First time showing off your bass in public

[Desmund Nichols]

My first time showing off my bass was at my church. The other bass player has a Tobias Classic (the good ones) and I tried to keep it a secret that I was getting a Smith. But you know, you tell the wrong person and when in the room with everybody, he blurts it out. Well anyway, when I did it, it was before a service so we was just in the church talking, and I went out to my car and bought out a case. And inside the case was my bass. I told him to open it and he laid the case down and opened it slowly and you can hear the "aw" from everybody. He was afraid to play it too. He was saying that some people buy cars, but i bought a Smith. But the second time was when I went to go look for a new cab, so I went to Guitar Center to try out a new cab, and I had my Smith with me. 2 weeks old and brand new, so I am playing it and people are just coming around looking at me play. The sales persons are coming up to me and taking their stares and it was just nice. I bet someone else thought that it was a bass that they was selling so they was waiting for me to put it down, but that wasnt happeneing. But mostly, I get a lot of stares and "aw's". Whats your story

[Alejandro Zorrilla]

Well, the first time I used my ken live was in a gig with plenty of guitar players (I don´t know it in english but it was a guitar duel ? duelo de guitarras) You know, we just fool around with Hendrix, Zeppelin and Purples stuff where guitar players show off (Of course I had my bass solo )

But many of them said: WTF!!? Thats a pretty cool bass, very nice in apearance.

The best part was, that as you said when you start talking you have a Ken Smith everybody goes OHH youve got a Smith bass! congrats! People were more exited than me, cause i didn´t really know what I had purchased. I have toy say I baught it second handed!

Thats about it... who else?

[Paul Phillips]

Been playing Smiths for over 12 years now and have many gig`s and recording sessions with my Smith basses and alway`s have someone to comment what a sweet sounding bass i have!!, regulars that are at gig`s ask me where is the other bass you alway`s play? when I have my 62 jazz with me!!, know what you mean to have people alway`s asking about the bass, Have had the same thing happen to me people at stores asking can i have the bass next!!! Not happening......sorry!!My freind!!!!!!

[Paul Phillips]

Hans play the you know what out of that bass,Yes you may have saved a while but wear that bad boy out!!, My fretted Smiths have already had fret work done to them. Ken made them for that reason play it it won`t hurt it it will make you love it that much more!! laters Gators

[Steve_M]

I remember thinking the new (then) BSR shape was particularly attractive and had lusted after a Smith 6 string ever since hearing John Pattitucci play 'Our Family' on a Guitar Player cover disc in the mid-late 80's.

Eventually my career picked up (about 15 years later) and I bought my BSR5 from Bob at the Bass Palace. I was working in China at the time and so had the bass shipped to the company offices in Hong Kong for me to collect on my way through to Nanjing.

The bass had been kept in the office of the Asia-Pacific director himself and although he was out when I called, I remember viewing the bass all boxed up and thinking "Wow! This is it! I finally have a Smith". Of course when I took it out of the case, the smell of the polish and sheen of the quilted maple turned it into a near reverential experience. I took it over to China on the next flight and I just got kicks from looking at it. (No amp in the hotel so I couldn't hear it until I got it home to the UK.)

The Smith 6 was next about 9 months later. I'd left the job in China, and sold my house in Plymouth, UK and pretty much tripled my deposit in about 18 months with how crazy house prices were getting at that time. So to celebrate selling the house, I bought my Smith 6 new from the Bass Gallery. The bass had been sitting in their shop for about 6 months so I made them an offer on it and they accepted. Again, the same reverential experience when I got it home only I had TWO to look at this time. Playing it was pretty awe inspiring listening clear, sweet treble and growly warmth.

Liquid honey.

So I made do with those two basses but my band needed fretless bass for some of the songs and I couldn't find a fretless Smith anyway for sale for a long time. There were a couple of near misses with a fretless 6 at Bass NorthWest going shortly before I'd made my mind up. In the meantime I made do with a Pedulla Pentabuzz but the tonal differences between it and the Smith made it difficult to swap instruments mid-set without some serious knob twiddling on the amp. I tried matching the Pentabuzz with an MVP and the fretted Modulus Quantum 5 sweetspot I had with a matching fretless but none of them were consistent enough.

Then eventually I spotted my Smith fretless last year at BassNW again and a couple of emails later, the bass had been paid for and my credit card was groaning slightly!

All three instruments have slightly different tonal characters but the differences are not significant enough to need tweaking on the amps. So now I'm a happy bunny with my workhorses - nothing else needed for the neo soul band I'm in.

I can record pretty sweet sounding tracks with all the basses because they need so little eq into the desk - producers love them for how fat they sound. In short they've all been very satisfying to own and play, and I guess that's where its at for me.

[Tim Bishop]

I never thought of it as "showing off my bass". I was more concerned as to whether or not it was the right bass for me at that time, however, I can understand ones inclination to want to show-off a masterpiece such as a Smith bass.