Got to play a very special Smith....

[Michael Stram]

I would first like to say hello to all Smith owners and to the Smith crew.

A good friend of mine has number 032 (yes he is the origional owner), and I was able to play it for a couple of days. No pictures for certain reasons, but WOW! Obviously it is a piece of history, but this thing blew my mind!

It weighs a ton for obvious reasons only a vintage smith afficianado would know,but man..this thing is killer!

Im sold on the Smith bass.

ken, if you read these at all, 032 was built in 1984??? Ahead of your time....way ahead of your time.

[Ken Smith]

Isn't #032 a 6-string? If so, the original owner is Bill Dickens. I will look up the # next week.

[Michael Stram]

Ken,

It is in fact Billy's Smith!


This thing is awesome! Its a piece of history and man, it plays great too. Makes me want to buya few smiths myself.

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by Michael Stram

Ken,

It is in fact Billy's Smith!


This thing is awesome! Its a piece of history and man, it plays great too. Makes me want to buya few smiths myself.

Well, if you want to buy a few, you are just a few threads away from temptation!

[Michael Stram]

Tell me about it

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by Michael Stram

Tell me about it

It's best just to give in to the temptation and splurge. You only live once on this big ball of mud!

[Bob Reynolds]

Here's some pics of #28 to give you an idea of the level of craftsmanship.

[Ken Smith]

That was MY personal Bass until someone from I believe Venezuela convinced me to part with it. I have seen it listed for sale at least once in the last 10 years.

That was a great Bass with a few personal touches.

[SongJinYoung]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

That was MY personal Bass until someone from I believe Venezuela convinced me to part with it. I have seen it listed for sale at least once in the last 10 years.

That was a great Bass with a few personal touches.

Oh!! How beautiful she is!!!

Hey Ken!!
Someone told me that KS was made by S.Spector #001~#032
Is it true??

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by SongJinYoung

Oh!! How beautiful she is!!!

Hey Ken!!
Someone told me that KS was made by S.Spector #001~#032
Is it true??

The parts for the first 16 were glued up there at the old Brooklyn Spector shop where Vinne worked. Then they were sent out for carving at another place, the same that carved the Spector Basses. When they came back, the machine marks were scraped off, final carving and Fingerboard work were done and all sanding and Oil finishing. Then I picked them up and to them to my place for the set-up work of all the parts. The Fret work was not so good and some needed touch-up. For the second 16, another Luthier and myself made and glued up all the Parts, took them to Spector where they prepped them for the Carving machine company and so on till they were done the same way. Then, I opened up a shop (mid 1980) with Fodera as my first employee as he left Spector to work with me.

Most of the History written about me is accurate. Some of it is other peoples point of View. NO SMITH BASS was EVER made without me, ever! I personally worked on every Bass and still do so saying that someone MADE my Bass is an INACCURATE statement! On those first 32, all the Maple for the Body and neck parts were personally picked and purchased by me and shipped to the Shop from the Lumber company. I was involved to the point that I turned down jobs as a Bassist when ever I was needed in the Shop or at a trade show.

[SongJinYoung]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

The parts for the first 16 were glued up there at the old Brooklyn Spector shop where Vinne worked. Then they were sent out for carving at another place, the same that carved the Spector Basses. When they came back, the machine marks were scraped off, final carving and Fingerboard work were done and all sanding and Oil finishing. Then I picked them up and to them to my place for the set-up work of all the parts. The Fret work was not so good and some needed touch-up. For the second 16, another Luthier and myself made and glued up all the Parts, took them to Spector where they prepped them for the Carving machine company and so on till they were done the same way. Then, I opened up a shop (mid 1980) with Fodera as my first employee as he left Spector to work with me.

Most of the History written about me is accurate. Some of it is other peoples point of View. NO SMITH BASS was EVER made without me, ever! I personally worked on every Bass and still do so saying that someone MADE my Bass is an INACCURATE statement! On those first 32, all the Maple for the Body and neck parts were personally picked and purchased by me and shipped to the Shop from the Lumber company. I was involved to the point that I turned down jobs as a Bassist when ever I was needed in the Shop or at a trade show.

