Stanley Clarke Signature Standard 4 String Bass: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Alembic Stanley Clarke Standard model electric bass guitar with a body made of polished wood. Front of body has inlaid wood down the middle. Inlaid wood has two (2) wide strips of light wood with two (2) thinner strips of dark wood in the middle. Down the center is a thin strip of light wood between the two (2) darker lines of wood. Center inlay extends the length of the back of the neck. On either side of center inlay on the front body is dark wood with rings and dark growth lines displayed. Additional inlay around the outside edges of the body. Headstock has matching dark wood at front and back. On the lower portion of the front body on the PL side, are four (4) knobs and three (3) switches with an input jack. Bass includes two (2) pickups above the adjustable saddles and bridge. Fret board has inlaid mother of pearl of various sizes at various sections down the center. Headstock has four (4) pegs with strings strung to bass. At the top of the headstock is a metal logo of the manufacturer. Logo includes a cloud at the top with hand reaching down out of the cloud holding the body of a dragon that is shaped in a ring. Within the ring is a stylized alembic.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: after 1990
• Owned by: Stanley Clarke, American, born 1951
• Manufactured by: Alembic Inc., American, founded 1969
• Manufactured by: Gotoh Gut Co., Japanese, founded 1960
• Type: electric guitars
• Type: musical instruments
• Medium: wood, copper alloy, plastic, wire, mother of pearl and gold
• Dimensions: 44 1/8 x 13 1/2 x 2 3/8 in. (112.1 x 34.3 x 6 cm)
• Place made: 3005 Wiljan Court, Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Object number: 2013.160.2.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Stanley Clarke
• 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.