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Vibraphone, used by Lionel Hampton

National Museum of American History

Object Details

Hampton, Lionel
Musser
Description

This vibraphone, used by Lionel Hampton, was made by Musser in Elkhardt, Indiana, around 1980. It is a three-octave, M75 Century model, with gold finished bars, gold lacquered resonators, and covered wood end panels.

American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader Lionel Leo Hampton (1908 - 2002) began his music career playing drums and took up the vibraphone in the late 1920s. After stints with Louis Armstrong, Nat Shilkret and his Orchestra, and the Benny Goodman Orchestra, Hampton formed his own orchestra in the early 1940s and would lead various incarnations of his group well into the late 1980s. Hampton donated this vibraphone to the Smithsonian in 2001 shortly before his death.

Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Lionel Hampton
ca 1980
ID Number
2001.0013.01
accession number
2001.0013
catalog number
2001.0013.01
Object Name
vibraphone
Physical Description
wood (overall material)
metal (overall material)
plastic (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 145 cm x 76 cm x 89 cm; 57 3/32 in x 29 29/32 in x 35 1/32 in
place made
United States: Indiana, Elkhart
See more items in
Culture and the Arts: Musical Instruments
Music & Musical Instruments
Percussion
Highlights from the Culture and the Arts Collection
Jazz
National Museum of American History
Subject
African American
Record ID
nmah_746753
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-8603-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

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