Smith Basses

[danilo ninkovic]

Hello Mr. Smith
I have a Ken Smith bass which is more than 10 year old, but I am not the first owner. Someone before has took off the label inside the back plate..so I thought maybe it would be better to engrave the date of production and other data inside the back plate,,and maybe your signature as a sign that you adjust each bass you personally.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by danilo ninkovic

Hello Mr. Smith
I have a Ken Smith bass which is more than 10 year old, but I am not the first owner. Someone before has took off the label inside the back plate..so I thought maybe it would be better to engrave the date of production and other data inside the back plate,,and maybe your signature as a sign that you adjust each bass you personally.

The serial number WAS stamped into the end of the fingerboard. If the bass was re-fretted then it might have been sanded off if the fingerboard was re-leveled. The fact that you have neither the number nor the Label leads me to suspect this as a stolen bass at one point. There is no other reason to remove these valuable markings.

Some years ago a bass came into the shop with neither markings. I have other hidden marks on the bass and was able to identify the bass, when it was made and who 'we' originally sold it to which was then a dealer in Europe. The bass was never reported stolen to us so we had no legal right to hold it and just repaired it and returned it. I think we might have re-stamped the number into the bass and put a new label in it with the original date.

I would have to have your bass in my hands to do this, and the doors closed as I look for the hidden marks. Secret stuff, you understand..

[danilo ninkovic]

I see that you are thinking of all possibilities.
It is hard to find any objection.

[Frederick Schurger]

I've just read thru this thread, and I suspect Ken will give us a simple and amazing answer to my question here. I'm the proud owner of a CR-5G (I'll post a pic and serial number a little later) and in my playings, I've decided that my next bass will be a 6-string fretless. I've been trying out other basses just to see what else is out there, but the 6-string fretless basses aren't readily available in Central IL at most shops. But I did happen across one recently that only had one pickup near the bridge. And looking around online, I've seen that trend more and more. But not on the Smith basses.

So my question to Ken is simply, is there some benefit in doing that (single pick-up only near the bridge), or is it just a fad?

BTW, the more I look, the more I know I'll be getting a Smith 6-string fretless when I make the move.

Frederick

[Jason Mendelson]

I have a BSR6EG fretless and it is absolutly amazing.

You want a neck and bridge pickup.

You can get so many different tones out of the smith fretless and you can use only the bridge pick up if you want.

If this will help you, I did this little vid showing the different sounds with the electronics on different settings....

The single pick up design imho limits the sounds you can get from the instrument. But some of those also have a piezo pickup.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzWDl-mB030

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Frederick Schurger

I've just read thru this thread, and I suspect Ken will give us a simple and amazing answer to my question here. I'm the proud owner of a CR-5G (I'll post a pic and serial number a little later) and in my playings, I've decided that my next bass will be a 6-string fretless. I've been trying out other basses just to see what else is out there, but the 6-string fretless basses aren't readily available in Central IL at most shops. But I did happen across one recently that only had one pickup near the bridge. And looking around online, I've seen that trend more and more. But not on the Smith basses.

So my question to Ken is simply, is there some benefit in doing that (single pick-up only near the bridge), or is it just a fad?

BTW, the more I look, the more I know I'll be getting a Smith 6-string fretless when I make the move.

Frederick

One pickup at the bridge sames money. Less one pickup, routing, blend/balance control and some screws, springs and wiring.

That's what you save!

What you loose more importantly is the sound of the front pickup and the ability to blend the two of them.

I have no idea why whomever made that bass. Our first basses had just one pickup because someone talked me into it. Shortly after I was back on track with 2 pickups in every bass.

I have two sayings;

One I heard years ago, "the blind leading the blind". No offense intended here at all to people that are actually blind.

The other I heard when fishing one day and asked why all the boats scooted over to another spot with a splash in the water, "one fool draws many".

So, just because someone does something for what ever reason, doesn't mean you have to follow.

[Cristian De La Torre]

Mr Ken

I recently bought a new BSR5TN this one didn't came with the registration form, where can I go to register my new bass

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Cristian De La Torre

Mr Ken

I recently bought a new BSR5TN this one didn't came with the registration form, where can I go to register my new bass

Email me. Only new basses to the first owner comes with a warranty. Used basses do not. If new, contact your dealer. Everything was in the case when it was sold.