RARE 1950's MACCAFERRI G40 PLASTIC GUITAR EXCELLENT w/ HANG TAG & ROPE STRAP!!

Brand: Maccaferri
;Dexterity: Right-Handed
;Model: G40
;String Configuration: 6 String
;Body Type: Hollow

RARE 1950's MACCAFERRI G40 PLASTIC GUITAR EXCELLENT w/ HANG TAG & ROPE STRAP!!

This is a rare, 1950's 'MACCAFERRI' plastic acoustic guitar. Excellent condition and sounds surprisingly good for a 'plastic' guitar. There are some cracks in the headstock; headstock overlay was reglued as it had separated. The guitar is ALL ORIGINAL with the exception of 2 tuner machine screws that have been replaced. Tuners work perfectly with no binding or other issues. There is some light scratching and a small chip in the body where the neck is bolted on. Keep in mind that this is a plastic body, so it can be wet sanded and buffed to remove any light marks, but the body on this example is very nice and very glossy with no serious issues. The original frets are in great shape and plays very nice. Includes the original issue 'rope' strap and the original hangtag! Also includes a new gig bag.

Condition/ Used

Year/ 1950s

Body material/ Plastic

Fingerboard/ Plastic

Nut width/ 47mm

Scale/ 620mm

Neck condition / straight

Gig Bag

The following is a description of this model guitar (NOT the one up for sale!)

1950's SELMER - MACCAFERRI G40 model come with hard case code AC-795 The G40 is a small-sized archtop cutaway made from Dow Styron. The fan bracing of the top differed from most wood archtops of the period, which either had X-bracing or parallel bars. While his Islander Ukuleles were made to appeal to professionals, amateurs, and children alike, Maccaferri’s Styron guitars were intended to be serious musical instruments and a legitimate alternative to the wood guitar, which is sensitive to changes humidity, unlike the plastic instrument. Maccaferri struggled for many years against the perception that his guitars were merely “toys” due to the material from which they were made.Top of the range ' Plastic' guitar made by Maccaferri in the 1950's. Totally unique design and concept from the gypsy style Django Rheinhardt models they were known for. A hell of a lot of research and tooling cash went into this idea and whilst very different in concept, it sadly didn't take off. This is definately not a toy ! The plastic guitar Like the plastic clothespin before it, however, the plastic ukulele was merely a stepping stone to Maccaferri’s higher ambition of making a plastic guitar. Let’s face it, ukes hardly represent a great sonic challenge, but making a guitar out of Dow Styron? That’s something else altogether!The Maccaferri plastic guitar debuted in the Spring of 1953. The introduction was extensively covered by The Music Trades in May of ’53, which reported a press luncheon thrown by Dow Chemical for Mario Maccaferri at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York on April 29, 1953.Described in glowing terms — lunch must have been great — Maccaferri introduced two guitars and emphasized the resources and cost of developing his new guitars. Indeed, Amos Ruddock of Dow’s plastic merchandising department indicated that the project took two years of testing various formulations of Styron and another Dow plastic called Ethocel and that tooling up cost around $350,000.The Music Trades quoted Maccaferri’s speech at length. While referring to a painting of legendary violinmaker Antonio Stradivarius working at his bench with a few simple tools, Maccaferri remarked, “A like painting symbolizing such craftsmanship today would have to suggest the following elements: 1. Some idea of the enormous industrial resources and scientific know-how of America today; 2. Not one genius, but a dozen of them; 3. The pile of money necessary to accomplish the task.”After citing famous musicians and composers, particularly Paganini, who played the guitar for their own personal enjoyment and wrote music for it, Maccaferri continued, “I have always promised myself that one day I would make a good guitar at a popular price. I had no idea that I would end up by making a plastic guitar. But when I realized that plastic would offer me the chance to make a perfect instrument with none of the shortcomings known in the wooden guitar, it did not take long to decide and satisfy my life’s ambition. So, I went to work.“Often in my lifetime of playing guitar, I have had disappointments in its performance. On many occasions I would find the instrument’s neck warped or the fretting defective, or the body of the instrument expanded or contracted, caused by humidity or dryness; thus making my guitar simply unplayable. Anyone playing the guitar knows what I mean.“Although today’s fine wooden guitars are the result of 300 years of guitar making experience, I do not hesitate to say that our 1953 all-plastic guitar compares favorably with any wooden guitar made.“This all-plastic guitar wasn’t an easy job, as you will understand. We had a lot of engineering problems and it represents quite a costly venture for us, but the Dow Chemical Company came up with suitable materials and we overcame the other problems. To this instrument we have applied all the improvements that guitar players have been seeking in it for many years. It has beauty and it is easier to play — it produces music in perfect pitch, and it has good tone and plenty of it. And this all-plastic guitar is not subject to any of the shortcomings mentioned earlier.”

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