Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Double Bass Aluminum upright
- Thread starter scipio
- Start date
Yeah, having had my Pfretzschner apart, it is kind of hard to imagine how they hold together at all. Logic would seem that a 5 string would push it too far. I actually wondered about that Slowey bridge that Johnny has on his and if the feet that are not supported by the bass bar or the reinforcement block risk damaging the top - looks like it works for him though - and looks cool, too.
Given the differences in builds, I'd sure be curious to hear a Pfret and an Alcoa side-by-side. They have to sound quite different from each other.
Probably an Alcoa if it has the fake wood finish. Most of the Pfretzschners I've seen were just painted brown without the fake grain.
The slowey bridge can be adjusted for how much pressure can be placed via the front and back feet. You can loosen the screws off to the point that only the two side feet are touching similar to a normal bridge. But yeah, you could adjust it so that it pushes the top in.
I have the front foot loosened almost completely off, it's touching, just not exerting much force. And I use the rear foot on top of a Revolution Solo 2 pickup, and use the screw to "dial in" the tone by placing more or less force on the pickup.
I got the bass, no tag in the middle, but there are visible screws all along the side ribs on connecting the front to the sides. Also, the back looks like it isn't really sealed to the ribs. There are also screws going up the front to follow the bass bar is my guess. The finger board actually has an adjustable trust rod that runs behind the board. It will take some TLC for sure. The surface of the aluminum is pretty uneven in most areas, and the top is a relatively slim piece.
So I might ask you all for some suggestions. But the thing is pretty cool, and actually is comparable to an in-expensive instrument. Do you think it is a bad idea to weld the back side to the ribs? I am no luthier but I thought it would be cool to reinforce the actually structure so a modern dancer can stand on the side ribs......
I'll get some pics up that aren't just cell phone quality.
So I might ask you all for some suggestions. But the thing is pretty cool, and actually is comparable to an in-expensive instrument. Do you think it is a bad idea to weld the back side to the ribs? I am no luthier but I thought it would be cool to reinforce the actually structure so a modern dancer can stand on the side ribs......
I'll get some pics up that aren't just cell phone quality.
- Dec 12, 2007
- 2,268
- 43
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Zon Guitars, Tsunami Cables, DR Strings, GK
My buddy has one. His father played it in the military during WWII. He was with one of the bands that entertained the troops.
Somebody paid a lot of money this week for an old aluminum bridge just like Johnny's on epay...
j.
j.
Sure sounds like a Pfretzschner with all those screws. If so, welding the back or not, the aluminum is so thin, I don't see how you could make it structurally solid enough to have someone stand on the side ribs. I've had mine completely apart and am kind of amazed that it stays together at all under just the string tension - adding any more than that seems very high risk to me. Maybe I'm wrong...
Someone else on here had one of those. That's a Dayton bridge. Mine is a Slowey.
I just took my Pfretzschner into the shop for a new ebony fingerboard. After 3 plane jobs in the last 8 years she just got to thin. What do you you guys have on yours? I imagine most are rosewood like mine was. Also with all this talk about tension. How many of you are using gut or steel? I have been using all plain gut on mine since I got it. They sound really good with my K&K p/u. The other thing I love about this bass is that it is not prone to feedback. I have used some really large backline with this and everything seems fine. Everything from an svt 8x10 to an swr rig with a 1x18 and a 4x10. Have any of you guys had any problems with your neck screws? Had to replace all of mine about 1 1/2 years ago. All in all, this bass hasn't cost me much. Picked it up for $850 in '01. Probably got close to a 1000 gigs on it.
I googled him a couple of years ago and found his email. I emailed him and he sent me one right back. He can be seen in the movie " The Aviator" with Leonardo Dicaprio. It's a short scene but you can see him with his aluminum upright in the restaurant scene. He seemed like a really nice guy. He responded like the next day. Awseome video BTW! That's a great find! Thank you davidprice!
I think I narrowed the aluminum bass I have to a Pfretzschners. Even though it has no tag. It actually looks strikingly similar to the bass on http://www.condino.com, however it has coats and coats of paint and the front plate is a bit more wavy. The top connecting to ribs looks like it is bent over connected with screws, but the back looks like it was just glued onto the ribs as if it were wood, with a large .25 to .5 inch gap from the edge of the back to the ribs. Bigger gap then expected with no screws.
