Ken's Corner (Bass Forums Sponsored By KSB)

Go Back   Ken's Corner (Bass Forums Sponsored By KSB) > Double Basses > This Old Bass > Yankee and Vintage American Basses

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 01-19-2009, 01:12 PM
Brian Gencarelli's Avatar
Brian Gencarelli Brian Gencarelli is offline
Posting Member
 
Join Date: 01-22-2007
Location: Simpsonville, SC (near Greenville)
Posts: 121
Brian Gencarelli is on a distinguished road
Default Bass Oddity- Swanson DB.

Hey Everybody,

Been reading, but haven't had much time or anything to post about... until now.

I have in my possesion a Swanson double bass made in Pittsburg, PA in 1974. It is a bass belonging to a colleague in the Asheville Symphony. She purchased this bass on Ebay and when it arrived it was MUCH too big for her to play. She knew it was in bad shape, and was planning on restoring it. She has asked me to either sell as is or do some work to make it playable and sell. I am at a crossroads here and I want to get some opinions on this bass. I am also contacting Bruce Wallace as I am told that he is the Swanson expert.

I just wanted to share this piece of American History with you guys, especially Ken Smith and let me know what you think of this strange bass.

BTW, it sounds pretty good when I actually bring it up to tension to show it.

The measurements:

Overall length- 76"
Top table- 46"
Back table to button- 47"

Bottom bout- 27.25"
C- bout- 17.75"
Uppper bout- 23"

Bottom ribs- 9"
C bout- 9.25"
Upper ribs taper to- 7.25"

Mensure- 41.5"

See pictures at: http://s424.photobucket.com/albums/pp322/bgencare/

BG
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 01-19-2009, 02:06 PM
Ken Smith's Avatar
Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
Posts: 4,851
Ken Smith is on a distinguished road
Cool yes..

I have seen a few of these pictured and about a year or two ago a Girl had one for sale maybe on Ebay. She was possibly going to bring it by but we never hooked up.

They are big, crudely made and expensive to fix. I thought that the one she had was a long mensur like 43" or so. Very 'homemade' looking basses.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 01-20-2009, 12:35 AM
Jeff Bollbach Jeff Bollbach is offline
Junior Posting Member
 
Join Date: 01-21-2007
Location: freeport, NY
Posts: 26
Jeff Bollbach is on a distinguished road
Default

Wow, I had forgotten about this maker! I saw one at a place of previous employ and for a few weeks it was thought by the boss that it was Italian. Turned out to be plywood. Wonder if this one is. Authentic crudite.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 01-20-2009, 03:49 PM
Sam Sherry Sam Sherry is offline
Posting Member
 
Join Date: 01-22-2007
Location: Portland, Maine
Posts: 53
Sam Sherry is on a distinguished road
Default

To paraphrase Theodore Geisel's great American classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, "The three words I would use to describe this are as follows: 'Sink . . . sank . . . sunk!' "

I'd be dubious that the chase is worth the quarry.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 01-20-2009, 04:06 PM
Ken Smith's Avatar
Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
Posts: 4,851
Ken Smith is on a distinguished road
Exclamation lol..

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam Sherry View Post
To paraphrase Theodore Geisel's great American classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, "The three words I would use to describe this are as follows: 'Sink . . . sank . . . sunk!' "

I'd be dubious that the chase is worth the quarry.
This must be the first time that I can remember that I was the 'Least' Negative about a Bass related topic, lol.

Usually I'm 'THE' Party pooper. This time, I just pointed out the stink..
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 01-21-2009, 12:48 PM
Brian Gencarelli's Avatar
Brian Gencarelli Brian Gencarelli is offline
Posting Member
 
Join Date: 01-22-2007
Location: Simpsonville, SC (near Greenville)
Posts: 121
Brian Gencarelli is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Bollbach View Post
Wow, I had forgotten about this maker! I saw one at a place of previous employ and for a few weeks it was thought by the boss that it was Italian. Turned out to be plywood. Wonder if this one is. Authentic crudite.
From what I can tell, I think it is plywood (oak?) - it is so hard to tell with all the raised purfling and gunk. It is definitely NOT Italian. There is also some previous repair work that makes it more of a "crudite". Don't know if this was done by the maker or another.

I feel the same way about this bass as another classic cartoon, "Charlie Brown Christmas". It seems like the poor little tree that he picks out and tries to decorate.

I don't know whether to crack this baby open (morbid curiosity) or run away screaming. I am pretty confident in my abilities- I am no Arnold or Jeff, but I am not a complete "crudite" either. (Can you tell I like that word?) If I decide to approach this as a "Six million dollar bass" I plan on documenting the whole thing for all to see, ala Matthew Tucker.

Obviously, I don't plan on making any money on this bass... just a test of skill.

