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First Fretted Electric Bass?
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2005 8:08 am
by admin
This information is from Joe Maultzwho asked me to post it to see if anyone had any information to offer about this bass.
"This is Joe from Axe-Zactly vintage guitars in Hammonton, NJ.
We just acquired, (from an estate), what could very well be the first example of a fretted electric bass in US history.
This is a smaller upright electric fretted bass probably from the 1930's. The body is a bit larger than a cello. The pickup is definitely early Rickenbacker made, but I feel that the body and neck could possibly be made by Kay or Kaycraft. The single volume control has a black bakelite knob with a simple straight arrow impressed on the top. It is difficult to say if the Rickenbacker Corporation was tooled to produce this type of product back then.
I am currently in conversation with Frog at Elderly Instruments, and we are attempting to identify the maker of this bass. Rickenbacker was contacted last week, and they are currently researching their files. My guess is by
the construction of the body and neck joint, that this portion may have been made by Kay. This instrument definitely dates to the 1930's. Frog is guessing that it may have been experimental, but either way, it may just re-write the history of the fretted electric bass as we currently know it.
We purchased it from an estate of a 96 year old musician, that literally collected hundreds of instruments starting in the 1930's. Once he got them, they never left his house. This bass displays significant player wear, and
is currently in our repair shop obtaining side crack repairs. It appears that it was intended for upright playing position, but the performer may have played it more like a traditional electric bass. The endpost is not original.
Please take a moment to examine the several pictures attached, and let me know if you need any additional information. It is interesting to note that the interior of the body has a wooden support rod running from the heel of the neck to the bottom of the body. Sort of like Fender did in the 1960's with their acoustic guitar models. The pickup is Rickenbacker, and was installed at time of production. We say this because of the matching binding on the soundhole and around the pickup cavity.
Needless to say that if Kay, or any other maker, was experimenting with an upright electric, that
they very well may have obtained the pickup from Rickenbacker. The electro-magnetic pickup is designed for the strings to pass through it.
If anything, this bass should provide some interesting conversation among collectors. Please feel free to share these photos with anyone that you feel may assist in determining the origin
of this mystery electric bass.
Let me know if you need anything additional. I really appreciate your efforts, and look forward to hearing back from you.
Joe Maultz
Axe-Zactly Music
www.newjerseyguitar.com
609-561-8744
609-226-3297"
Thanks for these photos Joe.
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2005 8:11 am
by edski
Wouldn't that be potentially the first electric bass on ANY type?
Pretty fascinating. Wish I could offer more...
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2005 8:20 am
by admin
Additional photos.
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2005 10:12 am
by morrow
link two posts down
this looks like a first cousin. This is Noel with a bass that he found in Cape Breton
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2005 10:19 am
by ken_j
Funny when you walk into Elderly they have a non-electric fretted bass in the lobby about the size of a 3/4 double bass. It looks like a huge acoustic guitar.
Frog is definitely the guru on vintage gear. He has helped me on a couple of guitar purchases.
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2005 10:21 am
by morrow
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 7:34 am
by leftybass
Well, to speculate...
A lot of what has been said already makes sense to what we know about what went on back then. Kay and Harmony(I think) made some of the hollow-body instruments for Electro-String way back when, the early mandolins for one and the model SP guitar. They also sold pickups that could be retrofitted into instruments as an accessory. It has the 'look' IMO.
I would inspect the fretboard carefully to look for evidence of being added at a later date....
Nevertheless this is a very cool intrument.
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 1:16 pm
by rickfan60
It seems to me that Beauchamp made horseshoe pickups for other manufacturers. That horseshoe looks very much like the one in the original frying pan.
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 5:00 pm
by rictified
Yeah it does now that you mention it.
Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 9:02 pm
by dave4004
I don't know what this is, but with all due respect, I don't think there's even a remote chance this is the first fretted electric bass. Especially if it was made by Kay, whose business was making cheaper copies of designs already made by others. There's no evidence that this pickup was actually made by Electro. The pickup cavity binding is not the same width and the cavity looks crude, so I doubt the pickup is factory original anyway.
There's ample evidence that Paul Tutmarc in Seattle was making a fretted electric solidbody bass by 1936.
http://www.vintageguitar.com/brands/details.asp?ID=46
http://tutmarc.tripod.com/paultutmarc.html
Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 1:25 am
by morrow
There were a number of early fretted basses that were played vertically. Rickenbacker made a EUB in '36 as did Regal and Vega.Regal , Dobro, and Gibson made fretted upright basses in the 30's.....Gibson made an electric one in '38.
The Audiovox electronic bass made by Tutmarc was the first to be played in a horizontal position. Leo's was the first to find acceptance in the marketplace.
Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:14 am
by david_schwab
I've seen some early Electro guitars with the horseshoe pu, and the body of the guitar was made by Harmony.
Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 9:32 am
by david_schwab
The Ken Roberts Model was an acoustic/electric standard guitar manufactured by the Harmony Co. in Chicago. Ken Roberts was one of George Beauchamp´s friends and a top movie studio guitarist. This model appeared in catalogs and ads from late 1935 through 1939. The Ken Roberts guitar had a bound neck that joined the body at the seventeenth fret. There were twenty-two frets total. The body was a concert sized flat-top with F holes, equipped with the Kauffman manual Vibrola tailpiece. The finish was a shaded two tone brown. It had one horshoe pickup installed by Electro String.(Source: The Complete History Of Rickenbacker Guitars by Richard R. Smith)
Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 9:41 am
by johnhall
Both Harmony and Kay were suppliers of early bodies. The original Ro-Pat-In concept was only to supply pickup retrofit kits for not only guitars but also pianos, symphonic string instruments, even the harp. Anyway, the use of multiple suppliers caused these early units to be quite varied.
Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 6:08 pm
by 1rr3l3v4n7
For further information, see:
SMITH, Richard, R. "The complete history of Rickenbacker Guitars", Anaheim, 1987, p.53-56
