Smith Bass Design and its History (The on-line Book in the making)

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Tim Bishop

Ken,

What was your reasoning behind the 2 over 3 peg-head design?

Tim B.

In my mind, it comes from double basses starting sometime in the 19th century. The lower gears moved up a slot and the higher ones down. I see this from France a lot and partly from Germany. The theory I believe is that the thicker or thickest strings needs more after-length and decreased break-over angle.

German examples both ways;

French examples both ways;

Also, I had some requests for the reverse gears on the 5s from my Distributor in Japan and then put it on the 25th models. Soon after I made it standard. You can still order a bass with the older 3/2 configuration.