Quote:
Originally Posted by David Newcomb
Hi!
I bought Ken Smith #041 about 13 years ago on West 48th st in NY and she was well used at that point in time. Add 13 years- 4 of which she got played constantly on stage in a catskills cover band upstate, and many years of unfortunate neglect in the original hard shell case from after I got married.
Her current condition is fair (electronics poor)- desparately in need of a refinish, fret job, and possibly the pickups need to be rewound.
The preamp is kinda shot- dirty pots that cut out and a jack that needs replacement. The preamp is a sealed one piece unit i think with the initials HAZ (its been a while since i had the backplate off).
The pickups are blade humbuckers with WOOD casments (rosewood i think) that make this almost one of a kind instrument.
All told it still sings like a queen- this bass is a slappers delight! It would be nice if i could get her back into full professional condition, but to trust a different luthier might be disasterous- any ideas would be apprieciated!
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Sorry, but our Preamps are never sealed. Maybe you have a Passive circuit and you are looking at the midrange roll-off which we used back then.
As mentioned here, we do restore Smith Basses but we have to have it here to make any judgments or estimates. Those pickups were made ages ago before we had our own. It would be best to re-route the Bass and put the new ones in IF that have gone bad. The Blade models were made for us by Bill Lawrence from 1979-1982, period. Each batch was slightly different and in 1982 we developed our own Pickup which we still use today, the Soapbar with pole pieces.