Django's Epiphone

DJANGO's EPIPHONE GUITAR - by Fred Sharp

Babik Reinhardt presented him with the instrument, claimed that Django had played on his concert tour with Duke Ellington in 1946

In 1967, my wife Iris, Babik and I had dinner at Restaurant Lucas on Rue Des Petites Ecuries, which is now a jazz club called The New Morning. After dinner and hours of struggling through my poor French and his not speaking English at all, Babik asked, "Il est possible pour tu a apporter un cadeau, pour instance, un guitar a l'etas unis?" So he proceeded to open the boot of his car and give me Django's Epiphone.

By the way, when we got to his car, there was a parking violation ticket on it, which I took off and gave to him. He said it was an old one and he put it there himself, so as not to get another where he was parked.

We went back to London and I had friends of mine who ran an electronic representative firm pack the guitar like a piece of equipment for shipment to the United States and left it with them to be shipped. When we returned to our home in Cleveland, Ohio there was no guitar. I waited three months and finally got around to checking the small U.S. Customs office at the Cleveland Airport. They said they had it for three months with no consignee address on it??

I proved it was mine and I asked about duty. They asked where in Europe it was made. I said it was an Epiphone and was manufactured in New York, to which they said, if it's American, there is no duty!! Anyhow, that's the long and short of it. When I had a good look at the guitar I noticed that the fingerboard was rosewood and very grooved and pitted from Django's apparently very heavy finger pressure. If you look at other photos of Django's guitars, you'll notice the heavy wear on the fingerboard.

Also the frets were badly worn. Django's fix for worn grooved frets was to simply move the tailpiece over 1/16th of an inch, so the strings landed on an unused portion of the frets!! Right away, that sounds like a Gypsy FIX! The pick-guard was attached at the top next to the end of the fingerboard, but the other end had evidently lost it's support bracket. Django or someone had sawed a one inch thick piece of broomstick, to make a large round wooden washer, and screwed it to top of the guitar and the large end of the pick-guard to it! The neck was terribly warped, too much to even adjust with the truss rod. I didn't want to hang it on the wall, I wanted to play it, so I took the whole instrument apart, re-set the neck, planed the rosewood fingerboard, fitted new frets and two new mother of pearl square fingerboard inlays, did a cutaway on it, rebound the fingerboard , headpiece and body, fitted a second matching pickup with controls, sanded, fine sanded and re-lacquered the whole instrument. Following that, it was playable for the next few months, until the neck warped again and I put it to rest in its' case.

This sounds like a supreme act of vandalism to remove the traces of Django's apparent disregard for the Epiphone instrument and yet it was given so freely by Babik. Others claim the Django's tour manager bought him a Gibson without a cut out for that tour.

The Epiphone brand was named after Epimanondas Stathopoulo, president of the company and one of the sons of the company founder, Anastasios Stathopoulo. Anastasios was a Greek immigrant and violin maker who came to America in the late 1800's

DJANGO AND THE AMPLIFIED GUITAR

Due to the efforts of Duke Ellington in October 1946, Django made his first and only appearance in the USA, (Oct. 1946-Jan. 1947). Ellington, who first met Reinhardt in 1939, was anxious to have Django return to the States with him then, but the outbreak of war prevented this. It wasn't until seven years later that the fabulous gypsy arrived in NYC. and performed a series of concerts as a guest soloist with the Ellington Orchestra.
Django with what appears to be the Gibson L5

Not having brought his trusty Selmer guitar from Europe, Django was forced to use an American Gibson L5 amplified guitar. Recordings made during a concert in Chicago reveal Django to be quite at home with the instrument, even utilising the sustaining power which the amplified guitar possesses.

