|  | | 
10-21-2010, 02:42 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Vermont | | | S-5 Swingmaster, what were they thinking?
A few months ago my brother was delivering a floor clock, and he called me from the lady's house to tell me that she was selling an upright bass. She had just sent the local HS music teacher packing when he offered $350 for it. She was FIRM on the $500 price, and said it had been handed down from her mother who had bought it from a friend many years ago after it had been left as collateral on a rooming-house debt.
After a few questions, I thought I knew what we were looking at and told him to pay her and send it to me. When I got it, it was a Kay swingmaster, blonde finish, about an 8 out of a possible 10 in condition. It was a 1941 model, before they were in Kay's catalog. The surprise was that it was an S-5, the 'thin" or "dance band" model with the engraved tuner plates and a nice macassar ebony fingerboard and tailpiece.
I strung it up with Evah weich's, took out the wire tailpiece hanger, and am intrigued with it. What was the idea of a thinner body? It obviously has a few less cubic inches, and has a bit less presence at the low end, but has a really nice voice especially under the bow. I wonder what a "dance band" bass player would be doing that made a smaller instrument attractive?
I would not use this in an orchestral setting, and maybe not even for bluegrass, but it sure is a nice old bass, and a bit easier to fit through a doorway! NWD
Sign in to disble this ad
|
10-21-2010, 04:29 PM
| | | | No pics, no bass.
Pics please. |
10-21-2010, 04:45 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: LaBelle, FL | | | I owned one of these for a while. Mine was a 1939 model, and the tuning plates were engraved with "Selmer-Kay SlimLine". Blonde finish, with inlaid purfling around the front and back plates, and the f-holes. It also had a fully carved scroll (no glued on volutes). I have owned a long line of Kay C1s, and this bass blew them all out of the water. Probably the loudest Kay that I have ever heard.
__________________
Jim Lownds
|
10-21-2010, 04:47 PM
| | Registered User
Retailer: Shen, Sun, older European | | Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Burlingame, California | | | The thinner body shape meant easier transportation on a crowded swing band bus. Photos would be great to see! |
10-21-2010, 05:18 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Denver, Co. | |
To add to what Steve says, also some people believe a thinner bass has more "point" to the pizz tone and that there's less room in the cavity for the sound to bounce around, giving a more cutting sound. No proof was or is given for this concept, in fact it doesn't sound sensible, IMO.
Post pics or we'll kill you. 
__________________
Oh, no.....have we gone OT yet again?
"The opportunity was there...but it never presented itself." Phil Urso, 1980. :atoz: |
10-21-2010, 06:41 PM
|  | Oracle, Ancient Order of Rass Hattur | | Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Connecticut | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Warburton  To add to what Steve says, also some people believe a thinner bass has more "point" to the pizz tone and that there's less room in the cavity for the sound to bounce around, giving a more cutting sound. No proof was or is given for this concept, in fact it doesn't sound sensible, IMO. | +1
__________________
Famous last words: And with that- Im gone. You will probably read in the paper soon about a deranged kid who burns his bass in front of a luthier. |
10-21-2010, 07:10 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Auburn, Massachusetts | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Warburton Post pics or we'll kill you. | +1
__________________ Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott McC See, this side isn't so different. Just because our basses cost more and our music goes well with desert does not mean we are classier:) | |
10-21-2010, 11:01 PM
|  | Dr. Jim | | Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Denton TX, Kailua HI, New York | | | Could the dimensions have something to do with passenger rail car seats or compartments? I can imagine that a bass that is a bit slimmer might fit into a specific well-known space on the Empire Builder or 20th Century—something few of us might recall. Let us not forget that the big bands—famous and local—used rail transportation much of the time. The interstate highway system had yet to be built in 1939 or even 1949.
