Back from the lab

[Gerry Sivers]

As some of you here know, I recently bought a used Smith bass from Ebay that I really liked, even with it's issues caused by previous owners. Well, today I took it to Ken's shop for strings and a set up. I had no idea what a great time I was in for. Not only was it a pleasure to meet Ken but everyone in the shop was nice and very hospitable. The atmosphere was laid back and my friend and I were treated like clients that bought the bass from there. Ken took the time to show us some of his Double basses and schooled us on the obvious and subtle differences in each one. Anyone that knows Ken, knows that he is a living piece of bass history and has the BEST and most interesting stories that we were also privileged to hear.
What I got for the little money I spent today was unbelievable! First, I find out that my bass looks like a BSR5MW but is actually the next step up with graphite in the neck. It then got inspected and thoroughly cleaned. It was so dirty that I didn't see the serial number on the neck! Afterwards, the frets and finger board were so clean, I thought he changed the neck. All of the tuning machines were tightened top and bottom. He replaced the missing saddle height adjustment screw, put on the new strings, made a full quarter inch adjustment to set the intonation and inspected the truss rod. As it turns out, the last owner had an issue with the input jack and ended up using glue on the stripped nut that was supposed to be holding it in place Ken had to get help removing it without damaging the nearby circuit. Ken worked his magic on my bass and when he was done, I looked and played like a whole different instrument. This was not the bass I brought in there. It sounded great with perfect, low action adjusted for my playing style. All this while educating me about the bass.
To top off everything, while I was testing the bass, Ken brought out an upright and I got to see him play. He didn't even have 100% use of one arm and still played impressively and even jammed a bit with my friend!
To sum it up, it was a heck of a great day and I am so grateful for what I got from there today, tangible and intangible. I can do a basic bass set up but there is no way I could have attained the level of improvement reached today. Remember, I liked the way it sounded before I brought it there. I advise anyone who wants the their bass to be at it's absolute best, either send it in or get advise from him.
Thank you so much for everything Ken!