Hello friends,
First let me say that I am very happy to join this forum made up of enthusiasts of Ken Smith basses, even more so to hear that Ken Smith himself participates in it.
By the way, to speak directly with the owner of a company that makes a world famous bass[IMG]file:///C:/Users/Notebook/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif[/IMG] is really very rare.
My desire for a Ken Smith bass began in 2003, when I saw a show of Luis Miguel called LIVE (on DVD). I was amazed by the beauty and tone of that bass.
My first difficulty was to find out what the brand of bass.
That time I had never heard of Ken Smith, neither
the people I asked to. Three years later, after showing this DVD to several musicians, I found one that told me it was a Ken Smith.
The second difficulty was to find a Ken Smith to buy. I tried at the biggests stores of musical instruments and at MERCADOLIVRE (the brazilian ebay) and not found.
My dream only could be carried in December 2008, when I met Geisan Varne (he is on the Ken Smith list). He brought from USA to me this BSR-6GN (photos below).
Here you can see the “before and after”, because he had some marks of slap and I restored it here in Brazil.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Yes JASON MENDELSON, I think that you were the previous owner of this bass. I realized this because i saw the same bad sheet in your photos.
Well, I would like to take this opportunity to ask some questions.
As I said above, which awakened in me the desire to buy a Ken Smith was the show of Luis Miguel. I thought that tone just wonderful.
Here you can see one of the songs from the show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB6K_HOIHps
However, I have tried all possible settings and I havent achieved anything like that sound. I was using a Peavey TNT 115 bass combo amp.
I spoke to Geisan Varne about it and he said that to get that tone I needed a valved amp and recommended me to buy a DAVID EDEN. And I believed it because I am fan of Spyro Gyra and I saw on their site that Scott Ambush uses a DAVID EDEN.
So I bought a David Eden WT 550 and I use it with a cabinet 1x15 (like a HARTKE).
However, I havent got the tone that I seek, and sincerely, I still prefer the sound of my old Peavey TNT 115.
Then I had an idea of searching on the web for somehow to met Gerardo Lalo Carrillo (another vip of Ken Smith list), bass player of Luis Miguel, to get more information about his rig. So, I found his page on Facebook and I left there my question. He answered a few days later but did not clarify nothing. His answer was basically this: "El sonido que usted busca esta en tus dedos y en tu corazon" (The tone that you are serching for is in your fingers and in your heart).
Unsatisfied with this answer I left another message asking if in that show (LIVE) he was using some effects module. He said no, that connects his bass directly to mixer (console).
The fact is that I've tried everything, but I havent got the tone that I am searching for.
Seeing this forum now occurred to me the idea that some of these specialists in Ken Smith basses might have the answer I need.
So I need the cooperation of you to help me to find the sound of my dreams.
Thanks everyone.
(Translated by Google)