Your first time (when you feel in love)

[Desmund Nichols]

How many of you remember the first time you walked into a music store and saw a Smith then played it? This is before you ever heard or played a Smith. Im talking about the time you was just in a bass section and you saw that instrument hanging on the wall. Then you picked it up and played it. How was your first experience?

[Tim Bishop]

The first time for me wasn't based on the name or seeing it in a music store. For me it was hearing this incredible sounding bass in a musical I attended: That very distinct and cutting-through-the-mix bass sound! After I heard it, I inquired, test drove and the rest is history. The feel, design, construction, and looks were just icing on the cake! I've never turned back.

[Bob Faulkner]

My first time ever even hearing of Smith basses was when I was in Guitar Center placing the order for a custom Jackson bass. There was a used Smith 5 string in their bass room and I played it to death that day. It was without a doubt the best bass I had ever played, and Guitar Center thought so too with a used price of of $3000.

After months of waiting for my custom Jackson I was informed they had no record of my order, so I would need to reorder and wait the full 9 month cycle time again, even though I had in my hand the faxed and dated order confirmation and design drawings they had sent me. I told them to forget it and that's when I recalled that great experience with that used Smith. I did a few days of research on the web about Smith basses and placed my order shortly after that. I've never regretted it, and I'm quite happy Jackson dropped the ball.

[Albert Smith]

The first time I heard a "Smith Bass" was at a Gospel concert my ensemble was invited to participate in. The bass player was kind enough to allow me to play his bass back stage before it was our turn to go on. It was love at first sight. From that moment I was on a mission to obtain a "SmithBass". The sound that came forth from that bass was everything I had been searching for, at that time I was playing a Ibanex SR 905 5 string bass, it was neck through, and it was equipped with Bartolini pick-ups but it just didn't have the sound or feel of the "Ken Smith Bass".

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by Albert Smith

I was playing a Ibanex SR 905 5 string bass, it was neck through, and it was equipped with Bartolini pick-ups but it just didn't have the sound or feel of the "Ken Smith Bass".

That's funny Albert. I was playing a custom neck-thru Ibanez 6-String at the time I was searching for that illusive bass sound. I can't remember the model of that Ibanez bass now....lol....Smith basses will do that to ya!

[Christopher Rhodes]

My 1st time with a Ken Smith bass was not good. It was in Akron Ohio (late 1980s), however it was with a "Burner Bass". I did not feel it all!

About 2 years later I had a brain drain - and purchased a Peavy TL-5. That was the most frustating experience of my bass life.

Years later it happened... I was in the DC area on business. I went to Chuck Levin music center. Played a few Smith's and thought - now this is it! They had the tone and the feel I was craving for.

One of the salesmen said - "We just got this special bass sent to us by Ken Smith, you wanna try it?". They retrived it from the back room. I played that bass for hours - I knew it was going to be mine! Two days later I returned and "pulled the trigger" - and she came home ( back to the hotel with me - BWI).

My trip to DC and my flight back to Florida - was joyful!

She is still with me today - nearly 15 years - it is my 1993 BMT Elite G bass with the seven piece neck. I'll never depart from her!

I tell my wife the only girlfriends I will have - are wooden - and they are all home - in the basement - with a "G" String, and other strings!

[Simon Bridgeman]

[quote=Tim Bishop;1101]The first time for me wasn't based on the name or seeing it in a music store. For me it was hearing this incredible sounding bass in a musical I attended: That very distinct and cutting-through-the-mix bass sound! After I heard it, I inquired, test drove and the rest is history. The feel, design, construction, and looks were just icing on the cake! I've never turned back.[/I know exactly what you're saying tim.my experience was indeed similar. i'm 28 with 13 years experience as a bassist,my introduction to smith basses started after listening to a bass player called reggie young who in my opinion is a great bassist,but his sound is what did it for me,no effects or additional pre amps just straight into his rig, I mean this bass was singing,I went into a uk bass store in my teens saw one of the older models, not sure which,played it which had my mouth watering since.to make matters worse I saved up my monies only to learn it was sold.smith basses are like goldust in the uk I only know of two stores that supply em,the few smith owners I met had me foaming at the mouth for the look,feel and sounds of smith basses. ]

