Ken Smith Pickups

[Alejandro Zorrilla]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

Smith Pickups or Burner Pickups? The Burners do not have the regular Smith Pickups. They have the ones made in Japan specifically for the Burners.

As far as how other sound in comparison, you will have to ask others. I have little to no experience with other brands in the last 25 years or so. To me, my Basses sound best with the Pickups we put in them but that's just my opinion.

Can you briefly tell the difference between Bunrer and Smith Pup´s? Is it worth changing to Smith?

[Scott Reed]

I also have a few questions about pickups...

I have a 2000 BSR4-J. A few years ago, it developed a pretty bad hum so I dropped it off at Washington Music Center. Their tech contacted Ken and he suggested replacing the neck PuP.

When I got the bass back, the hum was gone but the bass sounded different to me. Not dramatically different, just a little warmer with less upper-mids.

I noticed that the new pickup did not have the "Smith" logo on it so I called. They assured me that it was exactly the same pickup as the original, just without the logo.

The bass still sounds great but recently I had the opportunity to play another BSR4J and it sounded much better (imho). With very little effort, it was punchy with the type of bell-like mids that made me buy this bass in the first place.

So here are my questions:

Are the pickups without the Smith Logo identical to the originals?

(If so) could the change in tone be the result of a wiring or pre-amp issue?

(If not) can we still buy the Smith (labeled) pickups, identical to whatever was used in 99/00 (945j)?

Thanks,

-Scott Reed

[Ken Smith]

First off, the Burner Pickups were made in Japan for those Basses only. They are 100% different than our Soapbar models we use in the handmade Basses we make in USA.

The JJs in the BSR models... They were made here with 9 poles to use in 4 or 5 string Basses named 945s..

The last batch we got took forever and the company had moved from the east to the west coast. We took them without the Logo to just get them.

After this, we switched suppliers for the Js and made them without polepieces, Flattops. A new design that sounded better.

If you get even the 945s from different batches with or without the names that had the 9 polepieces, they chances of them sounding different is likely. They are handmade and vary from batch to batch.

The Basses are also handmade and two Basses looking the same made close to each other time wise can sound different as well even if the pickups are identical. Different ages of Basses and different woods sound even more different. Wood is wood. It is not a consistent material even in the same tree.

Unless I actually see your Bass, I cannot pass judgment. I have no idea what Washington Music did with your Bass. I wasn't there to watch them. For this reason, we tell people to send the Basses to us for the closest possible work to be done to return the Bass to its original state. We made it and we can fix them better then anyone in our opinion. Washington Music is one of the best stores in the world. For a Smith Bass, we are the ones that know best.

[Scott Reed]

Thanks Ken, that makes sense. I love my bass and wouldn't trade it for anything. Im in the market for a 5 so I am headed down to Chucks tomorrow to see what they have in stock, interested in playing a BSR5MS. At some point, I'll probably send this one back to you guys to have the S/P option installed and a look at the pickup installation.

Thanks again man, I'm glad I found this forum.

-Scott Reed

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by ZedsDead

Thanks Ken, that makes sense. I love my bass and wouldn't trade it for anything. Im in the market for a 5 so I am headed down to Chucks tomorrow to see what they have in stock, interested in playing a BSR5MS. At some point, I'll probably send this one back to you guys to have the S/P option installed and a look at the pickup installation.

Thanks again man, I'm glad I found this forum.

-Scott Reed

S/P in a J? The S/P is for the soapbar pickups. The Js don't have the 'umph' to go up into parallel wiring. They are already in series. The SBs are Parallel as standard and the Series is the wiring option with the switches.

[Scott Reed]

Thanks for the info, I learn something new every time I come here! Awesome.