" Name That Bass " aka "This OLD Bass"

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Anselm Hauke

hi ken
congratulation, nice bass, interesting to see the pictures.
one question:
here:
http://www.kensmithbasses.com/double...that_bass2.htm
you write:
"The upper and lower Back have decorative raised plates added for structure as well."

was it the only possible way to add these plates at the outside of the bass?

i am asking only for my personal curiosity in luthiery, this is not meant as criticism to the work of mr. biase.

In my opinion, there was no way to avoid adding them.

When I got the Bass, there was no wood at all behind the bottom block, just some black colored wood putty or something. This Bass was not even possible to string up when I purchased it. Biase had to do an inlay under the external Inlay first to replace the missing wood of the Back for the lower Block fit first. Last Friday was the first time in just over 5 years I was even able to play and hear the Bass.

At the upper Block, a piece was already added. Behind it was some original wafer thin wood with two HUGE brass screws going into the upper block under the Neck Heel. I had Biase remove the remaining screws that were not cut away from the Block and Back and plug the holes with wood. This area needed an internal repair as well. Now the Neck and Back upper Block area are free from metal and 'patch-type' repairs.

I made the Plates here in my shop from the same block of wood that I cut the Scroll Cheek wood out of and sent them to Biase. He faxed me a template of the areas that needed to be covered. When He got the wood (plus some extra pieces) he called to tell me he didn't like the grain pattern because it was flatsawn and the back was perfectly quartered. He took the wood that I sent him and made book matched looking pieces with more of a quartered grain and added an Ebony center strip to each plate to match the strip running up and down the Back which seems to be an old repair inlay from the joint expansion. These are some of the details this 'old schooler' went thru to make this Bass as close as possible to a 'period-type' restoration. I have seen decoritive back plates on a Busan and a Goffriller as well as some other Basses and if done right, they look beautiful. Some however do not look as nice as others.

The Neck Block/Shoulder area 'Cut' which I forgot to photograph for the website looks very similar to the Neck platforms on both my Hart (100% original) and my Block-cut ex-Morelli. This Bass is capped at the Block as well with some Macassar Ebony cut from our own lumber stock we use for Smith Basses, bookmatched pieces no doubt! The Neck Graft is from an aged European Cello Back billet that I purchased 5 years for the restoration job. The billet sat in Biase's shop untouched for about 4 years before he started the Graft process. The neck piece cut from the 'back stock also sat around for months until he got around to it. This was actually a good thing for the acclimation process of the wood once it's been cut from a larger piece of stock.

I took Neck, Nut, Fingerboard and Bridge measurements from 3 of my best and favorite basses here to give him the specs to ensure personal comfort on the final set-up. I think Biase left things a bit heavy so I would have room to trim it down later. You can't add it back once it's been cut away! The Fingerboard Camber is about the best I have had which is only about 1-mm end to end. This is also the thickest and longest piece of Ebony I have had on a Bass as well. The highest note on this monster is an F which is a 7th above the fingerboard previously on the Storioni.

This Bass is huge and has a similar punch and crunch of air movement to my Storioni attr. Cornerless Bass. The Hart use to feel a bit broad to me getting over the Maggini-like shoulders as compared to the Martini but after playing this Bass for a few days, the Hart feels more like a Solo bass in comparison. Whom ever ends up with this Bass, I doubt it will be used for Solo Rep.

Oh, and by they way with the current set-up with the Evah' Weich's, the Pizz for jazz is like 'Killer Joe' in your face..

[Anselm Hauke]

thanks for the detailed answer!

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Anselm Hauke

thanks for the detailed answer!

I'm just getting Started!

[David Powell]

And so it is! This bass and the restoration of it brought me into bass forums as a participant instead of a "reader", for better or worse. What an inspiration, Mr. Smith. Thank-you for doing this one so proud.

I think the process on this bass encapsulates what I have felt about musical instruments ever since my father passed several years ago and I adopted his old Harmony 173, a rather humble classical guitar, but with one of the most beautiful spruce tops I've ever seen. It too was unplayable when I brought it home, and now it intonates quite well after my efforts.