__________________ Sadowsky RV4 P/J
Valenti Fretless 5 #19
1850 Tirolean Upright
55 & 71 P-basses
Lakland 55-01D
08 Fiesta Red RW Jazz
Crest CA6/ART tube channel
Mesa M9
Epifani UL1 410 & 210, NYC 210 www.jamescarr.net |
10-22-2010, 03:15 AM
| | Registered User
Private Inventor - Bass Capos | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Cologne/Göttingen, Germany | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Warburton To add to what Steve says, also some people believe a thinner bass has more "point" to the pizz tone and that there's less room in the cavity for the sound to bounce around, giving a more cutting sound. No proof was or is given for this concept, in fact it doesn't sound sensible, IMO.
Post pics or we'll kill you. | This certainly could be the rationale. I was told this is why my Geiger bass was so thin (5-1/2" upper ribs). This bass doesn't have the bottom of a normally proportioned 3/4, but it really does cut through the mix well and has exceptional attack with bow or fingers. It is also nice to carry. I also like the idea about
rail car compartments (maybe it would fit in the overhead?), but I think the attack issue was the reasoning.
__________________
Robobass
Last edited by robobass : 10-22-2010 at 03:21 AM.
|
10-22-2010, 06:36 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Canada | | POST PICS!!! 
__________________
"That is a copyrighted photo of me you stole from my website. The joke is over funny man. Change it now before I threaten legal action to Paul at TB and yourself... the Dogs are off the leash."
|
10-22-2010, 08:28 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Boston, MA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Warburton
Post pics or we'll kill you. |  |
10-22-2010, 08:51 AM
| | Registered User
Retailer: Shen, Sun, older European | | Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Burlingame, California | | | During a short trip to Las Vegas a few weeks ago, I saw a contemporary Romanian version if this shallow depth style bass being played in a courtyard restaurant setting. My guess is that the on-site storage closet that this musician gets to use is kind of small. The bassist looked very comfortable standing with the bass, suggesting that this was a long term daily gig for him. I had a few of these when I carried more Romanian basses 8-10 years ago. All but one of them went to salsa band players. A few Chinese makers are producing this kind of instrument these days. They seem to get a lot of attention at the NAMM show. |
10-22-2010, 09:36 AM
| | Oracle, Ancient Order of Rass Hattur | | Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Connecticut | | Then there's this: 
__________________
Famous last words: And with that- Im gone. You will probably read in the paper soon about a deranged kid who burns his bass in front of a luthier. |
10-22-2010, 09:55 AM
| | Registered User
Retailer: Shen, Sun, older European | | Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Burlingame, California | | | Setting a sounpost looks like a wicked proposition with these things! |
10-22-2010, 11:19 AM
| | Oracle, Ancient Order of Rass Hattur | | Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Connecticut | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Swan Setting a sounpost looks like a wicked proposition with these things! | I think it's done at build-time and, perhaps, is tacked in somehow.
__________________
Famous last words: And with that- Im gone. You will probably read in the paper soon about a deranged kid who burns his bass in front of a luthier. |
10-22-2010, 05:32 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Vermont | | | I knew there was a chance of being killed for not including a photo or two. I have not shot a formal portrait but this should help. |
10-22-2010, 06:03 PM
| | Registered User
Retailer: Shen, Sun, older European | | Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Burlingame, California | | | Wow, is that ever cute! |
10-22-2010, 06:09 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Toronto | | | Real purty, and nice shape! The top of the line Kays are quite a step up... |
10-22-2010, 10:48 PM
|  | Registered User | | | | | You lucky mother. If it sounds and plays half as good as it looks, you did very well. Please drop by if you ever have it near Albany.
drurb, I remember reading somewhere that the posts are glued in place.
__________________
"All of the poor people who started rock and roll are cool." -- Iggy
|
10-23-2010, 12:02 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Los Angeles | | | 500 for that? You got a hell of a deal!! thats really sweet...
__________________
"Just jump in where you can, and hang on..." (Briscoe Darling)
|  | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | 
Posting Rules
| You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off | | | |