For recordings and appearances from 1947 through 1950, Django performed intermittently on the amplified guitar, opting at times to use his acoustic instrument. It wasn't until 1951 that he exclusively played his amplified instrument (the Selmer with a pickup), using this voice to express his "new" ideas and repertoire in the 1950s world of modern-jazz

Grappelli
Django first heard an electric guitar in '46 or '47; I think it was at the Hackney Empire. Somebody brought in the guitar and it made a terrible noise - in those days electric guitars didn't sound as good as they do now. But Django was so impressed because at last he could play loudly. He played with such volume that I had to ask him to turn it down as it was drowning all of us. He was like a child with a new toy. Of course, to be fair, he didn't know how to handle it. We'd heard Charlie Christian, and although he would never play like Django, if you know what I mean - the electric guitar being easier than acoustic - Charlie Christian was a master of the electric guitar, Django was born to play acoustic guitar and the richness of Django was in his chords and he could never achieve the same dynamic effect that he could from his acoustic guitar. He never succeeded to play electric and in my opinion he never was a good electric guitarist.

The William Markham Version

The Epiphone Company, prior to their acquisition by the Chicago Musical Company in the mid 1950's crafted thousands of quality guitars. Their acoustic Emperor Deluxe Broadway and Triumph Masterbilt models, along with comparable Gibson guitars, are considered to be the best factory made archtop instruments ever made. However one of the most fascinating guitars ever built by Epiphone was not one of the Masterbilt Acoustics but a natural 1946 Zephyr (electric) owned and played by the great Gypsy Jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt.

As a player Django represents one of the all time peaks of Jazz guitar supremacy. He was a talent that bordered on and sometimes achieved a state of pure genius. He did more than any other guitarist to create acceptance of solo virtuoso guitar and destroy the concept of the instrument as a device purely for rhythm. Players as diverse as Chet Atkins, Irving Ashby, Joe Pass, BB King, John McLaughlin, Larry Coryell, Les Paul, Charlie Christian, and Wes Montgomery were influenced by him. Throughout his career Django almost exclusively used several of the French Selmer-Maccaferri guitars, easily recognized by their distinctive shape and sound. After World War II he sometimes used various American-made electric instruments which had been presented to him by makers.

It was on Django's only visit to the United States in 1946 that he acquired an Epiphone Zephyr #3442.

Duke Ellington was a fan of Django's. They had met in Paris prior to World War II. In early 1946, "The Duke" invited him to visit the United States and tour with his band as a featured performer. Django accepted his offer and arrived in New York City in the month of October. Django did not bring his Selmer-Maccaferri guitar with him from France because he thought American guitar makers would vie with each other for the honor of presenting a guitar to him. He was mistaken about this and as a result had no instrument to play on the tour.

Fortunately Django had an old friend in the city on whom he could depend to help him, Joe Sinacore was a New York studio guitarist who served in the army band during World War II and later was to record with Illinois Jacquet . While stationed in Paris he met Django. The Gypsy could not speak English well but spoke Italian in addition to French. As Joe knew Italian as well as English he became Django's unofficial interpreter and friend while he was in Paris. Django contacted Joe and told him he did not have a guitar for the Ellington concerts. Joe took him to the Epiphone factory located on West 14th Street in New York City. It was there that Django selected the natural Epiphone Zephyr #3442.

It is also possible that he acquired a large Electar amplifier at that time. According to Joe Sinacore the Epiphone Company gave the guitar to Django which is contrary to Charles Delaunay's biography of Reinhardt.

After acquiring the Epiphone Django travelled with Duke Ellington by train to Cleveland, the first stop on the tour. (November 1946). The concert was reviewed by the Cleveland "Plain Dealer." Of Reinhardt, they said; "In the hands of this virtuoso the electric guitar acquires richer, magical qualities. His dexterity was remarkable, in intricate chords that were executed with such technical brilliance that the band musicians kept shouting "go to it Master."

"The Cleveland Press" also reviewed the show, "Duke Ellington came to Cleveland yesterday...He introduced in this country for the first time the hottest guitar player in the world."