Any and all opinions are valued.

BG
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 01-21-2009, 02:00 PM
Ken Smith's Avatar
Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
Bassist, Luthier & Admin
 
Join Date: 01-18-2007
Location: Perkasie, PA
Posts: 4,851
Ken Smith is on a distinguished road
Lightbulb Oh.. Swanson..

Yes, now I remember...

Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 01-21-2009, 09:45 PM
Jeff Bollbach Jeff Bollbach is offline
Junior Posting Member
 
Join Date: 01-21-2007
Location: freeport, NY
Posts: 26
Jeff Bollbach is on a distinguished road
Default

Ha Ha, Ken! You know that's Talkbass style humor there!

I would love to know more about this Swanson dude. The one I saw at kolsteins was actually very convincing as something much older than it was. I wonder if it was just a happy coincidental byproduct of a very crude maker or was he actually up to something?
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 01-21-2009, 09:51 PM
Jeff Bollbach Jeff Bollbach is offline
Junior Posting Member
 
Join Date: 01-21-2007
Location: freeport, NY
Posts: 26
Jeff Bollbach is on a distinguished road
Default

Brian-
Without knowing what is "wrong" with the bass it is of course difficult to proffer any thoughts on whether it is worth tackling.
jeffb
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 01-23-2009, 11:29 AM
Brian Gencarelli's Avatar
Brian Gencarelli Brian Gencarelli is offline
Posting Member
 
Join Date: 01-22-2007
Location: Simpsonville, SC (near Greenville)
Posts: 121
Brian Gencarelli is on a distinguished road
Default

Jeff,

Where do I start? Well positives... the tailpiece, tuners, strings, and bridge are in pretty good shape.

If I were to take this bass and do everything I think it needs:

1) Open the top and "clean up" all the shabby repair work to the back... there are these awful "patches" to reinforce the flat back. Really thick and I can't tell exactly what kind of glue... probably alpharetic resin.

2) Try to reshape and patch the top to relieve the sinkage and deformity.
(Get rid of the second sound post. )

3) New fingerboard, saddle, nut, endpin.

Setup and hope for the best. It will be a long and expensive process. Who knows what I will find when I crack the top? I am also going to have to be really careful and patient with glue removal, etc... Hard to tell what multitudes of sins have been committed here.

Thanks,
BG
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 01-24-2009, 10:58 AM
Jeff Bollbach Jeff Bollbach is offline
Junior Posting Member
 
Join Date: 01-21-2007
Location: freeport, NY
Posts: 26
Jeff Bollbach is on a distinguished road
Default

Brian-
Why not just set it up without taking it apart? Unless you are looking for a learning experience a restoration on a plywood is almost always a losing proposition.
jeffb
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 01-25-2009, 04:33 PM
Brian Gencarelli's Avatar
Brian Gencarelli Brian Gencarelli is offline
Posting Member
 
Join Date: 01-22-2007
Location: Simpsonville, SC (near Greenville)
Posts: 121
Brian Gencarelli is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Bollbach View Post
Brian-
Why not just set it up without taking it apart? Unless you are looking for a learning experience a restoration on a plywood is almost always a losing proposition.
jeffb
Jeff... Thanks for the advice. I am wondering if that might be the course to take. There are a few too many cracks for plywood to me... just curious about what "makes this one tick".

BG
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 05-11-2009, 05:41 PM
Anselm Hauke's Avatar
Anselm Hauke Anselm Hauke is offline
Senior Posting Member
 
Join Date: 02-05-2007
Location: Bremen, Germany
Posts: 51
Anselm Hauke is on a distinguished road
Default

while bass-surfing i found this:
http://www.holmesbassviol.com/photos_and_prices
a shop that has THREE of these basses...

what happend with yours brian?
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 05-11-2009, 06:01 PM
Robert Kramer's Avatar
Robert Kramer Robert Kramer is offline
Junior Posting Member
 
Join Date: 03-30-2009
Location: USA
Posts: 0
Robert Kramer is on a distinguished road
Default run away

Brian,
That thing is haunted, get it out of your house! LOL! It's a frustrating, dirty afternoon just waiting to happen without reward. You'll have a hard time getting it apart without the wood cracking from all that slathered top coating. Save yourself now!
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 05-11-2009, 06:14 PM
Tim Bishop's Avatar
Tim Bishop Tim Bishop is offline
Senior Posting Member
 
Join Date: 02-25-2007
Location: U.S.A.
Posts: 1,274
Tim Bishop is on a distinguished road
Default Or...

Or...mount a trolling motor on that bad boy and take it bass fishing .
__________________
Tim Bishop

Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:39 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © 2007 - Ken Smith Basses, LTD. (All Rights Reserved)