I played a Kay recently and almost bought it. When I got home, I played my Shen SB-90 with unwound gut strings and I didn’t miss the Kay any longer. I do love the guts, but I think the rest is mythology. Best of luck!
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Double Bass Are Kay basses really worth it?
- Thread starter Matthew J Davis
- Start date
Op should consider the attractively priced 1930s American Standard with the neck reset in the classifieds here at present. $2500 seems like a pretty slick deal and American Standards of that vintage have approximately 2.75x the mojo of Kays (fact.).
Nice try.
Even as someone who works on a LOT of old basses, I see probably 4x as many broken new Chinese bass necks every year as I do broken old Kay necks. The difference is that I usually refuse to work on the Chinese junk. Broken Kay necks are usually from a design flaw. Broken Chinese necks are from poor quality / unseasoned materials and whatever that old gummy white chalk glue they use is called.
There are bass players who have broken their necks and those that are going to; part of the bass player life.
Thanks. My luthier/bass tech advises against playing the carved bass on hot days outdoors in direct sunlight for a prolonged period of time. He said if I am playing outdoors on a covered stage it should be fine. I have three gigs this weekend that are outdoors but under a big tent so I am playing the nicer carved bass for sure. I hear ya.
Your luthier is right.
I've watched as the glue holding a high-end guitar together released while it was being played in the sun on a hot 100°F+ summer day in southern California... The center seam let go about 2 inches below the bridge. The owner only saved the guitar by slacking the strings, pressing the sides together to make the center seam re-join and getting the guitar into the an air-conditioned room. It left the glued seam sightly stretched and more visible, but kept the guitar playable. This was an $8K Martin special edition guitar.
It wasn't pretty. I'd hate to see something like that happen with a double bass.
I've watched as the glue holding a high-end guitar together released while it was being played in the sun on a hot 100°F+ summer day in southern California... The center seam let go about 2 inches below the bridge. The owner only saved the guitar by slacking the strings, pressing the sides together to make the center seam re-join and getting the guitar into the an air-conditioned room. It left the glued seam sightly stretched and more visible, but kept the guitar playable. This was an $8K Martin special edition guitar.
It wasn't pretty. I'd hate to see something like that happen with a double bass.
Nice try.
Even as someone who works on a LOT of old basses, I see probably 4x as many broken new Chinese bass necks every year as I do broken old Kay necks. The difference is that I usually refuse to work on the Chinese junk. Broken Kay necks are usually from a design flaw. Broken Chinese necks are from poor quality / unseasoned materials and whatever that old gummy white chalk glue they use is called.
There are bass players who have broken their necks and those that are going to; part of the bass player life.
Have you seen a lot of broken Shen necks?
Uh oh. I was under the impression that my Shen is bullet proof, but now I'm scared!
No bass is bulletproof. What we do and how we live with these things is highly impractical.
I'll say! From an earlier post of mine in the Kay Bass Club:
"One of my old friends was Jim Lanigan, a great bass player, who played in the Friars Society Orchestra at the Friars Inn in Chicago. One night a crazy guy by the name of Two Gun Louis came in and shot up the place. Luckily Jim and the band were upstairs having something to eat at the time but Two Gun Louis put five or six holes into this little tuba sitting on the bandstand. The next night he came back and gave Jim a tremendous amount of money to buy a new bass."
from The Rise of the Mafia
[apparently, this story exists in several versions; most of the versions have the instrument that got shot up as a double bass]
Whoever shot up that bass is an excellent marksman. The holes are evenly spaced.
Lemmon's arm positioning is terrible.
Whoever shot up that bass is an excellent marksman. The holes are evenly spaced.
It was supposed to have been hit with a Thompson machine gun, of course.
I saw a Kay and and an Engelhart for sale recently when picking up my bass from my repairman (seasonal crack). I mused on getting one to alleviate the stress on my 1864 carved German bass. The repairman laughed and then told me that this would be like parking your Lamborghini so you could take the Yugo for a spin. Cute analogy, even if a little inaccurate.
I agree. I have played some very nice Shen basses. With a little love and adjustment they make fine instruments. Pound for pound, they are a better instrument IMHO than most Kay basses.
Fired one round at a time, no doubt. If that bass is an H-10, I guess it must be the precursor to the 1/4 sized M-3. I thought in the pic the proportions looked a bit odd, a bit "off."
Just to hijack on the subject of Tommie guns - anyone ever play/catch a show at the old Southgate House across the river from Cincinnati? One of the absolutely best live music venues I've ever been to. This huge old mansion which had gone to seed, but was a dive bar that hosted national acts. I remember seeing Southern Culture on the Skids and Reverend Horton Heat play incredible shows there - in the mansion's old ballroom. (There is a new venue called Southgate House Revival.)
Why do I mention this defunct music venue? The mansion was originally the Thompson mansion. Yes, home of the inventor of the Tommie gun!
Why do I mention this defunct music venue? The mansion was originally the Thompson mansion. Yes, home of the inventor of the Tommie gun!
You're correct, the H-10 was introduced in '47 and became the M-3 with the model-line revamp in '55. I'm confident the producers chose the junior M-1 because the script called for some stunts with the bass, such as carrying it rapidly out a window and down a fire escape, that would have been much more difficult with the full-sized version. The bass is registered and still lives in Burbank CA, holes and all.
People ask $2700 to $4000 but they don't seem to get those requests fulfilled. My 1940 Kay M1 sold for $2000. It's probably a great bass. I just don't have what it takes to dedicate to upright.
Just curious if you’ve seen a lot of Shens and if there is any difference in the age? Are older ones worse quality,better quality,all the same?