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Naked Lady 26M VIII NY - USCG Tars and Spars band...?

2K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Shaun Costello 
In order to respond here I had to register, which was an extremely glitchy process. Then I had to somehow find this post again. YIKES! Anyway, My mother and Uncle toured with the Tars and Spars Show for years, and knew Sid Caesar well. I have great pics of Sid, Gower Champion, Vernon Duke, Victor Mature, and all the Tars and Spars gang. I don't know how to attach them here, but I'll try. Below is a link that might get you there.
Shaun Costello
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150538282889692.468813.585279691&type=1&l=484070c3df..



Finally got around to posting photos of my new Lady, a relac 1938 26M VIII, nice honey gold lacquer so maybe it's from a while ago, or purposely done darker, love it! Has older pads and a couple tiny leaks on G# and D but still fun to play. The permadjust system is absolutely incredible, there were timing leaks out of the box but I was able to set it up in 5 minutes!!! Pity it is not a standard feature. Very comfortable, smooth action, though key heights feel a bit higher than the 6m. Only blemish is the side C's RTH was buffed off, no biggie, no other repairs I can see.

Pretty neat to compare the geometry of the '36 6m (sold it) and '38 26M together, seems some angles are slightly tweaked here and there, apart from the obvious change to the pinky table and its new hinges/rods, and the octave mechanism between underslung and NY neck. Couldn't judge the sound precisely due to the minor leaks but they both sounded great, but the 26M had a sweetness in the upper octave and palms keys I preferred to the 6M.

Neck has no stamp, so not sure if original but overslung necks post-tranny don't seem too common so I'd guess it's likely. I'm saving money to have her overhauled with white roos, shouldn't be too much as keywork is in pretty good shape, few keys need swedging but everything looks straight, even has brand new springs. Contacted Sherry Huntley about possibly re-engraving, although she responded she would be on an extended leave, hope she's okay as her work is exceptional. Guess I'll be contacting Jason Dumars in the near future, he's an incredible artist as well.

My main reason for posting was to see if anyone knew anything about the US Coast Guard Tars & Spars band, of which this 26M VIII's last owner was supposedly a member during and after the war. His name was Bertil Herbert Kempe, apparently played with Sid Caesar in the group. Just curious to know more about the band, any recordings or if anyone has a copy of the old film, couldn't find much online. Always interested to know the history of my instruments and potentially find any pictures of it from the past... that would be awesome. cheers!

-swansong



 
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