Bass guitar used by Robert "Kool" Bell of Kool & the Gang: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

2015.212a: An electric bass guitar used by Robert “Kool” Bell of Kool and the Gang. The bass guitar is made of light colored wood and has brass tuning pegs. It has two pickups in black. The strings are attached to an oval shaped metal tailpiece with four smaller tuners. The bass also has four volume and tone controls on the left side of the lower front body. Two switches for pick-ups are also on the lower left side of the front body. On the headstock is gold inlay with the bass name running vertically down the center that reads “O / A / S / I / S.” The top of the headstock has an inlaid gold design. Imprinted into the wood on the back of the headstock at the top is “37 57 / USA.” On the back of the body on the lower left side is an oval-shaped black electronics cavity plate. Also on the back at the top near of the neck is a strap button.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1976-1978
• Manufactured by: Oasis Guitars, American
• Used by: Kool & the Gang, American, founded 1964
• Used by: Robert "Kool" Bell, American, born 1950
• Type: musical instruments
• Type: guitars
• Medium: wood, brass (alloy), metal and plastic
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 46 1/2 × 13 7/8 × 3 in. (118.1 × 35.2 × 7.6 cm)
• Place made: Juliesse Avenue, Sacramento, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Disco (Music)
• Topic: Funk (Music)
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Rhythm and blues (Music)
• Object number: 2015.212ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Robert "Kool" Bell of Kool & The Gang
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.