But I do need some raw parts to replace, like the neck, finger board (I don't really like the Truss rod in a rose wood fingerboard), a tail piece and new end pin. I wish I was a luthier sometimes because I feel absolutely clueless as to what you can and cant do.
Ideally it would be great to add a high C string (with a low C extension, but that is second to the higher 5th string) to the instrument. Is there a tension difference regarding adding a low B string vs a high C string? And would it call for a slightly smaller modified finger board since you dont need that massive room you would need if you put a lower string?
But I do need some raw parts to replace, like the neck, finger board (I don't really like the Truss rod in a rose wood fingerboard), a tail piece and new end pin. I wish I was a luthier sometimes because I feel absolutely clueless as to what you can and cant do.
Ideally it would be great to add a high C string (with a low C extension, but that is second to the higher 5th string) to the instrument. Is there a tension difference regarding adding a low B string vs a high C string? And would it call for a slightly smaller modified finger board since you dont need that massive room you would need if you put a lower string?
wayne holmes
Inactive
I have one in my shop. I'll ask the owner when he gets back in town and picks it up. He has had it for over 30 years. I'll look for a number on it. Does yours have 3 screws holding on the finger baord?.
Aluminum neck seemlessly welded into the body (AlCoA) or a screwed on wooden neck (Pfretschner)?
AlCoA's (Aluminum Company of America) had a hand carved cylindrical wooden insert on the inside of the aluminum neck assembly that was screwed into three or four threaded inserts on the inside of the neck. A fingerboard- either bakelite (earliest batch from 1928/29) or an ebony fingerboard was glued to the cylindrical insert. They actually had a patent on the neck design.
Pfretschners had a standard German factory carved neck glued to a typical neck block. The block was then screwed to the body with a felt layer in between the two- typically dark green in color.
Both the AlCoAs and Pfretschners were available with a faux wood painted finish. The AlCoA was very subdued and passed for wooden from even a close proximity. It actually used a patented 50 step direct transfer process that used a giant piece of spruce against the top to mimic fine grain lines. The Pfretschner's were less fine, but the faux flame they used on the back and ribs looked like a '59 Les Paul top- big, bold, and wild figure with an almost cherry sunburst(!!!!). I've only seem one original Pfretschner with this from the factory.
On a side note, 1000 apologies to everyone for my ancient website. A new one is in the works, but like everything, it takes a long time... Every "aluminum bass dork" out there will like the new visuals and info that will be available there, along with the GAL article, as well as a host of new instruments from my shop and several dozen other articles.
j.
www.condino.com
AlCoA's (Aluminum Company of America) had a hand carved cylindrical wooden insert on the inside of the aluminum neck assembly that was screwed into three or four threaded inserts on the inside of the neck. A fingerboard- either bakelite (earliest batch from 1928/29) or an ebony fingerboard was glued to the cylindrical insert. They actually had a patent on the neck design.
Pfretschners had a standard German factory carved neck glued to a typical neck block. The block was then screwed to the body with a felt layer in between the two- typically dark green in color.
Both the AlCoAs and Pfretschners were available with a faux wood painted finish. The AlCoA was very subdued and passed for wooden from even a close proximity. It actually used a patented 50 step direct transfer process that used a giant piece of spruce against the top to mimic fine grain lines. The Pfretschner's were less fine, but the faux flame they used on the back and ribs looked like a '59 Les Paul top- big, bold, and wild figure with an almost cherry sunburst(!!!!). I've only seem one original Pfretschner with this from the factory.
On a side note, 1000 apologies to everyone for my ancient website. A new one is in the works, but like everything, it takes a long time... Every "aluminum bass dork" out there will like the new visuals and info that will be available there, along with the GAL article, as well as a host of new instruments from my shop and several dozen other articles.
j.
www.condino.com
[/QUOTE]I wish I was a luthier sometimes because I feel absolutely clueless as to what you can and cant do.[/QUOTE]
In simple terms, you can do anything you can think of; the only limiting factors are time, money, and fear of failure.
j.
In simple terms, you can do anything you can think of; the only limiting factors are time, money, and fear of failure.
j.
