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Old 06-05-2009, 01:29 AM
ramon ramos ramon ramos is offline
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Smile rare smith special order's? WOW!!!

Hi ken just wanted to ask you a couple of questions that i have been wanting to ask you.only thing ken is that my questions are at least 24 yrs old and i hope you still remember.from reading your other post's you still have a good recollection of old time's.anyways so i came across some old guitar player mag's at a swap-meet.the first one is from 1986 and what can i say ken,wow the issue has an interviev with a mr. anthony jackson and low and behold he's sitting down posing with what he say's it's one of two custom smith 6 strings you created for him.i have to say ken your very creative,you know your work.some of the specs he briefly mentions is that it has an ebony custom 34'' scale board and that it has an extreme arch!??. o the string set mentioned is 128-.028 is this a usual set of strings for a 6 string?.article goes on to show and describe the headstock and it's massive!,no dead spots period he says. how did you do it!!!! ken, obiously the mathematics involved but man ive wanted a smith for years and since own a bsr6mw but i never knew that you had done such work in the past it is one bad ass monster bass!!!.the body wings are small but slick. your body design here is smaller in proportion to your BT design.he state's that it is not the usual caviuna wood spec's but solid walnut?.and finally it has a custom made to his spec's quote ''equalizer circuit'' ken is this a concentric 3 knobber?? it look's like it has 6 possibly 7 control's.ok ken now for the Guitar world mag 1981 november issue this article has stanley clark posing with a ken smith flying ''v'' 4 string custom bass and it it's a neck through! and looks to also have a 6 knob custom pre amp smith or hazlab's?? or did you build this electronics package from scratch also did you do the abalone inlay's.well ken bottom line these 2 basses are beautiful.if possible can you include in your smith historythread more info on some of your other unknown bass work's and artist's models.please include any vintage dog house's youv'e repaired all hoping if time permits of course.thanks ken.
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Old 06-05-2009, 06:58 AM
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Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ramon ramos View Post
Hi ken just wanted to ask you a couple of questions that i have been wanting to ask you.only thing ken is that my questions are at least 24 yrs old and i hope you still remember.from reading your other post's you still have a good recollection of old time's.anyways so i came across some old guitar player mag's at a swap-meet.the first one is from 1986 and what can i say ken,wow the issue has an interviev with a mr. anthony jackson and low and behold he's sitting down posing with what he say's it's one of two custom smith 6 strings you created for him.i have to say ken your very creative,you know your work.some of the specs he briefly mentions is that it has an ebony custom 34'' scale board and that it has an extreme arch!??. o the string set mentioned is 128-.028 is this a usual set of strings for a 6 string?.article goes on to show and describe the headstock and it's massive!,no dead spots period he says. how did you do it!!!! ken, obiously the mathematics involved but man ive wanted a smith for years and since own a bsr6mw but i never knew that you had done such work in the past it is one bad ass monster bass!!!.the body wings are small but slick. your body design here is smaller in proportion to your BT design.he state's that it is not the usual caviuna wood spec's but solid walnut?.and finally it has a custom made to his spec's quote ''equalizer circuit'' ken is this a concentric 3 knobber?? it look's like it has 6 possibly 7 control's.ok ken now for the Guitar world mag 1981 november issue this article has stanley clark posing with a ken smith flying ''v'' 4 string custom bass and it it's a neck through! and looks to also have a 6 knob custom pre amp smith or hazlab's?? or did you build this electronics package from scratch also did you do the abalone inlay's.well ken bottom line these 2 basses are beautiful.if possible can you include in your smith historythread more info on some of your other unknown bass work's and artist's models.please include any vintage dog house's youv'e repaired all hoping if time permits of course.thanks ken.
Oh.. I will try answering the questions above briefly and then you can single things out one at a time. This could turn into a book. I have a thread like that already here. Well, what's one more history thread?

Q1 the string set mentioned is 128-.028 is this a usual set of strings for a 6 string?..
A1: That was our standard set back then for 6-string Bass.

Q2:the body wings are small but slick. your body design here is smaller in proportion to your BT design.he state's that it is not the usual caviuna wood spec's but solid walnut?

A3: The Body was made custom for him but the shape was against my suggestion. The regular BT model proved to be more Comfortable. Anthony wanted something that no one else had. He wanted it regardless of my suggestion. On the Caviuna comment, that was about the Fingerboard wood, not the body. The Walnut Top wood was special then as well as now like with the Black Tiger models.

Q3:finally it has a custom made to his spec's quote ''equalizer circuit'' ken is this a concentric 3 knobber??

A3: No, that was a BMT actually, the first version of it but it wasn't offered again until 1993 in a modified form from that original first custom model.

Q4:stanley clark posing with a ken smith flying ''v'' 4 string custom bass and it it's a neck through! and looks to also have a 6 knob custom pre amp smith or hazlab's??

A4: That was our Variable State Filter design that we started in 1979. HAZ was my circuit maker from the beginning until now even. We have worked together on many designs over the last 30 years together. We actually have a new product coming out as well, the 18v BMT Circuit in a box with Practice Amp feature included.

Q5:if possible can you include in your smith historythread more info on some of your other unknown bass work's and artist's models.

A5: Include them there? Why not just ask there? Would you like me to move this Thread INTO that Thread as a continuation? The purpose was to answer questions like this and keep it going.

Q6lease include any vintage dog house's youv'e repaired all hoping if time permits of course.

A6: Well, if you mean Double Basses, I can talk that up for days and days, non stop. Just ask some of my DB friends who know me in person. Hard to get a word in edge-wise so they say.. lol

I do think though for this that talking DB in the Smith BG section is off-topic but then again, it IS part of my history and the MAIN reason why the Smith Bass came to be in the first place. At least it was the main inspiration.

Back in the early days with a Small shop in Brooklyn and much less demand for our product by the masses it was easier to do one-off designs like the Anthony Jackson models and the V for Stanley Clarke. Shortly after that, we got so busy that we had to concentrate on making models that would actually 'work' for everyone, and not just a custom 'whim' in someones mind. As a maker and producer of Basses being shipped worldwide, I needed to be more responsible in my mind as to making Basses that worked in the main spirit of the company's original purpose. A better playing Bass, period.

I have to say this as well. Both Stanley and Anthony were friends of mine years before I ever thought of making a Bass. Stanley took my place with the Horace Silver Quintet in the summer of 1969. I was still 17 and too young to play in the Clubs. Stanley had just turned 18 and was legal.. Anthony and I shared the stage at 'Jazz Springs in the Bronx' in 1971 in 2 different groups. We met in person shortly after in town and became friends.

Music, friends, business. That was the order as I remember it. Music was always at the root of things.
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