Aluminum upright

scipio · #1 04-12-2008, 07:33 AM

I have an aluminum upright that I don't know anything about. It is 7/8 size with a simulated wood finish.Finish is all there except for the back of the neck. It is seamlessly welded together and is very sturdy. Board looks rosewood. Tail piece and nut ebony. Inside is stamped 496. Who made this and when? Value?

wdave · #2 04-12-2008, 10:07 AM

Heres one on ebay. Watch and see what it goes for.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ALCOA-CONN-ALUMI...QQcmdZViewItem

wdave

scipio · #3 04-12-2008, 10:49 AM

Wow! Perfect. Thanks Dave

Jason Sypher · #4 04-12-2008, 12:44 PM

There are more of these out there than you might think but then again, they're aluminum so they were built to last. I believe they were for military bands but i'm not entirely sure about that. The one that I have heard and played occasionally over the years is ridiculously loud and moves quite a bit of air if not more than a little bit "metallic" sounding...go figure.

Kenny Allyn · #5 04-12-2008, 12:52 PM

I'm not really an upright player but did get to fool around with one a number of years ago in Jonesboro Ark.

The word I got from the store owner is that they were used in USO and military bands in WWII

... No idea if that is true or not

mandocaster · #6 04-12-2008, 02:36 PM

$500 shipping...
ouch

Eric Rene Roy · #7 04-12-2008, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scipio

I have an aluminum upright that I don't know anything about. It is 7/8 size with a simulated wood finish.Finish is all there except for the back of the neck. It is seamlessly welded together and is very sturdy. Board looks rosewood. Tail piece and nut ebony. Inside is stamped 496. Who made this and when? Value?

ALCOA. See here for what I have accumulated about them.

james condino · #8 04-13-2008, 01:10 AM

That is an AlCoA (Aluminum Company of America), made in their Buffalo, NY production facility from 1929-1934. Number 496 would have been from the last production batch in 1934. I wrote a pretty detailed article on these and the Pfretschners for American Lutherie magazine a couple of years ago. It was about 6-7 pages long; you can get a copy from the Guild of American Luthiers (www.luth.org), or PM me and I'll send you a pdf of the article. I see about 5-6 of these passing through the shop a year. You can call me at the shop and I can give you a bit more info on them.

As to the value, folks seem to either love them or hate them. The general working range seems to be about $1500 for a basket case in poor shape to about $4500 in squeeky clean original condition to an eager buyer or collector- similar to an old Kay in price. When I get one for sale, they typically take about 90-120 days to sell, even with an active list of folks looking for them.

Once in a while you'll see one that has been polished for about a hundred hours that looks like it will blind you from stage lights. They tend to go for a bit more, but usually only somewhere like LA and wind up in the occaisional rock video.

I know the seller of the one on ebay. I've got no financial interest in the deal, but I'll give him a thumbs up for being a good fellow and reliable for business. He's got a few of them.

j.
www.condino.com

kcandme · #9 04-13-2008, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scipio

I have an aluminum upright that I don't know anything about. It is 7/8 size with a simulated wood finish.Finish is all there except for the back of the neck. It is seamlessly welded together and is very sturdy. Board looks rosewood. Tail piece and nut ebony. Inside is stamped 496. Who made this and when? Value?

Where are you located?
I am quite interested in these instruments.
Thank You
KC

Johnny Atomic · #10 04-14-2008, 02:25 PM

I found an aluminum bass that want to buy ( and actually previously owned), it has a FLAT back (angled near top) and a wooden neck w/ wooden tuning pegs (hatbox pegs???). who made this one???

Jake deVilliers · #11 04-14-2008, 02:50 PM

Is that you Flip?

Eric Rene Roy · #12 04-14-2008, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny Atomic

I found an aluminum bass that want to buy ( and actually previously owned), it has a FLAT back (angled near top) and a wooden neck w/ wooden tuning pegs (hatbox pegs???). who made this one???

The Pfretzschner workshop...I know of both a flat back model and a arched back model from them, although the arched backs are more common.

james condino · #13 04-14-2008, 11:31 PM

The Pfretschners are easily identified by their construction. In addition to the factory wooden neck, they were made from sheet stock of aluminum that was formed against a mold and then the ribs, top, and back were screwed together, giving them the look of an old WWII airplane. Internally, the blocks, bass bar, and back braces were all wood. Most are polished aluminum, but you'll find the occaisional painted one- some with nice faux woodgrain.

AlCoAs are completely welded, with no visible seams and a cast aluminum neck. There are photos of both the AlCoA and Pfretschners on my website. The entire thing is being upgraded as we speak, so you should be able to link the article by this summer.

j.
www.condino.com

farmerdude · #14 04-15-2008, 07:52 AM

I thought mine was International Harvester

Johnny Atomic · #15 04-15-2008, 07:55 AM

this one had no visible screws anywhere, I suppose they could have been bondo'ed over. Also you could see where the top and back had a compression fitting to a lip on the sides. No welds. I used to own an Alcoa too, and the Alcoa is definitely different construction.

It had a 10 to 15 year old automotive finish on the body, and the neck was somwhat dark and appeared to be either Oak or Ash, or some other open grained wood.

Johnny

farmerdude · #16 04-15-2008, 08:18 AM

Is this like the one you are talking about Johnny?

Johnny Atomic · #17 04-15-2008, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farmerdude

Is this like the one you are talking about Johnny?

Yes pretty much exactly like that, except has a four footed adjustable aluminum bridge (aftermarket). Pretty much same color too.

drurb · #18 04-15-2008, 08:29 AM

No screws (Pfretschner), no welds (ALCOA). So who made that one?

Johnny Atomic · #19 04-15-2008, 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farmerdude

Is this like the one you are talking about Johnny?

you can see bondo'ed over screw heads in these pix.

scipio · #20 04-15-2008, 04:58 PM

The wonderfull thing I found about my aluminum bass is the fact that it is built like a tank. I put metal strings on with a Pierre Joseph magnetic pickup and for rockabilly it's great. It won't feed back so sound guys love it, plus you can sit on it and stand on it and you won't hurt it. Sure, for tone I like my Epiphone B4 better but it can't take the abuse.