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In 1934 The H. N. White Company started making string instruments with the same attention to quality that was used to make brass instruments. The H. N. White Basses quickly gained a reputation for their superior tone but also for their unbelievable quality. The First sting instruments appear in White Way News Number 7 (1934) and were of the King brand only. In 1936 (White Way News Number 9) The American Standard string bass appears. The string basses fronts were made from the finest straight grain spruce with very close grain quality, while the rest of the instrument was made of curly maple. Each bass was equipped with an improved geared key mechanism, insuring rigidity and sensitive tuning. The H. N. White Company claimed that each "King string bass has a greater volume of tone, and carries the vibrations over a longer period of time, than any other string bass..." Production of both the King and American Standard versions were halted during the Second World War. Production resumed for the King string bass in 1946, and the American Standard Bass in 1949. The King Cello was introduced in 1940, a few months before the start of WW II. Production of the Cello did not restart right after the war, but did start in 1950. At this time I am not sure why there was such a delay in Cello production but my guess is that management wanted to focus on greater volume with less versions of instruments. Both brands continued in production until 1965. After 1965 the string division of the company was sold off to the Kay Bass Company. Click here to see what it looked like in the String Department! Please send your serial numbers and any other information for the development of a King and American Standard string bass database. Contact Me
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1934 Catalog |
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1936 Catalog |
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1946 Catalog American Standard production did not resume until 1949. |
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1949 Catalog |
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1951 Catalog King Artcraft Cello Introduced. |
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1963 Catalog |
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The following is a archive of some promotional material:
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1935 Two Page Promo Inside |
1935 Two Page Promo | 1941 Basses Ad |
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1940 White Way Catalog Number
12 |
1941 Cello Ad |
Uncle Sam ad 1941 |
Pictures of String Basses:
1946-1950 Blond Finish String Bass Pictures donated by LH |
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To register your string bass or see more pictures please visit or contact:
Kip Martin
Sunny Mountain Boy
www.americanstandardbass.com
King String Bass
Serial Numbers |
American Standard String Bass
Serial Numbers |
| 1934 001 1935 200 1936 400 1937 800 1938 1200 1939 1600 1940 2200 1942-1946 No Production WWII 1947 Limited Production 1949 1950 1951 1952 2450 1953 2600 1954 2800 1955 3000 1956 3200 1957 3400 1958 3600 1959 3800 1960 4000 1961 4200 1962 4400 1963 4600 1964 4800 1965 5000 |
1936 001 1937 185 1938 480 1939 790 1940 1010 1941 1320 1942-1946 No Production WWII 1947-1948 No Production 1949 1400 1950 1500 1951 1600 1952 1700 1953 1800 1954 1900 1955 2000 1956 2100 1957 2200 1958 2300 1959 2400 1960 2500 1961 2600 1962 2700 1963 2800 1964 2900 1965 3090 |
Attention www.ebay.com sellers: you may now use the watermarked catalog pictures in your auctions. Please provide a link to this website. |
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