Lami Question?

[GatorBass]

I will start off by saying that I am the owner of 2 Lami's. My first is a 1950 Kay C-1, and my newest is an Upton Hawkes. The reason I stick with ply basses is because living in Florida, and playing the types of gigs I play, a carved, or evan a hybrid made little sense. I ended up buying my Hawkes because I felt my Kay was not up to the wear and tear I was putting on it. Either way here is my question, while shopping for the new bass I noticed that very few of the ply basses (Engles, Upton, Shens, even New Standards) had the extra binding along the side matching up against the face and back of the bass, like my Kay. I was wondering what the significance of this was, or if it had anything to do with the stability of the bass. I know my new bass is sturdy enough for my playing style (no I do not stand on my bass), but I do play very high energy music. Just wondering why this little adaptation occurred. Is this the gall bladder, or baby toe of the URB?

[jtlownds]

Originally Posted by GatorBass

Either way here is my question, while shopping for the new bass I noticed that very few of the ply basses (Engles, Upton, Shens, even New Standards) had the extra binding along the side matching up against the face and back of the bass, like my Kay. I was wondering what the significance of this was, or if it had anything to do with the stability of the bass. ?

What you are refering to is the lining. It provides extra gluing surface for the top and back. This is called an "outside" lining. If the bass does not have an outside lining, it will have an inside lining, which is not visible from the outside. There is no structural or sonic difference between the two types of linings. Outside linings are traditionally found on German and American basses.