Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar Formerly Owned by Mike Mitchell
Manufacturer
Fender Musical Instruments
Date1962
Mediummaple; rosewood; chromium
DimensionsOverall: 39 x 12 3/8 x 3 in. (99.06 x 31.433 x 7.62 cm)
Credit LineMoPOP permanent collection
Object number1996.436.1.1
Text EntriesGuitar manufacturer Gibson briefly experimented with an electric upright bass in the late 1930s. Only two of these Gibson designs were created; one was owned and played by Les Paul’s (1915-2009) brother-in-law, Wally Kamin (d. unknown), and the other—the one shown here—belonged to Betty (Perigo) Snow (1925-1998), who purchased it in May 1940 and played it with the Tropical Islanders Hawaiian Orchestra in Kalamazoo, Michigan. With its small size and light weight, this bass might have become popular, but World War II put a damper on its production as Gibson turned to wartime products. Electric basses in general did not become hugely popular until the Fender company developed better amplifiers for them in the 1950s.
Rosewood fingerboard with inlaid fret markers. Maple body with plastic edging and a “tobacco” sunburst finish. Two brown plastic knobs, one for volume, one for tone. Chrome hardware.
CopyrightThe organization that has made the Item available reasonably believes that the Item is not restricted by copyright or related rights, but a conclusive determination could not be made. For more information, see http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/
On View
Not on view
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