truerecs
Explore truerecs
Log inFor artists
Independent research by truerecs. Not affiliated with, endorsed or verified by Django Reinhardt.Are you Django Reinhardt? Claim this page
d
Independent research by truerecs. Not affiliated with, endorsed or verified by Django Reinhardt. Every item links to its public source.
9 items · Last checked

What guitar does Django Reinhardt play?

Django Reinhardt was seen playing Selmer-Maccaferri guitars from 1935, and from 1940 his Selmer No. 503, later fitted with a Stimer pickup. He bought a Gibson ES-300 on his 1946 US trip with Duke Ellington but set it aside, saying all the Americans wished they could play his Selmer.

Shop the gear
AllTop 5GuitarsEarly guitars
Top 5

Where to start with Django Reinhardt's gear.

01
02
03
04
05

What guitars Django Reinhardt uses: a sourced gear guide

Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.

Guitars

7 items

Early guitars

2 items
Questions

About Django Reinhardt's gear.

What guitar did Django Reinhardt play?

Selmer-Maccaferri guitars, first a gut-string model in 1935 and then the louder steel-string grande bouche models. His last guitar, Selmer No. 503, he used from 1940 until his death in 1953; it is now in the Musee de la Musique in Paris.

Did Django Reinhardt play electric guitar?

Yes. He bought a Gibson ES-300 in the US in 1946 but soon set it aside, and his Selmer No. 503 still shows screw holes where a Stimer pickup was attached.

What guitars did Django Reinhardt play before his Selmer?

Vintage Guitar reports a steel-string Julian Gomez Ramirez, following his mentor Poulette Castro, a large-bodied steel-string by Arthur Carbonell of Marseille, and later Selmer-style guitars by Busato and Di Mauro.

DR
Django Reinhardt
About this guide · Last checked

Django Reinhardt (1910 to 1953) was the Romani jazz guitarist who co-led the Quintette du Hot Club de France and invented gypsy jazz. This legacy guide covers the Selmer-Maccaferri guitars he played, his Selmer No. 503, and the other guitars he tried, from Vintage Guitar and Selmer's own history of his instrument.

truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Django Reinhardt didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.

Report an error or ask for removal. We fix or remove within 72 hours. You don't need to sign up.

Are you Django Reinhardt?

Claim this page to make it yours: verify with your Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, keep what's right, drop what isn't, and add your own.

Claim this page
truerecs gear guides are independent research from public sources, not made or approved by the artist. Store buttons on this page may be affiliate links: truerecs may earn a commission when you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. Django Reinhardt isn't paid for them. Report an error or ask for removal. Full disclosure.