosewood veneer back and sides; ebony fingerboard; rosewood floating bridge and moustaches.

This guitar remains magnificently preserved to this day with all its original parts, including its finish, its tuners and tailpiece stamped with the Selmer brand. It passed through our workshop a few years ago, and we meticulously applied ourselves to its restoration for playing, taking care to preserve its integrity while guaranteeing its perfect stability and impeccable functioning as a musical instrument – in addition, a complete setup with a full fret levelling was carried out recently.

Sold in a modern hardshell case, accompanied by its certificate of authenticity by Jérôme Casanova.