After Cleveland the band played to enthusiastic crowds in Chicago, St Louis, Detroit, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and closed with two nights (November 23rd and 24th) in New York City at Carnegie Hall.

After the tour Django worked at "Cafe Society" before returning to France taking the Epiphone with him.

Reinhardt never returned to the United States. He spent the remainder of his life successfully touring the continent usually with small groups similar to the legendary "Quintet of the Hot Club of France" that he formed with violinist Stephane Grappelly in 1934. During this period the rare film footage of Django playing the natural Epiphone Zephyr through a large Electar Amplifier was made.

Django's last important appearance was with Dizzy Gillespie in the Spring of 1953. The following May he died at the Hospital in Fountainbleu near his home at Samois from a stroke. He was forty three years old.

In 1967 Fred Sharp, a noted guitarist and owner of the largest collection of Django Reinhardt recordings in the United States, was invited by Charles Delaunay, Django's biographer, to come to Paris. Delaunay wanted to record Fred and Babik Reinhardt, Django's son an accomplished guitarist in his own right. During their work together Babik learned of Sharp's life long interest in his Fathers music. When Fred Sharp left France, Babik presented him with a bon voyage gift...Django's Epiphone.

As noted in the "Plain Dealer," Sunday, November 5, 1967, one of the treasures brought back from Europe by Freddie Sharp, the Cleveland heights band leader, is a six string guitar formerly owned by Django Reinhardt, the late, great, French guitarist. "I was overwhelmed when Babik Reinhardt, son of Django gave it to me as a bon voyage gift", Freddie said as he displayed the cherished present.

"This is the instrument his father played in Duke Ellington's Orchestra on his American concert tour in 1946. Django also played it at New York's old Cafe Society Uptown Club where I heard and met him." Sharp, a guitar virtuoso himself, and his singing wife Iris, flew to France to tape a new record a new record with Babik's studio Jazz band for Disques Vogue records in Paris.

It was an extremely happy merger of talents, "as well as a memorable experience", the Clevelander reported. The recording date was arranged after a long exchange of letters and tapings with Babik and Charles Delaunay, production director of Disques Vogue releases."Several mutual friends also recommended me to Delaunay for this project," Freddie said. "He was impressed too, by the fact that I own 885 sides of Django's tapes and famous recordings. It is one of the largest collections in the United States."

In Paris, Sharp met several noted musician who had been friends of Jean Baptiste ("Django") Reinhardt, the Belgian born gypsy jazz muscian who influenced guitarists throughout the world for over 30 years. "His son is one of the finest jazz guitarists on the contemporary scene," Sharp commented. "Babik and his combo sounded so great at Le Club du Jazz in Paris that I am hoping to arrange a tour of the States for them."

Freddie, who once toured in Red Norvo's and Jack Teagarden's orchestras, was asked if he plans to play Django's guitar in future shows.

"Oh no! Definitely not!" he replied. "I treasure this museum piece so much for sentimental reasons that I would not sell it for less than 50 million dollars

Epiphone Zephyr Electar Orchestral Amplifier

Epiphone factory located on West 14th Street in New York City. It was there that Django selected the natural Epiphone Zephyr #3442.

This is a late 40s Epiphone (New York) Electar Zephyr Guitar Amplifier, Serial # 8305. This beautiful, blonde maple veneer, art deco style amp sounds very good. With twin 6L5GC power tubes and it's original 12" Rola speaker, the Electar produces a smooth, clean and warm tone. Cabinet dimensions are 23" in height by 16" in width, with the depth tapering distinctively from 9 1/2" at the bottom to 8" at the top. This amp was introduced 1939; discontinued 1954.

It's an original Epiphone Electar Zephyr amp from the late 40's. Epiphone began amp production on a cottage industry basis in the mid 1930's, with units hand built by a high schooler named Nat Daniel, who later went to fame as the namesake of the legendary Danelectro line. After the war, Epi expanded their amp line with a series that culminated with this model, the Zephyr.

