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Old 03-11-2017, 10:50 AM
Michele Caramazza Michele Caramazza is offline
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Default My new (to me) BT6!

My introduction to Smith basses was some years ago with a bolt-on CR5. Later I had one of those Burner Feraud made by Sleek Elite. You could tell I have a soft spot for the vintage body style...
Well, look at what I grabbed today...
A nice vintage BT6. Don't know if it's a 88 or even an 87... Serial is 87791 (aren't the first two digits the year of manufacturing?) while quality control date on the label says 02/10/88.
You could tell from the pictures it has been played. A lot, and for a reason: this thing is the most amazing piece of wood I've ever put my hands on. Period.
It's full of nicks and have lost a good part of its lacquer finish (especially the neck). There are grey (from skin friction) bare wood areas in the pop area below the C string, between the pickups and where the previous owner forearm stayed for years. But I can't even put into words how this thing vibrate and resonate. I've spent about two hours just playing single long notes all across the fretboard for the mere pleasure to hear this bass resonate. Just to hear the pure, organic, deep, incredible voice of this baby.
Pics or it doesn't happen...








Last edited by Michele Caramazza; 03-19-2017 at 11:45 AM.
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Old 03-11-2017, 02:30 PM
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Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
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Probably finished in late '87 and numbered then but not set up till early '88 when it was sold. This is a different finish than the more durable one we use not but still, it can be worn thru with enough playing or abuse.
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Old 03-11-2017, 03:18 PM
Michele Caramazza Michele Caramazza is offline
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Thanks Ken.
I would like to ask you a question...
The female parts of the strap locks (those recessed into the wood) aren't perfectly firm but they move a little, maybe because of wood shrink or glue that hardened and molded over time, I don't know... Of course they don't come off because of the screw but is there anything that I can do to have them fit tightly again?
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Old 03-12-2017, 02:02 PM
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Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Michele Caramazza View Post
Thanks Ken.
I would like to ask you a question...
The female parts of the strap locks (those recessed into the wood) aren't perfectly firm but they move a little, maybe because of wood shrink or glue that hardened and molded over time, I don't know... Of course they don't come off because of the screw but is there anything that I can do to have them fit tightly again?
Screw them back in. Vibrations over time loosen all screws. Your tuners are probably loose by now, both the top nut and the rear screw as are your bridge screws and even the nuts that screw the circuit in place. When old basses come in for just a set-up, we tighten up all the loose screws.
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Old 03-12-2017, 04:42 PM
Michele Caramazza Michele Caramazza is offline
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Played the bass all day long today. What a beautiful instrument it is!
The feeling of it is immense. You could feel what a labor of love and exquisite musical instrument it is. It's not easy to put into words but it feels like holding into the hands something that has been done just right, with a lot of love and passion put into it!
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Old 03-19-2017, 11:40 AM
Michele Caramazza Michele Caramazza is offline
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Default Setup question: have I a nut issue?

I have a question for Ken. I could have asked by email but I thought this could be of general interest here...
I checked the setup on my bass. I noticed that the bridge saddles on my bass are almost all the way down to the bridge plate. I firstly suspected that this was done to accomodate a front bow in the neck but I was wrong..
I checked the relief (capo at first fret, B string fretted at 15th fret) and to my surprise the neck is pretty straight: it reads 0.35 mm (0.013") at 7th/8th fret.
The action at 2.25 mm or 0.088 in imperial (measured both at 12th and 24th fret) is a little higher than the crazy low I was accustomed to (1.5mm).
That's good to me as I've recently found that with an action not that crazy low my playing is cleaner and the tone improved as well.
I noticed however that the bass is a little hard to play in the first four/five frets.
At first I tried to go back to my old setup, flatten the neck even more to lower the action but, while this eased things for my left hand, I hated the general feel of the instrument, not mentioning that the tone immediately deteriorated. I could have probably go on raising the bridge saddles and lowering the pickups but didn't want to mess with it and preferred to bring the bass back where it was.
Then I noticed that the nut is probably a little high. Fretting at 3rd fret reveal a gap of about 0.45 mm (0.017") between the bottom of B string and the top of the first fret. Isn't that a little high? Maybe the nut could have been slotted deeper?
Thoughts? Opinions?
Please see the attached pics...





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