Guitar and Pear-Shaped

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Ken McKay

NOOO NOT BASS GUITARS Those are the silly things we first saw on MTV Unplugged, a big acoustic guitar that is supposed sound good unamplified.

Kidding... Look, in a few days or so I should have this newly acquired Italian Guitar shaped Bass. I will post some pics for all to see probably in 'This Old Bass' section. The title of the thread will be the name of the maker the Bass has been attributed to. I will post a message here as well but with a link to the new thread.

I just thought that a Bass with a Guitar shape could at least be humorously called a Bass Guitar. It needs a lot of work but the fretboard looks good from what I recall.. LOL.. Fingerboard!!!.. kidding..lol

[stan haskins]

Does it have a fancy headstock?

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by stan haskins

Does it have a fancy headstock?

Yea, you can say is does. Wait till I post the pics. It's coming home tomorrow.

Edit: Tomorrow came!

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

Yea, you can say is does. Wait till I post the pics. It's coming home tomorrow.

I just posted this on the d'Salo Thread. I will make a page for my website in the next day or so and then post the link or pics. It needs a huge restoration but it is playable now. If I don't play it as much as I can now, it could easily be a year before the Bass is fully restored not to mention settled back into its old sound again.

I have posted a new thread for this Bass under the Italian School titled Cornerless Italian Bass as this is a perfect example of how the Italians stood alone on making some of the greatest Basses ever.

[David Powell]

A very sweet aquisition indeed!! Now that you've got a bonafide one of these, I can't wait to get all the details on it. Thanks for posting the measurements. I'm so used to the gamba form it is hard for me to think of these as double basses. This is one with the sloping shoulders. One has to wonder why one shape dominated and the other is so much rarer.

Oh, by the way, I post sometimes somewhere's else as:

SILVERSORCERER


(gotta love that smilie!!!)

[Ken McKay]

Here is the start of a new cornerless bass that I am building.
www.upnorthstrings.com/cornerlessbass.html

[Bob Branstetter]

Originally Posted by Ken McKay

Here is the start of a new cornerless bass that I am building.
www.upnorthstrings.com/cornerlessbass.html

I had never thought about making a cornerless bass, but after seeing yours...

You mentioned that you acquired the wood from Fred Lyman about 10 years ago. What was the length of the ribs? I wonder if any of the usual suspects (wood suppliers) would be willing or are able to cut rib wood in the length required for cornerless bass?

I took the opportunity to look at the rest of your website. I love that bass photo with the Chicken!