Perhaps responding to bandleader's anxieties over the ungainly and often unreliable early amplifiers for the emerging electric guitars, Epi designed a streamlined, art deco amp cabinet whose lines precisely mirrored those of the classic bandstands of the Big Band era. With controls discreetly hidden in the sloping top, and the Epiphone logo emblazoned over the tweed grille cloth, the blonde maple cabinet with the walnut stripe would blend seamlessly into the most elegant of front lines. Even the nickel-plated handle fits the concept, echoing the look of an old fashioned stand light.

Regarding the Epiphone, I don't know the full extent of Django's use during the tour and as you know there are photos of him with a Gibson. The man was not taken with American archtops and yearned for his beloved Selmer Maccaferri , which I believe Charles Delauney brought to him in the states later on. (Django expected to be presented with a guitar on arriving in the USA, which did not happen; the start of a somewhat 'broken' American dream.)

The whole feel of an archtop to a player of a Selmer Maccaferri is hugely different tonally and in terms of action, and approach etc. It has been said that, had he remained in the States however, Django would have influenced not only the development of American jazz guitar playing but American jazz itself! - Paul Vernon Chester

Django was devoted to his acoustic Selmer guitar but was having trouble cutting through the sound of the larger bands he was playing in, he affixed a magnetic French-made Stimer pickup to the petite bouche soundhole. The sound created a new dimension in his playing, which is infused with the Bebop phrasing he had heard in America.

The Stimer Pick Up - Stimer, a French manufacturer, developed the ST.48 single-coil magnetic acoustic guitar pick up in 1948. Also, to go with this, Stimer made a 6 watt valve amplifier, The M.6. Django used this equipment from c1948. Stimer made pick ups until about c1980

Today, guitarists who play vintage Selmer's or their modern-day equivalents again only have one choice in magnetic pickups. The Stimer ST48 ($275 retail/street price N/A). Made by France’s Maurice Dupont, who is also one of the most respected makers of modern Selmer-style guitars, the S.T.48 is a beautiful unit that features a built-in Volume control and a one-piece metal cover (which is nickel plated and sports “Stimer Paris” engraved into its top). The unit features a r" output jack, and it comes with a quality rubber-shrouded cord with r" and 1" plugs.
Stimer also makes a version of this pickup designed to fit the larger “D” soundhole of the “grand bouche” Selmer (and their modern equivalents), as well as the Modele S.T. 51, which is basically the same as the S.T 48, but with a separate Volume control that can be adhered anywhere you want.

Angelo Debarre.....................
"the arch top guitar? " The arch top guitar is very nice. I would like very much to play one more often, but for that it is necessary to put together three elements: an arch top guitar, an amplifier and electricity! (Angelo lives with his family in a caravan).
My inclination is to play an acoustic guitar. Currently, I play on an Anastasio made in 1990, which sounds very good.
At the Hotel du Nord, I use a Stimer pickup. I cannot afford an electro-acoustic system of quality.
I would like to find a "sugar daddy" luthier sponsor who would trust me! I know that in France one finds excellent guitars

Django was able to create a method of jazz in four different styles. He began playing traditional jazz during Louis Armstrong's era; became inspired by Benny Goodman and the whole swing movement, when he created his quintet with a clarinet and played swing; and then translated the bebop of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie into guitar; and finally, in his later years, after hearing Miles Davis's cool, minimalist jazz, in his final recordings you can hear Django moving in that direction, where he played fewer notes but with more eloquence. I don't think there are many jazz musicians, or many musicians in general, who transcend so many different genres of a style of music.

Mail jazzmaster@jazzeddie.f2s.com with questions or comments about the format of this web site. Last modified: 25/04/2008

Mail jazzmaster@jazzeddie.f2s.com with questions or comments about the format of this web site.
Last modified: 25/04/2008