Aluminum Double Bass: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This Double Bass was made by ALCOA (Aluminum Company of America) in Buffalo, New York, about 1934. It is a “Joseph Maddy All-Aluminum String Bass” model, serial # 429. The body of this instrument is made of Duraluminum, fingerboard, bridge, tailpiece, and soundpost are made of wood.

The records of the Aluminum Company of America indicate the fabrication of 50 aluminum bass viols at their Buffalo facility in 1928 for Carl Fischer, a music supply house in New York. (The Buffalo facility was used by ALCOA for the manufacture of experimental aluminum products -- dinnerware, etc.) A total of 500 instruments were made by ALCOA before the plant closed in 1934. G.C. Conn took over the Carl Fischer business and continued to offer aluminum basses until 1958.

The bass viol was first known as “The Collegian” model sold by Carl Fischer, and later was advertised as the “Joseph Maddy All-Aluminum String Bass.” The 1932-33 catalog of the Continental Music Company describes this bass on page 122: “The top, back, neck, scroll - in fact, all parts except the fingerboard, bridge, tailpiece, and soundpost - are made of Duraluminum, one of the hardest and toughest metals ... The component parts are then welded into a single, inseparable unit. Not a screw or rivet is used in assembling the entire instrument.”

“Besides the natural wood finish the Maddy All-Aluminum Bass can be furnished in Silver Aluminum or Gold Aluminum finish ... They are especially popular with stage or dance orchestras.” The model in natural wood finish was priced at $220, while the silver aluminum was $230, and the gold aluminum was $240.

The Aluminum Musical Instrument Co. was at PO Box 403, Ann Arbor Michigan...an operation run by Joseph Maddy to set up and supply aluminum violins. The double basses were marketed under the name “Joseph Maddy” but sold through musical instrument distributors, not through the Aluminum Musical Instrument Co.

This instrument features U. S. Patent 19141595 dated January 2, 1934, by John S. Burdick, assignor to the Aluminum Company of America for a musical instrument of the viol and violin type.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: ca 1934
• Object Name: Double Bass
• Physical Description: aluminum (overall material)
• Physical Description: wood (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 15 1/2 in x 75 1/2 in x 26 in; 39.37 cm x 191.77 cm x 66.04 cm
• place made: United States: New York, Buffalo
• ID Number: 1993.0180.01
• catalog number: 1993.0180.01
• accession number: 1993.0180
• Credit Line: Gift of William D. Rexroad
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.