Gibson String Bass

[Spazz]

I recently acquired a Gibson string bass. The label says it was made in Kalamazoo by Gibson. It's a plywood with violin corners. It has a nice relief-carved scroll giving it a raised edge around it. It has a rosewood fingerboard with the classical planed E-string bevel. The tail piece is also rosewood. The tuners are the indifidual style and look like bass-guitar tuners on the outside of the scroll box. The label says: Model B-125-841. Anybody know how old it might be or how I can find out?

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

You should send a PM to talkbass member MollyKay. She and her husband restore and sell old American plywood basses, and she harbors special affection for the Epiphones which preceded your Gibson.

Her site has a history of the brand at http://www.bassmonkey.net/epiphone.html.

[MollyKay]

I know very little about the Gibson Upright bass but I’ll tell you what I remember. The Gibson upright bass was introduced in 1939 by Gibson and discontinued in Dec 1941 at the onset of WW2. I have only see pictures of the basses; they all had violin corners, fancy wood and individual tuners. At one time there was talk of this bass being German and imported for Gibson but I have found no information to support that. I think there were two or three models made and in total under 100 bass were produced. Your model number is the B-125 and I would guess the bass number is the next number but in no way were there 800 basses made. There were two of these Gibson basses on eBay about a year ago one sold for over $3900. It was owned by Basscat here at Talk Bass. I don’t currently have any pictures or additional details. These basses are noted for being heavy, well made basses but not a lot of volume…but again I have never touched one.

Enjoy!

[james condino]

There are three of them that live here in western North Carolina. One is an unrestored complete basketcase, one a poorly "restored" plwood model, and one with a carved top. All are fairly heavy and a bit overbuilt. Other than the rare Gibson label, they are nothing out of the ordinary. There are some good urban legends floating around about the Gibson / Epiphone connection and some disgruntled employees...

Does yours have the three piece carved neck- maple on either side with a walnut strip through the center?

They pop up on ebay every once in a while. About two years ago the old original factory molds and jigs went up for sale- I believe a member here bought them and they are back in use.

Post a few photos for the bass nerds here.....

j.

[salcott]

http://kolstein.cybrhost.com/mm5/mer...gory_Code=bass

Page 2 and 4-one ply, one carved.

[Gearhead43]

I've play one for about a half hour at a local small music shop. It was VERY heavy, plywood, the top was SUPER thick. It had Spiros on it and it was not very loud at all. My C1 is much louder with low tension strings on it.

Not a bad bass, just had a kind of heavy clunky feel and neck.

[MR PC]

Jay Leonhart plays one, and pulls a great sound........that bass was owned previously by George Duvivier.

http://www.jayleonhart.com/youtubevideos.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE6I4lpYF9Y

[MollyKay]

Originally Posted by james condino

About two years ago the old original factory molds and jigs went up for sale- I believe a member here bought them and they are back in use.

j.

The Gibson/Epiphone molds were sold as a lot on eBay in August of 2008. The guy who bough them had contacted me with the intension of an Epiphone re-issue. The molds proved to be incomplete and a mixture of the Gibson cello molds and Epiphone templates. While he had good intension the project never took shape and the molds were parceled out auctioned off on eBay again in March 2010. They have now been scatter across the country. One of the second owners contacted me as he has the Epiphone molds in his private collection as a curiosity. So I have been following their travels. Best of my knowledge none of the molds are in use. They have become and artifact of a by gone era.

Here is what I have posted at my website on this subject…

There is a myth I heard that disgruntled Epiphone employee’s destroyed the Epiphone bass molds…but according to Walter Carter's book, in March 1958 (almost a year after the manufacturing was moved to Kalamazoo), the Conn woodwind factory in New Berlin, NY gave employees any remaining Epiphone guitar parts and then torched the rest of the parts in a bonfire behind the factory. This may have been the catalyst for that myth.

Curiously in August 2008 an eBay auction advertised the original bass molds from the Gibson Kalamazoo warehouse. If the molds listed on e-bay were authentic, they would have been the early Gibson cello molds from the 1930’s and most likely a later version of the Gibson/Epiphone Kalamazoo molds. The new owner of the molds relayed this to me by e-mail “and now I am going to be the proud owner of THE ORIGINAL mold, templates, arching forms for tops and backs, and inside mold for the original Epiphone bass! The seller got them out of the Gibson building about 15 years ago when he stumbled upon a hidden loft/storage area/ crawl space above the men's room”. I am going to assume these molds are the originals as the history all fits together. The very same molds have now been parceled out and resold again on eBay in March 2010.



