Ken Smith Pickups

[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