We don't really own these instruments;- ever. Once created they have an immortal potential that humans do not. We are at best humble caretakers that can make some art from them in a single lifetime, but these instruments are just getting started on their many journeys, however old we perceive them to be. You brought it back to life, Ken. Now it's your turn to create with it. Best to you always,

Silversorcerer

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by David Powell

And so it is! This bass and the restoration of it brought me into bass forums as a participant instead of a "reader", for better or worse. What an inspiration, Mr. Smith. Thank-you for doing this one so proud.

I think the process on this bass encapsulates what I have felt about musical instruments ever since my father passed several years ago and I adopted his old Harmony 173, a rather humble classical guitar, but with one of the most beautiful spruce tops I've ever seen. It too was unplayable when I brought it home, and now it intonates quite well after my efforts.

We don't really own these instruments;- ever. Once created they have an immortal potential that humans do not. We are at best humble caretakers that can make some art from them in a single lifetime, but these instruments are just getting started on their many journeys, however old we perceive them to be. You brought it back to life, Ken. Now it's your turn to create with it. Best to you always,

Silversorcerer

Well, I agree about the Caretaker position. Besides all the work that has been done, it is still not where I want the Bass. I have it packed up and am sending it down to Jeff Bollbach to have a few things tweaked as well as having him make and install a Chromatic C-Extension like the one he made for my Bisiach labeled Bass.

The Neck heel was way higher than what I wanted but Biase wanted to stop at that point and have me play it for awhile before removing any wood that can't be replaced. I had giving him the Neck/Heel specs off of my Martini to sort of copy but still he left it a little heavy.

After a single rehearsal I put the Bass away until I could have this done. Last week I made the decision that driving back and forth to NYC a minimum of 2 times is more work and expense than if I just cut it down myself to what I really want which can only be done here by tweaking it daily as I play the neck in an unfinished state until it's just where I want it. I now have the neck just about there but the top of Heel and throat underside under the Peg Box needs to be Varnished back up to match. I decided that it would be best to just let Jeff finish this off from here as well as a few touch-ups along with the Extension job than driving into the city which will cost me more in time that it's worth even thought the work will be free of charge from Biase.

So, there will eventually a whole new set of pictures taken on this when the C-Extension is done and the re-carved Neck & Heel are all varnished up. The Heel will look about half the size as it does now as well as the neck and profile being thinner overall to better match the Martini.

It's not over till it's over..

[Eric Swanson]

Dear God, that is a beautiful bass.

Congratulations, Ken, on having the faith and vision to make this happen.

I hope that playing it gives you many hours of joy.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Eric Swanson

Dear God, that is a beautiful bass.

Congratulations, Ken, on having the faith and vision to make this happen.

I hope that playing it gives you many hours of joy.

I should know in a day or so if I have my booth/room set for the June ISB. If so and all goes well with Jeff's work, 'Big Ben' will be on display at the Show along with a few of my other Basses that are fully restored and sale-ready.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

I should know in a day or so if I have my booth/room set for the June ISB. If so and all goes well with Jeff's work, 'Big Ben' will be on display at the Show along with a few of my other Basses that are fully restored and sale-ready.

'Big Ben' is sitting in the rack a few feet from my desk. I picked it up Saturday and even stopped by Arnold's to show him the Bass as well. My Evah's were there to be put on my Lott model Bass after the Extension but that job was put on hold so I put them on 'Big Ben' instead and used ones of Arnold's benches while he touched up my modern Lott Bass which is now ready for the ISB as well.

Big Ben, aka Gamba Supreme will be at the ISB. It's a Bass NOT to miss! Trust me on that. The sound is in the class of my attributed Storioni. An Organ with Strings on it!

The C-Extension came out beautifully as well so a big thanks to Jeff Bollbach who also did a few tweaks on the Bass to say the least. "Dr. Arnold" had the last word as I had him look it over just in case he had any thoughts of his own.

This is a Bass I could keep and use for everything short of a tight spaced Pit job as she does have some girth on her to contend with, upper and lower. She measures about 60"-48"-86" in case you were thinking of taking her out for a spin..