Wm. Lewis and Son bass -- help..

awilliamo · #1 02-15-2009, 11:27 AM

I need help figuring out some more information about my William Lewis and Son Bass. It has a carved top and flat plywood back. I bought this maybe 15 yrs ago and have never known anything about it, and am now looking to sell and would really like to be able to tell folks the approx. age of the bass and any other info, especially what this bass may have originally sold for.
Sticker says "Klengel" "made in Germany expressly for Wm. Lewis and Son, Chicago, IL" Then has two numbers. #1833 and #38107.
Would greatly appreciate any help. I have come to a lot of dead ends, surely there is some way of finding this info.
Thank you

dchan · #2 02-15-2009, 11:56 AM

^ Don't you already have a thread about this?

Trying to put a date on this bass.

awilliamo · #3 02-15-2009, 04:00 PM

Yes I did, sorry for that. I was unable to gather any new info from the one person that responded to the query, so I thought a different headline might attract someone that knew something more about Wm Lewis and Son basses.

Nagrom · #4 02-15-2009, 11:22 PM

http://www.shoptony.com/music123/wm-...son-74033.html

Bass Barrister · #5 02-16-2009, 08:30 AM

William Lewis & Sons was founded in Chicago in the late 1890s and became a major supplier of stringed instruments for the educational market. Starting in the late 1960s, the company went through a series of purchases and spin-offs, and today is part of Conn-Selmer, the US's music conglomorate, which included such names as Glaesel and Scherl & Roth.

The company has not been based in Chicago for some 30 plus years. Your label information suggests that the bass was was made before the early 1970s.BUT, your label also says "Made in Germany". From the late 1940s through 1989, Germany was divided, and a label from that period should say "Made in West Germany". So, maybe the label is not accurate - who knows. I know that C-S published a serial number list on its website for some of the brass instruments, but nothing comparable for strings.From personal experience, C-S is not very responsive to inquiries about older products. Most likely, the records are lost, have been tossed, or are buried somewhere and no one wants to go looking for them.

awilliamo · #6 02-16-2009, 07:00 PM

Hey, thanks bass barrister. Yeah, the folks at Conn-Selmer were not helpful at all. Oh well.
I am going to be taking it in to have some work done, about a 10 inch crack in top. I think they may need to take the top off to fix, maybe they will be able to get some more information at that time.
Aaron

awilliamo · #7 02-16-2009, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nagrom

http://www.shoptony.com/music123/wm-...son-74033.html

Thanks dchan, now I just need to figure out when this one was built.

dchan · #8 02-16-2009, 08:33 PM

^ Don't thank me - thank Nagrom.

awilliamo · #9 02-17-2009, 09:33 AM

Woops, hopefully my bass playing is better then typing and posting skills.