We have
been the fortunate stewards of a beautiful, pristine 1941 Gibson B-135 upright
bass. This lovely lady traveled all the way from the west to join our
collection and be the inspiration to launch a new Gibson history page at the
website. With the history of the Epiphone upright basses being well
documented at our website I thought it would be nice to expand our research to
the second most asked question…what do we know about the original pre-war
Gibson upright bass?
I became
aware of the pre-war Gibson manufactured bass through my Epiphone research and
it would sometimes get blended together that the pre-war Gibson’s and the
Gibson/Epiphone’s were the same bass. They are definitely NOT the same
bass. They were not made during the same time period. And the
basses themselves are wildly different. The pre-war Gibson’s were made
from 1939-1945 in Kalamazoo,
MI. The Gibson/Epiphone’s
were made after 1958 until 1963 in Kalamazoo,
MI and then discontinued never to
be re-made again. The town and state of manufacture is about all these two basses
shared.
The bass shape, the neck, the tuners, tailpiece were distinctive
on the pre-war Gibson basses. The pre-war Gibson shape is very unique
with the droopy maestro shape and the violin tips point out and downward.
In compared to a Gibson/Epiphone with its gamba shape, narrow upper shoulders
and smaller over all body.
We will
continue to add information to the pre-war Gibson web page as more information
is discovered. For now here are the pictures of our pre-war Gibson in all
her glory.
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| Beautiful bright blonde finish, all completely original right down to the original flake wood bridge and gut strings |
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| The bass is detailed with a double black painted pin stripe with those dripping tips |
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| Vee shaped rosewood tail piece with original tail wire and end pin |
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| Single Kluson chrome tuners as seen on all Gibson basses |
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| The mystery serial number? No idea at this point. |
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| Three piece neck with no outer rib linings |
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| What a sweet gal she is for her age!!! |
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| Not changing a thing for now...she will make music as she is |
She was a
one owner bass and stayed in the same family her entire life.
Here is her
story as told by the previous owner…
My Uncles name was Marvin Kippur. On the photo I sent you of
the base of the neck, backside you will see that initials MK etched in the
finish. Funny enough when I saw your Internet name as Molly Kay it influenced
my decision to sell you the bass. Strange coincidence?
Marvin's mother had bought him the instrument in the early 40s as he was a
music student in Denver, Colorado. He used to tell me stories of
carrying the bass on the public bus system to get back and forth from lessons.
I was amazed the poor bass did not get beat up too badly through all of that
but he was always a very careful man and his love for music was reflected in
his treatment of his instruments. I am not sure when it happened, maybe the mid
60s, he had a saw accident while working with his son and lost half of his
index finger on his left hand. This pretty much stopped his Bass playing but he
still played piano as much as he could. He actually had a prosthetic made but
without the sensation he said it just wasn't the same after that. I remember as
a small child sitting at the piano bench learning chopsticks and such fixated
on his half of a finger as if I could not believe he could still play the way
he did. He mostly liked to play Jazz but still had a hankering for classical
and Big Band. Caldonia and Route 66 were a couple of his favorite songs. He
passed in 2010.
It was sometime in 1998 that I found out that Marvin had an upright Bass. My
whole life I only knew of his piano playing because he had lost the finger before
I was born and never really mentioned the Bass to me. The Bass sat patiently
waiting in a room in his house that us kids never went into. My mother actually
borrowed the Bass from him because a friend of hers was a player in a local
bluegrass/ old timey music band. When I found out I nearly blew my socks. He
then agreed to give me the instrument as long as I found it a good home if ever
I was to part with it. He had no idea that it was such a piece of American
history being a Gibson made upright and was thrilled when I began to research
the instrument. He almost asked me for the bass back when I found out how rare
it was but then decided to trust my care and judgment concerning the
instrument. I had played 12 string guitar and mandolin for years and the chance
to work on a fretless instrument with a bow was very intriguing. The bass
proved quite challenging, I had the forearm strength to handle it and got
relatively good playing it but the size always intimidated me. I also play
music alone mostly and it was hard to get excited about what I was able to play
alone with the bass. I am no Edgar Myers. One of my favorite quotes when people
ask me why I play alone all of the time I say, "Music is like my
girlfriend, I do not like to share her with others". (I have since began
recording and laying down tracks with a digital system so that I can share the
music I create with others but not deal with headaches that other musicians and
egos can cause, including my own). I then moved more towards violin and viola but
always got the bass out just to hear the magnificent presence of those deep low
notes. The ability to really feel music vibrating through the body can only be
achieved by the Upright in my experience, and this bass can do that well. I
will miss the ability to do that whenever I like but the diversity I can
achieve with the violin has my attention now. I will always thank the bass for
the introduction to fretless playing and using a bow.
The only Bassist of note that has played the instrument is Kimmit Stone,
formerly of Spyrogyra and the Rippingtons. He is a friend of my Mothers and
sponsored by Fender. He loves this Bass and always said that for a plywood
instrument it is exceptional, even sounds better than some of the solid tops he
has played. I am sure he will be very jealous that you are to be the new owner.
I believe my Uncle would be proud of your ownership of the instrument. From
what I can gleam from your comments and your website I do believe this is the
ideal situation for the bass to begin a real instruments life! I will look
forward to seeing what your reaction is to the bass, what you come up with in
your research and the music you will make when you get the chance to finally
play it.
My reaction is...what a monster bass!
Closets thing I'll play to a carved bass. She is a keeper for life.
Thank you Gregory, we are blessed to own this special bass with a colorful, well documented history.
There's a dark & a troubled side of life
There's a bright, there's a sunny side, too
Tho' we meet with the darkness and strife
The sunny side we also may view
Keep on the sunny side, always on the sunny side,
Keep on the sunny side of life
It will help us ev'ry day, it will brighten all the way
If we'll keep on the sunny side of life
The storm and its fury broke today,
Crushing hopes that we cherish so dear;
Clouds and storms will, in time, pass away
The sun again will shine bright and clear.
Let us greet with the song of hope each day
Tho' the moment be cloudy or fair
Let us trust in our Saviour away
Who keepeth everyone in His care
Recorded on May 27, 1928 by the Carter Family (Mother Maybelle)
