Are Ken Smith Basses heavy or is it just me?

[Steve_M]

FWIW it's always possible to chamber denser body cores out if weight is an issue for some. Alembic do it with super dense mahogany and the range of basses I'm currently developing will feature it as well although I prefer the sound of alder for the prototypes. But we might offer mahogany as an option too.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Steve_M

FWIW it's always possible to chamber denser body cores out if weight is an issue for some. Alembic do it with super dense mahogany and the range of basses I'm currently developing will feature it as well although I prefer the sound of alder for the prototypes. But we might offer mahogany as an option too.

First off, our Basses are not Heavy. Some of the woods you guys request for the Body Tops & Backs like Ebony, Cocobolo and several others are heavy, not the Bass they were put on. Also, Mahogany is NOT a dense wood by any means or measurement that I am aware of.

Chambering the Body also creates overtones that you can't control not to mention possible Glue drips internally. We have made some of these back in the 1980s and it's not any kind of improvement. If anything, it lightens the body area and makes the neck feel heavier.

Our Basses are not light either. They are what they are, solid! Take the Pickups, Bridge and Circuit components and weigh them. These are not plastic toy components. They have a bit of mass on their own. Maple and Walnut were the first woods we used for body materials and I would be more than happy to stick with them. The problem is that some people want something else and they often weigh more. The bigger the Neck (6 over 5 etc), the more the bass will weigh.

I can't see the point in this Thread by the Title it has. It starts out with a false assumption. If our Basses were really heavy, we would not still be making them after 30 years, I think.

Steve M., are you working for Alembic now, promoting them or starting your own company? If so to any of the above, remember what forum you are on.

[Bob Faulkner]

Ya I'm not sure where the heavy idea came from.

My Smith bass is not the lightest I own, but it's also not the heaviest I own either. It darn sure is the best bass I own, hands down.