[Ken Smith]

This my TB response to date which Phil will post a link to over there.. Thx Phil..
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Hello TB DB Posters, this is Ken Smith from the 'other dimension' responding thru a friend.

First off I will not discuss why or how I was banned and also will say that the ban looks fairly permanent and will probably stay that way. There are other ways now other than here at TB to get in touch with me so the world is just fine as it is..

On this Batchelder thread topic I will just say a few 'non-shilling' things and hopefully they are within the rules or close to them.

On the Bass itself, I bought it around 2001 when I decided to get back into playing again and was hungry for an old Bass like I used to own when I played professionally in NY. I sold my 18th century Italian Bass to move and buy a house out here in fresh air Pa. That Bass was recently sold again and has its home in the hands of a fine player named Mikko who is the Princ. of the Helsinki Phil. Now that I no longer use the Batchelder, I am trying to find it a new home. That is all I will say about the sale part because I don't want my buddy here posting for me to take any heat. Also, the OP already mentioned it was on Ebay so no news on that.

On the 'Ugly' comment, I can handle it. Now everyone I know likes 'different' types of Scrolls. Even Paul W. my buddy here who refers to me as 'Kenny Boy' (love n miss you uncle Pauly..) had made public mention that he doesn't like some aspects of the original Prescott Scrolls when talking about the full sized Gamba Prescott I used to own. Another friend of mine here in the area said, "the Scroll is the reason I would never buy that Bass" referring to the Batchelder. A great jazz Bassist Charles Famborough jumped out of bed to come and see the Batchelder when I first got it mainly because he loved how the Scroll looked when he first saw these very same pictures of it.

So you see, 'Ugly', 'Beautiful' or 'it doesn't bother me' are just personal choice comments in my mind.

On the workmanship and non symmetrical looking lines of the Bass I will admit the Bass is on the crude side of making. In the world of old Basses, that often has little to do with the sound or performance providing the Bass has been well repaired and maintained. Just look at 100-200 old non factory Basses from 100-300 years old or older if you can find them and you will see that many of them are less than perfect in shape and design if not most of them. This doesn't seem to bother professionals as I have seen myself some of the most unusual looking Basses played in the higher ranks of the profession.

Enjoy and give my love to the Kids...