I see Ken!! Thanks for answer!!
After electric bass was invented, Many basses and luthiers have been an enterance and closed!!
Though it was expensive high-end model,
KS basses is one of the company which has loved for long time!!

Every loved thing has the resson be loved!!

Thanks ken for the great basses!!

[Dennis Michaels]

Ken,

Can you fill me in on the control panel. That is a lot of knobs and switches.

[Michael Stram]

If memory serves :

theres obviously volume and tone, I think theres a filter sweep style tone control..similar to a tonal balance...maybe like a fender tone stack?

Theres a mutron inside it too.

Its funny. you plug it in and it lights up..wich is cool, but Ramsey Lewis who Billy played with at the time, didnt like the lights..got in the way of his stage importance , so I think either ken or someone ended up making a box for it to shut the lled's off.

Another silly side not, in Billy's first vidoes featuring the 6, youll hear the filter kick in during a solo or 2, its by accident..when he goes, he goes and anything in the way gets knocked over

Hey Bob, are those the origional pups? Do you know if Bill Lawrence did those? billys bass has Barts in it.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Michael Stram

If memory serves :

theres obviously volume and tone, I think theres a filter sweep style tone control..similar to a tonal balance...maybe like a fender tone stack?

Theres a mutron inside it too.

Its funny. you plug it in and it lights up..wich is cool, but Ramsey Lewis who Billy played with at the time, didnt like the lights..got in the way of his stage importance , so I think either ken or someone ended up making a box for it to shut the lled's off.

Another silly side not, in Billy's first vidoes featuring the 6, youll hear the filter kick in during a solo or 2, its by accident..when he goes, he goes and anything in the way gets knocked over

Hey Bob, are those the origional pups? Do you know if Bill Lawrence did those? billys bass has Barts in it.

Bill's Bass had some special made Pickups and not form either of those companies. I have no idea about any box for the lights you mentioned.

[Michael Stram]

Hi Ken,

When Billy showed me the bass, I didnt ask about the box's origination. but right now it has bartolinis in it and the box wich looks kinda like an old radio shack project box would kick off the leds. Eh, if it works, it works..

Have you ever thought of doing a limited run of the origionals or is that something you dont really want to touch? Just wondering.

I really dug the brass(?) back plate for the electronics. That was unheard of back then.

Thank you for making the basses that you do. No other bass plays like a Smith and no other bass sounds like a smith.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Michael Stram

Hi Ken,

When Billy showed me the bass, I didnt ask about the box's origination. but right now it has bartolinis in it and the box wich looks kinda like an old radio shack project box would kick off the leds. Eh, if it works, it works..

Have you ever thought of doing a limited run of the origionals or is that something you dont really want to touch? Just wondering.

I really dug the brass(?) back plate for the electronics. That was unheard of back then.

Thank you for making the basses that you do. No other bass plays like a Smith and no other bass sounds like a smith.

Not cost effective in many ways. The Plates on the Bass, 4 or\f them are all Gold plated Brass. That includes the back cover, truss rod cover and logo as well as the control plate. Each circuit back then with tooling cost me almost as much as I charged for the Basses. We only made about 60 of them and the tooling expense was over 10k for the electronics alone.

Thanks but no thanks on the re-issue plan!

[Michael Stram]

YEOW! Yeah keep those limited ones limited and very special.

did you do any other relief carving or is the 4 string pictured in this thread the only one? Its really nice.

[Ken Smith]

First off, Vinne Fodera was working for me at that time (1980-1983) and he did all the Pearl work and that relief carving. I don't recall any others with carvings but it's possible. It was only 4-strings we made back then with the exception of the two 6s we made. One for Anthony and the second one found its home with Bill Dickens.

[Michael Stram]

Sorry about the confusion. How did you meet Billy? Was it a trade show or was he playing somewhere?

I apologize if my questions are trite or bothersome. I've always been interested in how and where things start.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Michael Stram

Sorry about the confusion. How did you meet Billy? Was it a trade show or was he playing somewhere?

I apologize if my questions are trite or bothersome. I've always been interested in how and where things start.

I don't recall exactly but I think he called me and was playing at the BlueNote or FatTuesdays. I saw him at both places there with Ramsey Lewis. I forget which was first.