SELMER LITTLE GIANT

Pics, info, thoughts on old and/or hairy gear.

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Graham
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SELMER LITTLE GIANT

Post by Graham »

Heres some nice pics of my blood and custard little Giant - these came in four flavours - I have had them all but this - the best sounding of them all - is the only one I have left - I'll try to dig out some pics of my old ones - had a few in Croc (in fact had lots of Selmer Crocodiles once upon a time) sadly rationalised!

Measuring 15 x 10 x 5 inches.... they are proper little screamers! Feedback on demand...

Check out Steve Russels excellent vintage hofner site for the full rundown - go to the Selmer section and you will get the history of the Marque - their old shop in Charing Cross Road was where it all kicked off in the swinging sixties - anyone who was anyone hung out there from an early age and in many ways it could be considered the cradle of life for all things fuzziness - I remember as a lad going up to town from South London where I lived and just pressing my nose against their window (amongst others) full of Hofners and Burns and even the odd Fender or Gibson - hugely expensive rarities in the austerity of early sixties London which was still pock marked with bomb sites even then! It was the people who hung out in the shops that were as interesting as the instruments themselves - Man - I wish I could go back for one afternoon with a well stuffed wallet (or even without) just to see it all again - bell bottoms and sleeveless afghans - I had my crushed velvet purple trousers and fringed suede jacket - sometimes even my dads old army dress uniforrm and Sam Browne belt - god those were the days how I wish my memory worked better!!

This can be considered part of my persistent attempt to evangelise on behalf of some of these smaller old British amplifiers - I fully appreciate I am preaching to the converted with many but think that a lot of you folks havent had much to do with this stuff and you are missing out big time - These small Selmers for example came in Blue and Grey, faux Crocodile, Red and cream (blood and custard) and plain Grey (probably others too) They had the same single el84 powered circuit and tended to have either six or eight inch circular Elacs or the lovely small elliptical Elac speakers (4 ohms) You will hopefully take my word for it but these amps can sound absolutely stunning - a great deal louder than you might ever imagine - if you have a quiet one then get it looked over - the small speakers take a huge ammount of stick but do crap out in the end - specially if youre into fuzziness! Often - if not always they are found with an external speaker jack on the back (frequently mistaken for an extra input!) Running one of these tiddlers through a 4x12 (or more) can be quite an eye opener - running them directly (with extreme care) into something bigger amp wise (i.e using them as a pre-amp) is cataclysmic!!! Believe me - forget about Power Boosts or Overdrivers - if you got the stones to run one of these into your input on a 100w plexi - have some ear bandages on hand! (and some cash for the repairs if you overdo things!!) .

These small fry often can be picked up for the price of a pedal - a really nice minty one with a cover might run you £300 if there are a few people chasing it but I have seen plenty make around the ton (£100) - a lot of bloody amp for that!! -

Like all things there are dogs and old dogs - you need to make sure these old amps are set up right - often their catalytics are dried out although I have to say the tubes often seem to go on for ever generally Mullards - I suppose it just shows their quality! But having had a lot of these I know that almost all of them can be made to sound superb with little effort or cost..

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And Donovan - sorry to have still grabbed these off photobucket - I'll start to take uour advice re posting direectly from my pc but I already had them on there - maybe I can get them resiized to load faster - we'll see - I think its nice to get a bloody good lot of detailed pics up on a bit of kit though - its what sets this place apart!!
G :mrgreen:
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blunder
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Re: SELMER LITTLE GIANT

Post by blunder »

Very nice! Classy looking little amps. Bet it screams though.
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psycho*daisies
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Re: SELMER LITTLE GIANT

Post by psycho*daisies »

gorgeous!

another stellar exposé, Graham...

:shock:
If you struggle baby,
It only tightens up...
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Mr. Maestro
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Location: Champaign, IL

Re: SELMER LITTLE GIANT

Post by Mr. Maestro »

Jesus, Graham!! You're killing me... :shocked:

I have always been super interested in these little British amps, but they aren't very common around these parts! Between all of the your recent posts and P*Ds recent score of that Elpico, I'm feeling a serious bout of GAS coming on. Let the quest begin...
:cheers:
mezcalhead
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Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 2:17 pm

Re: SELMER LITTLE GIANT

Post by mezcalhead »

Consider me converted .. so much of the hip old guitar gear comes from the States that it's nice to see some local stuff .. some damn cool local stuff!
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Graham
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Re: SELMER LITTLE GIANT

Post by Graham »

A heads up - a friend of mine Dougie is selling one of these same red & cram Little Giants on ebay finishing pretty soon - I dont know the amp but its ok far as I know a touch of wear tot he side of grille cloth (some fraying on LH edge) otherwise its cool and hes a straight up guy - been down to my place and had a few amps - even managed to talk me out of my last and best AC10 I doubt hell get big money for this one its sat around 120 0r 140 right now - he sold a nice little Elpico the other day for less than £130 :shock: - anyway its not mine but its the same model as my one here and might well only make £170 or so!!!
G 8-)
mezcalhead
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Re: SELMER LITTLE GIANT

Post by mezcalhead »

I think I saw that auction, but he seems to have pulled it.
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Graham
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Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2008 4:53 am
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Re: SELMER LITTLE GIANT

Post by Graham »

mezcalhead wrote:I think I saw that auction, but he seems to have pulled it.
send him a message and drop my name in hes a really friendly chap - he may still have it but took it out from lack of interest - course he may have cut a deal - G
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1bottlerocket
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Re: SELMER LITTLE GIANT

Post by 1bottlerocket »

Wow, nice example Graham. I was on the fence for one of those back in 2001-02 time frame but sadly passed and ended up with the Fenton Weill cadet. Sadly, also sold. :(
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