Bass Oddity- Swanson DB.

[Brian Gencarelli]

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

[Ken Smith]

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.

[Jeff Bollbach]

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.

[Sam Sherry]

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.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Sam Sherry

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..

[Brian Gencarelli]

Originally Posted by Jeff Bollbach

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

[Ken Smith]

Yes, now I remember...

[Jeff Bollbach]

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?