The
Bass and cello registry

NEWS

Registry update, November 1 2022

Registry Update New registrations in October: 30 Registration updates: 21 Total registrations: 8316 Average prices in October: C-1 $2306 M-1 2725 M-1B 2916 S-9 3350 H-10/M-3 910

Bass of the Month

My friend Bernd Eltze in Essen, Germany, an early rock’n’roll player, aficionado and collector, picked up this S-8 Swing Master from the son of Russ Smith, bassist with Ron and His Rattletones out of western Connecticut in the late ’50s and early ’60s. Available 1938-’54, the Supreme-series S-8 is the non-blonde sibling of the S-9,

Cello of the Month

New Registry member Dylan Sapp in Georgia received this cello from his aunt, who’d found it set out on the street with trash, and he’s interested in restoring it. At first glance it doesn’t look like much, but it’s a score for the research, a 140. I’ve classed in the Supreme series, but that’s tentative

Registry update, October 1, 2022

September marked six months of steady growth in Registry traffic, more or less doubling since the lull in April. About half the September registrations and updates are sale-related. Prices seem to be ticking slowly upward, though still well behind average inflation. New registrations in September: 29 Registration updates: 24 Total registrations: 8287 Average prices in

Bass of the Month

Our friend Kyle Perkins in Kentucky found this rare bird for sale in Maryland. This otherwise standard-spec M-1 from 1950, from the family of the original owner, carries the distinctive difference of its Silvertone tailpiece badge, the first I’ve seen. Kay started supplying instruments to Sears before it was called Kay, and by 1940 its

Cello of the Month

An unusually large group of cellos and 1/4 basses joined the Registry in August, among them this relatively rare 100, marketed as the Artist. Offered only in 1938 and ’39, the 100 and 100B were the only Maestro-series cellos for the prewar period, pitched below the Supreme-series 201 and 165, with some appointments from the

Registry update for Sept. 2, 2022

New registrations in August: 24 Registration updates: 24 Total registrations: 8260 Average prices in August: C-1 $2340 M-1 2673 M-1B 2694 S-9 4048 H-10/M-3 1087 This month it appears that demand is picking up, with several instruments sold after sitting for up to a couple of years, and newly selling lower-priced instruments going quickly. It’s

Kay-Spotting Basics

Someone who’s new to Kay basses asks, “Can you tell the difference between M1 and C1 basses and why it’s important?” Kay produced and marketed its basses and cellos using a tiered system to differentiate its products for graduated price points. This began with five tiers before the war and evolved to three in the

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