Salvatore Bilardi (1950s) SB Tuners || Gypsy Jazz, Manouche, Django, Gipsy Guitar

These high-end, handmade, precision-made closed SB tuners were fitted to a range of vintage guitar brands from the early 1950s through the early 1980s, including Castelluccia, Di Mauro, Favino, Gerome, Jacobacci, and others.

Originally a carburettor engineer, Salvatore Bilardi (SB) began producing Selmer / Busato replica tuners, in the early 1950s at Favino’s request. Working from his workshop at 36, rue des Ramenas in Montreuil-sous-Bois, he developed distinctive plates, shafts, and buttons, and stamped the caps with his initials, “S.B.”.

Across more than thirty years of production, Bilardi produced numerous variations in materials, plating, button styles, string posts, and tuning shafts. He retired in the early 1980s. As a result, original SB sets have become exceedingly rare, and prices have continued to rise as the few remaining examples change hands.

This set was originally made for a closed headstock, however it has been adapted to be used for an open headstock. It is in excellent condition and functions very well.