I'm definitely replacing the neck and fingerboard on my aluminum bass. Anyone have any ideas where to buy pieces like the neck that are unfinished? I am looking for something fairly affordable. Is there an instrument repair site with these types of products?
James thanks for your words of encouragement!
James thanks for your words of encouragement!
If anyone is looking, I know where AlCoa # 112 and #117 (second batch, approximately 1929) are located and for sale privately. Send me an email and I'll give you the details.
A lot of folks know that I see a lot of these and, in the past, I have bought, sold, and acted as a third party in matching up buyers and sellers of these old basses. I can comfortably say that isn't the case anymore. These are just a posting for a legitimate friend. The basses have a bit of history that AlCoA nerds would call pedigree.
There is a member around here- actually a very nice fellow- who I helped match up with the cleanest originial finish AlCoA I have ever seen a couple of months ago. The buyer had been looking for a while and contacted me; as well, the seller had been trying for about half a year to sell it with no luck and he contacted me asking for help. I hooked both of them up and got the seller a better price than they had been asking for and made the transaction ultra easy for them. 'Nice going james and thanks for all the help....yeah right.
Prices were fair and I put in a bit of time and effort with the two. I purposfully set the price higher for the seller and asked for a humble 10% broker fee....well...damned if the 72 year old man didn't stiff me...
...I hope he's feeling good spending the cash on the $3 buffet in Vegas....if I was that close to knocking on the doors of judgement day, I'd would have probably donated the thing to some children's charity in hopes that they'd pass over some more devious deeds I did in my 20s...
Thanks to that old fellow, from now on they can go to the scrapyard for 10 cents a pound...and I no longer have to worry about breaking any rules around here ( at least specific to this - I think...
)
j.
A lot of folks know that I see a lot of these and, in the past, I have bought, sold, and acted as a third party in matching up buyers and sellers of these old basses. I can comfortably say that isn't the case anymore. These are just a posting for a legitimate friend. The basses have a bit of history that AlCoA nerds would call pedigree.
There is a member around here- actually a very nice fellow- who I helped match up with the cleanest originial finish AlCoA I have ever seen a couple of months ago. The buyer had been looking for a while and contacted me; as well, the seller had been trying for about half a year to sell it with no luck and he contacted me asking for help. I hooked both of them up and got the seller a better price than they had been asking for and made the transaction ultra easy for them. 'Nice going james and thanks for all the help....yeah right.
Prices were fair and I put in a bit of time and effort with the two. I purposfully set the price higher for the seller and asked for a humble 10% broker fee....well...damned if the 72 year old man didn't stiff me...
...I hope he's feeling good spending the cash on the $3 buffet in Vegas....if I was that close to knocking on the doors of judgement day, I'd would have probably donated the thing to some children's charity in hopes that they'd pass over some more devious deeds I did in my 20s...Thanks to that old fellow, from now on they can go to the scrapyard for 10 cents a pound...and I no longer have to worry about breaking any rules around here ( at least specific to this - I think...
)j.
....well...damned if the 72 year old man didn't stiff me...
No bad vibes intended towards our resident old guy around here with the cool bass (surprised he hasn't chimed in yet). If I make it to 72, I'll probably be getting arrested on a regular bass for a number of...ah...lets just call them victimless crimes; I just won't fund it with some younger punk's rupees...
j.
I just got this from a friend of mine. It seems a fire destroyed almost everything he owned, except for his bass. Here is an image that was caught of it being pulled out of the burning scene by one of the fellows all suited up.
Due to the obvious lack of a place to keep it for the next couple of years while he lives in the back seat of his car waiting for the insurance company to pay up and get him resettled, the bass for sale- nice clean AlCoA.
j.
________
If anyone is looking to move away from soft metal basses, I've got some nice sitka top sets available, ready for you to carve the bass of your dreams..
Due to the obvious lack of a place to keep it for the next couple of years while he lives in the back seat of his car waiting for the insurance company to pay up and get him resettled, the bass for sale- nice clean AlCoA.
j.
________
If anyone is looking to move away from soft metal basses, I've got some nice sitka top sets available, ready for you to carve the bass of your dreams..
i know this sh*t ain't right....but
"burning down the house"
"disco inferno"
"smoke gets in your eyes" comes to mind.
"burning down the house"
"disco inferno"
"smoke gets in your eyes" comes to mind.
