My Dead Mellow Smith

[franklin peredo]

Hey everybody this is my first post,..i recentlly ask Ken & Tim about the sound of my brand new BSR5MW tiger maple(top & back), walnut core, i got it from Bass Central, i got the bass a couple of weeks ago (it was shiped), when i first played the bass after tuning it of course and without pluggin it, which is the first thing i do when i try a bass (i bought this bass without tryin it first..why? its a Smith!!) it sounded Dead! no brightness whatsoever,.. and obviasly the electronics are a mirror of what the wood has to offer soundwise, so i had an idea of how this was gonna sound when i plug it,... i put d'addario strings and ofcourse there was a difference, but still,...am I the one bad luck guy that got a bad Smith? and is there any other way to enhance the sound of the bass, acousticcly that is!.... and yes! i know!! its an electric instrument!! the preamp is fine, the batterys are good, does anyone have any tip? advice?

[Tim Bishop]

After many questions and PM's, my final suggestion was for you to send it to Ken and have him look it over. All the questions I asked and suggestions I gave you were thorough. Based on your answers, I don't see any other options for you; send it to Ken.

[Ken Smith]

Tiger Maple is a deep sounding wood. Walnut tops for the MWs are brighter sounding. The bass I am sure was in their stock in a humid climate for some time. That will affect the wood. The Strings by the time you got the bass may be water logged like the bass from the humidity on Florida where the dealer was. The bass needs to settle back and dry out. Mail order is tricky. I am 100 miles from you. I shipped the bass 1500 miles to Fl. They shipped it back to you just 100 miles east of me another 1500 miles.

Blame the climate, not the bass. It probably needs to come in for set-up and will need to dry out a bit as well. We have similar problems with double basses coming in from Italy or England as their climate is much different. From China, woah.. like UNDER water.. lol

Have patience. There is nothing wrong with what we made or how we made it. Just the locale of the bass in its travels to get to you. If you get me the serial number, I can tell you how long it's been down south near the Atlantic.

[franklin peredo]

Hey Ken thanks for replyin! im a total ignorant when it comes to wood ,construction ,and the elements of sound making, what exactly do u mean with settle back and dry out? do you mean that as the time go by the wood will go back to its normal estate? or you have to perform a specific setup for that?..(again ,sorry for my ignorance) the funny thing is that when the bass arrived to NY there was a crazy snow storm.. and here is the serial# 5MW5848T09 date completed 8/19/09, thank U.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by franklin peredo

Hey Ken thanks for replyin! im a total ignorant when it comes to wood ,construction ,and the elements of sound making, what exactly do u mean with settle back and dry out? do you mean that as the time go by the wood will go back to its normal estate? or you have to perform a specific setup for that?..(again ,sorry for my ignorance) the funny thing is that when the bass arrived to NY there was a crazy snow storm.. and here is the serial# 5MW5848T09 date completed 8/19/09, thank U.

This bass was in Florida for over 6 months. It is humid there. The humidity affects the wood and the tone and kills the strings. So, it need's a factory set-up to be at 'its' optimum condition as when it was made. At that point when the bass is back to how we made it, you can see if you like the sound of that wood combo. Right now you, are judging it in a somewhat distressed condition. It is new but it needs to settle.

The weather on the east coast, north and south has been extreme this last year. Your bass might be a victim of it. We can help if you send or bring it in.

[franklin peredo]

thanks Mr. Smith!!! i cant believe how bad the climate affects the instrument, how succeptible is the instrument to the effects of humidity, so the bass absorbs excess moisture, does the wood swell or expand?? im pretty sure im not the only one that had and will experience this situation, so another question: as the bass settles into its new enviroment,.... are changes gonna take place to the action and neck profile? and what do you recommend to do as the "settling in" period goes on? and out of curiosity does a piano gets affected by humidity too?

Thank you

[franklin peredo]

Ok.. so i guess this subject annoyed you guys, i checked some interesting posts about climate and humidity, anyway.... its been a month since a got my smith i set up the bass, change the strings with smith taper cores, and man!! what a sound!! thank you for the patience and the advice, now im saving money for another smith,.. . ill definetlly get this one straight from Mr. Smith.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by franklin peredo

Ok.. so i guess this subject annoyed you guys, i checked some interesting posts about climate and humidity, anyway.... its been a month since a got my smith i set up the bass, change the strings with smith taper cores, and man!! what a sound!! thank you for the patience and the advice, now im saving money for another smith,.. . ill definetlly get this one straight from Mr. Smith.

You went over to Talkbass and in two different threads, two different sections you drug me thru the mud in public. I may not be able to post over there but I can read!

It would be nice if you went over there and let them know what I told you was 100% true and accurate and no ones fault, especially mine and how things worked out.

I am glad to hear everything worked out.

[franklin peredo]

Ken I appologize if i offended U in anyway, but i didnt say anything negative about ur work,.. and they almost banned me because of a comment i wrote about the fodera butterfly (which they edited, check the thread "how to dry a bass"), which it was real funny, but its insane the different opinions of people on this subject...God!! Ken im saving for a new one, and ill be callin you soon hopefully later this year, please understand, a smith bass was a dream for me since i used to live in Ecuador, there was only one smith bass in the city and it belonged to the biggest church in town, i was 15 when i saw and heard that bass nobody knew what brand was it, the only known brands in the country was fender and ibanez,..every musician used to go to that church just to see and hear that smith, and the worst happen!!! it got stolen man!!!! i live in NY now and my old friends still dont belive I own a S now! thank you Sir

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by franklin peredo

Ken I appologize if i offended U in anyway, but i didnt say anything negative about ur work,.. and they almost banned me because of a comment i wrote about the fodera butterfly (which they edited, check the thread "how to dry a bass"), which it was real funny, but its insane the different opinions of people on this subject...God!! Ken im saving for a new one, and ill be callin you soon hopefully later this year, please understand, a smith bass was a dream for me since i used to live in Ecuador, there was only one smith bass in the city and it belonged to the biggest church in town, i was 15 when i saw and heard that bass nobody knew what brand was it, the only known brands in the country was fender and ibanez,..every musician used to go to that church just to see and hear that smith, and the worst happen!!! it got stolen man!!!! i live in NY now and my old friends still dont belive I own a S now! thank you Sir

I wasn't offended personally at all. I was just helpless in defending myself on Talkbass since I am banned over there. It's a zoo and I am not the kind of Animal they wish to have I guess..lol

Keep in touch.

[Anton Hasias]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

I wasn't offended personally at all. I was just helpless in defending myself on Talkbass since I am banned over there. It's a zoo and I am not the kind of Animal they wish to have I guess..lol

Keep in touch.

Banning Ken Smith from the TalkBass site is just like banning Bob Moog from a synthesizer site or banning Les Paul from a guitar site.
Unbeliveble and crazy (for sure stupid).
The world is upside down these days, my friends.
Unfortunately mediocrity rules there.

Best regards

[franklin peredo]

Totally agree with that man!! the worst thing is those selftittle "luthiers" i posted something there and this one guy that suppostly is studying to become a "luthier" say that humidity have no effect on the instrument, is unbelivable man!!! and them u have those guys that need the exact measures of the bass to perform string height, and a specific brand tuner when performing a setup, i respect performing setups by the book, but at the end , Ear & Feel will always dictate the comfort of the instrument.