Bass history Dork

[Ike Harris]

I had one of the Gibsons in my possession for a couple of weeks several years ago, in a possible trade for a 1950 Swingmaster. While it was a quite attractive instrument and contrary to the above reports, it was very lightweight but had the same so-so tone and I didn't do the trade. It did satisfy my curiosity though, and I can claim bragging rights to have spent time with a rare breed.

Ike

[james condino]

Molly:

If you and Lonnie get a look at the molds in person and think that they are the real deal, negotiate a borrow agreement so that we can use them to turn into a great way for the three of us to sink a half dozen years and $50k in to another wild project so we can wind up with a couple of $3k copies!

j.

[MollyKay]

Exactly the reason we passed on the offer to buy them. The first owner really wanted us to have them as he felt they belonged with our collection. While I appreciate their history and importance we have no intension of an Epiphone re-issue for the very reasons you point out. I am a bit too pragmatic (tight, miserly, thrifty, realistic) to think we could pull off an Epiphone re-issue.

[MR PC]

Maybe Epiphone Japan a would be interested in the project.

[M Ramsey]

I've had a short bit of experience with one ply Gibson bass. It is currently owned by John Shuffler (brother of George Shuffler of Stanley Brothers fame).

John always played gut strings in his days with the Stanleys (yep, he played with them for a short while too). This was in the early 50's. When Super Nyls came along, they became his string of choice, due to their similarity to gut, with regard to tension along with diminished tuning issues.

At the time I played John's old Gibson, it was strung with the Super Nyls and I was currently adjusted to steels, Helicores to be specific. The bass didn't impress me at that time, but John sounded fine on it, playing his typical Shuffler walking style.

Since I've changed over to guts and Garbos (on 2 different basses) I'd like to try John's bass again. It was found in a barn in Lenoir, NC, about 10-15 miles from me.

John's bass did have the 3-piece neck and had to be refinished due to the years spent in the barn.

Harold Nixon, current bass player for the bluegrass band The Boxcars, told me of seeing an old Gibson bass in a music store in KY or OH a few years back. It was apparently NOS, complete with hangtags and still for sale. I might need to track that down, though it's probably already gone.

Happy New Year folks!

[Gatortail1]

I've got one... I think. I got it from the estate of a jazz / big band player in Kansas City. When I brought it back to Nashville, I took it straight to George Chestnut. When I pulled it out of its bag, he went white in the face and looked like he was seeing a ghost. He said, "that's a Virzi brothers bass". I don't know if it is or not.
Mine does have the 3 piece neck with carved scroll, single Kluson tuners, a really nice rosewood board and tailpiece, and it's dead even everywhere. It's the easiest bass to mix and sounds great for jazz. It sounds carved and is really rich when bowed.
Mine has a different tag on the inside though. It says " Made Especially for the New York Band Instrument Co., New York, NY".
Anybody know anything about that shop?

[MollyKay]

Oooooo a mystery bass. I recently had my hands on one of the pre-war Gibson basses made in Kalamazoo. Much to my surprise it was a Gamba shape…I thought all the pre-war Gibson’s were maestro shaped. I have pictures of it and the interior label. The bass was very close in shape, color and size to an Epiphone B-3 from the same time period. This bass had the three piece neck and a really unusual rosewood tail piece with a “Vee” shape verses the round arch of a normal tail piece. It was nice to finally see one in person.







Be sure to post some pictures so we can all drool and learn. From what I gather there are very few of these pre-war Gibson basses.

[Gatortail1]

That bass is very interesting. Mine has the same tuners and tailpiece as yours but a different scroll. The inside lining on yours is the same as in mine, and of course, the tag is different.
I don't know how to post pictures on here. Can you tell me how?

[farmerdude]

I had a discusion with someone, at a gig the other day, about his new Custom Shop Gibson Bass. He stated that these can be special ordered? Anyone know of this? That said, this someone is the grandson of a famous (deceased) country music star and he has possession of a guitar that Gibson wants pretty bad....

[Gatortail1]

Originally Posted by farmerdude

I had a discusion with someone, at a gig the other day, about his new Custom Shop Gibson Bass. He stated that these can be special ordered? Anyone know of this? That said, this someone is the grandson of a famous (deceased) country music star and he has possession of a guitar that Gibson wants pretty bad....

Are you talking about a Gibson Upright bass? or an electric?
Who are you talking about?

[farmerdude]

I never speak of electric bass things.....

Another interesting note is that the price of the bass was over $20k.

[Gatortail1]

20k ? That's a lot of $$$.
What's up with this guitar you mentioned?