March 15, 1997. I walked into Chuck Levin's to buy a new 5 with no particular bass in mind. Never heard of Smith then. I played all sorts of pricey basses that day (some twice the price of the Smith I bought) and couldn't find "the one". We were about to leave and the salesman asked me to wait and he'd go get me a few Smith's to try. I looked at my cousin (who is also a bassist) and we shrugged our shoulders and figured they couldn't be any worse than what I'd already tried.
From the minute Brian opened that first case, I knew it. This was it. I picked it up, played a few notes and looked at my cousin again and he was grinning just as much as I was. I tried 3 different Smith 5's that day and bought that first one that I played. A BSR5M, ash body, black hardware. Unreal tone and playability. I sold the bass 3 years later to fund a BSR5P. For over four years now, I have tried unsuccesfully to find the bass and buy her back. Maybe someday she'll come home...
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