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Double Bass swanson bass info

R

runtune

Feb 24, 2007
1
0
#1
Hello..I'm new to talkbass. I joined with hopes someone knows about Swanson Basses. I think it was built in the 40's.
Where were they made? Are they a quality bass for Jazz?
What is there value? I did a google search on Swanson Bass and came up with nothing.
Thanks
 
#4
i friend of mine had one once and it was a great sounding bass for jazz. very loud too. he may still play it for all i know. i liked it so much i've been looking for one ever since, but have had no luck finding one, and have had no search results looking on the internet for "swanson bass" other than my own website, since that's my last name and that's what i play :-)
 
#8
These basses are freaks, crude if not questionable work... But great if you like that big, boomy feel it in your gut sound. In a blindfold test the one I have Invalid Link Removed reminds me most of the Prescott I have. No I'm not saying it's a Prescott!

I think its wise (just like the Prescott) that the ff's are left connected for top stability. Massive deep ribs, paper thin tops, one way to get that sound with a big pattern.

Gary
 
#9
uptonbass said:
These basses are freaks, crude if not questionable work... But great if you like that big, boomy feel it in your gut sound. In a blindfold test the one I have Invalid Link Removed reminds me most of the Prescott I have. No I'm not saying it's a Prescott!

I think its wise (just like the Prescott) that the ff's are left connected for top stability. Massive deep ribs, paper thin tops, one way to get that sound with a big pattern.

Gary
Click to expand...
Wow, that is a very interesting bass. Do you have sound clips of it?
 
#12
#14
No - not accurate. I bought what I called "The Gullwing" from Wayne Holmes a few years ago (for @$3K) and sold it about a a year or two later to a dealer in the midwest (not Upton). They're big basses, fun for a while, but a bit crude as Eric has said - and - at least in my case, instruments that need a lot of TLC.

The one that Wayne Holmes is restoring now is a Swanson that needed two sound posts to keep the top up. I don't know anything about the one Eric has at Upton, but I can tell you this: one of the factors in selling the Swanson, was that I could get a bigger sound out of my (then brand new) Upton Karr Hybrid than I could (sadly) out of the Gullwing.

It's a fascinating footnote in terms of bassmakers etc; but not a bass I'd want to live with everyday.

I hope that helps.

Louis
 
#15
LouisF said:
No - not accurate. I bought what I called "The Gullwing" from Wayne Holmes a few years ago (for @$3K) and sold it about a a year or two later to a dealer in the midwest (not Upton). They're big basses, fun for a while, but a bit crude as Eric has said - and - at least in my case, instruments that need a lot of TLC.

The one that Wayne Holmes is restoring now is a Swanson that needed two sound posts to keep the top up. I don't know anything about the one Eric has at Upton, but I can tell you this: one of the factors in selling the Swanson, was that I could get a bigger sound out of my (then brand new) Upton Karr Hybrid than I could (sadly) out of the Gullwing.

It's a fascinating footnote in terms of bassmakers etc; but not a bass I'd want to live with everyday.

I hope that helps.

Louis
Click to expand...

The Gullwing bass looked crazy. How did you even put that thing down during an orchestra break or intermission? On it's back? Could you even lay it on its side? However, unlike how you felt about the Gullwing, my Swanson is the only bass I play. Luckily it's also the most normal looking Swanson I've seen, too. I'm quite glad I ended up with this one. That doesn't mean the workmanship is any better, though.
 
#19
Wow, I dunno, Eric, that is the most normal Swanson bass I've ever seen! (lucky owner, I say).

From what I understand from Wayne Holmes and Bruce Wallace is that Bob got the necks and scrolls (as a unit) from Germany and then built the bass around them from whatever was in the shop. It may have been that he had a "normal" top or back or sides hanging around and went from there.

Looks like a great bass.

Congrats,
Louis

PS I think Wayne Holmes is thinking about doing just the opposite - building a "real" bass modeled on a Swanson he's restoring.
 

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