Your first time (when you feel in love)

[Christopher Rhodes]

I think I just had a bad one, - bad setup + dirty dead strings. It was the only Ken Smith bass in the shop and it did not play well - but that was then. The Burner Series are in there. I see them from time-to-time at a local 2nd-hand gear supplier ( www.atomicmusiconline.com). They generally sell extremely fast - high demand for them!

It's funny, sometimes those 1st impressions can be lasting ones. Nevertheless - that was the extreme distant past. My 1993 experience changed all that.

I am even a fan of the KSD 5-string. Check out the tone in this youtube.com video.

Lee Ritenour - Papa Was A Rolling Stone ( 5 minute mark - mini solo)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=e1zvA41qcVg

Lee Ritenour - Is it you
http://youtube.com/watch?v=oaDlO0I7i...related&search=

I am going over some blues-type tunes now for a short gig tomorrow - with the 6-string

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by Christopher Rhodes

I think I just had a bad one, - bad setup + dirty dead strings. That's usually the unfortunate case. It was the only Ken Smith bass in the shop and it did not play well - but that was then. The Burner Series are in there. I see them from time-to-time at a local 2nd-hand gear supplier ( www.atomicmusiconline.com). They generally sell extremely fast - high demand for them!

It's funny, sometimes those 1st impressions can be lasting ones. Nevertheless - that was the extreme distant past. My 1993 experience changed all that.

I am even a fan of the KSD 5-string. Check out the tone in this youtube.com video.

Lee Ritenour - Papa Was A Rolling Stone ( 5 minute mark - mini solo)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=e1zvA41qcVg

Very nice version of this tune! Great story behind this tune when the Temptations did it. I loved this arrangement.

As far as the bass sound with the KSD-5? Obviously a very nice sound for a bass in this price range! I was more impressed with the sound of this bass during the verse and chorus. Great bottom end tightness! Of course, tasteful playing does contribute a bit.

As far as the "pop-n-thumb", these basses sound really good, but just can't compete (IMO) with that "in-your-face" tightness of clarity and pop as you find in the BT circuit; then of course you are getting into the upper-end neck-thru's with this circuit and all that goes with that.

At any rate, like the Burners, nice bass and sound for the $'s. Very impressive!

I am going over some blues-type tunes now for a short gig tomorrow - with the 6-string

Make it good, Chris! Enjoy the gig tomorrow!

[Mark Tucker]

It also helps if you're Melvin Lee

Originally Posted by Tim Bishop

Very nice version of this tune! Great story behind this tune when the Temptations did it. I loved this arrangement.

As far as the bass sound with the KSD-5? Obviously a very nice sound for a bass in this price range! I was more impressed with the sound of this bass during the verse and chorus. Great bottom end tightness! Of course, tasteful playing does contribute a bit.

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by Mark Tucker

It also helps if you're Melvin Lee

Well, maybe. There are many players out there without "the noteriety" that can flat bring it! Never discount that fact!

[Darren Lipper]

For me, it was a constant tone I was hearing...

I remember hearing TLC's "Waterfalls", and some Chaka stuff with Melvin Lee Davis...

and just thinking how smooth, fat, and sexy the bass sounded...

After I found out it was a Smith, I went to a bass shop in Louisville (I was living in southern Indiana at the time) and tried out Fodera, Spector, Alembec, Fender, etc.. the Smith just killed in terms of playability compared to the other basses...

and the one thing I have noticed is how consistant the playabitity is in every Smith I pick up... always butter.

I really feel that Smith basses bring a distinct vibe to whatever musical context they are put in. It's hard to put into words... like this classy instrument vibe, with a smooth funky phat sound, that also sounds killing in the upper register...

[Steve_M]

My first experience was at the Bass Centre when they were still based in Wapping.

They had an ebony faced BT6 for sale and it was pretty much love at first site - an instrument that lived up to all my expectations in every way (which is a rare thing). It was the only bass I'd ever wanted as much as my then current instrument, a Jaydee (which I still own and is still a killer bass but the Smith is warmer and fuller.)

I knew at that point that a Smith bass was going to be the ultimate modern bass, for me.

[Mike Jenkins]

I'm a minister and I come from a pretty musical family. After messing around with various instruments in my youth (I’m still pretty young) I never really learned how to play anything well enough to be called a musician. A few years back the musical jeans lying dormant in me sprang to life and I started to get serious about the bass. In church I've heard many musicians play bass but I never paid attention to what brand of instrument they were playing.

I was a guest speaker at a church one day and I could hear the bass player so distinctly. I watched him carefully the whole day. He was playing through this crappy little amp but he sounded so good and the instrument he held looked more like a finely sculpted piece of art than a bass. After the service I went over and talked with him complementing him on his sound and I mentioned that I was an "advanced beginner" on the instrument. He told me he was playing a Ken Smith. I was somewhat familiar with the name because I’d been told that a lot of gospel bassist played Smiths. He then asked if I wanted to try his Smith. I strapped that big sixer on, later I found out it was a Black Tiger Elite, and played away on it. It felt very natural, it was easy and comfortable to play and it was my first time playing a 6. I figured that if he could sound that good through that crappy little amp with that bass then what could he do with a real rig. I went home and looked up Ken Smith on the net and declared that some day I'd get one.

[Mike Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Christopher Rhodes

I am even a fan of the KSD 5-string. Check out the tone in this youtube.com video.

Lee Ritenour - Papa Was A Rolling Stone ( 5 minute mark - mini solo)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=e1zvA41qcVg

Lee Ritenour - Is it you
http://youtube.com/watch?v=oaDlO0I7i...related&search=

I agree with you about the KSD 70's 5 string. I have the Lee Ritenour video called "Overtime" in which those recordings come from of Melvin Davis playing that bass. Everyday I check ebay and I'm tempted to pick one up. Only reason I don't is because I don't have enough time to play all the basses I have now. But I have a feeling that one day I'll go ahead and pick that puppy up.

Get that video, dim the lights, and watch it on a Big Screen HDTV with a great sound system and you'll feel like you're right there in the audience sitting on the floor with the others You'll also see that Melvin has about 3 or 4 other Smiths sitting right next to him.

[Steve_M]

LOL

Someone give the guy an endorsement deal!

BTW: Is their playing the epitome of taste or what? Very classy! Love it! Love it! Love it!

[Tim Pruitt]

I always had heard that distinctive SMITH sound on albums and tracks we perform at church. But where I live there is not a dealer close to here.

The first time I played one...Bass Central in FL. I attended a business conference in Jacksonville and skipped class one day to drive to Bass Central. Once there the first thing I asked for was a Smith. Despite every type / brand of bass hanging on the wall I wanted to put my hands on a Smith. They brought one out and well...I fell in love. Some months later I traded my MTD 635 for my Smith that I have now.

AWESOME. No other sound like it. The definative Gospel Bass sound.

[Albert Smith]

Originally Posted by Tim Pruitt

I always had heard that distinctive SMITH sound on albums and tracks we perform at church. But where I live there is not a dealer close to here.

The first time I played one...Bass Central in FL. I attended a business conference in Jacksonville and skipped class one day to drive to Bass Central. Once there the first thing I asked for was a Smith. Despite every type / brand of bass hanging on the wall I wanted to put my hands on a Smith. They brought one out and well...I fell in love. Some months later I traded my MTD 635 for my Smith that I have now.

AWESOME. No other sound like it. The definative Gospel Bass sound.

Tim if you get a moment check out the Gospel Corner thread here on the Smith forum, I'd love as well as the other Gospel bass player to hear about your experiences and influences in the Gospel world.