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by Tim Bishop

The first time for me wasn't based on the name or seeing it in a music store. For me it was hearing this incredible sounding bass in a musical I attended: That very distinct and cutting-through-the-mix bass sound! After I heard it, I inquired, test drove and the rest is history. The feel, design, construction, and looks were just icing on the cake! I've never turned back.

Originally Posted by Simon Bridgeman

I know exactly what you're saying tim.my experience was indeed similar. i'm 28 with 13 years experience as a bassist,my introduction to smith basses started after listening to a bass player called reggie young who in my opinion is a great bassist,but his sound is what did it for me,no effects or additional pre amps just straight into his rig, I mean this bass was singing,I went into a uk bass store in my teens saw one of the older models, not sure which,played it which had my mouth watering since.to make matters worse I saved up my monies only to learn it was sold.smith basses are like goldust in the uk I only know of two stores that supply em,the few smith owners I met had me foaming at the mouth for the look,feel and sounds of smith basses.

Simon, keep your eyes open here, as I'm sure you'll find that you'll have an opportunity to come across a Smith or two and quench that "foaming-at-the-mouth" thing.

[Chris Holsopple]

March 15, 1997. I walked into Chuck Levin's to buy a new 5 with no particular bass in mind. Never heard of Smith then. I played all sorts of pricey basses that day (some twice the price of the Smith I bought) and couldn't find "the one". We were about to leave and the salesman asked me to wait and he'd go get me a few Smith's to try. I looked at my cousin (who is also a bassist) and we shrugged our shoulders and figured they couldn't be any worse than what I'd already tried.

From the minute Brian opened that first case, I knew it. This was it. I picked it up, played a few notes and looked at my cousin again and he was grinning just as much as I was. I tried 3 different Smith 5's that day and bought that first one that I played. A BSR5M, ash body, black hardware. Unreal tone and playability. I sold the bass 3 years later to fund a BSR5P. For over four years now, I have tried unsuccesfully to find the bass and buy her back. Maybe someday she'll come home...

[Dennis Michaels]

April '06. I was on the road with "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and I went to a Sam Ash in Indianapolis INd. I was only going to buy strings that day for SR5 and my Warwick 5. I was browsing as we all do and there it hung on the used wall. Brand new '03 new Stock. She was a tiger maple 5M with dead strings but I had to play it... I did this only to prove that "designer basses" were NOT ALL THAT and my trusty pre CBS Fenders at home and the 2 basses I had with me were as good. So I brazingly plugged it in to the Hartke combo (which was the only amp plugged in). I played about 6 notes and spent a week trying to strike a deal and I did. The following June I ordered my Sm Fretless in walnut from Ken and picked it up in on Nov. 7. I have not looked back. These are the best basses I have ever played. PERIOD.

[Albert Smith]

Originally Posted by Dennis Michaels

April '06. I was on the road with "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and I went to a Sam Ash in Indianapolis INd. I was only going to buy strings that day for SR5 and my Warwick 5. I was browsing as we all do and there it hung on the used wall. Brand new '03 new Stock. She was a tiger maple 5M with dead strings but I had to play it... I did this only to prove that "designer basses" were NOT ALL THAT and my trusty pre CBS Fenders at home and the 2 basses I had with me were as good. So I brazingly plugged it in to the Hartke combo (which was the only amp plugged in). I played about 6 notes and spent a week trying to strike a deal and I did. The following June I ordered my Sm Fretless in walnut from Ken and picked it up in on Nov. 7. I have not looked back. These are the best basses I have ever played. PERIOD.

Couldn't have said it better myself, great story!!!

[Dennis Michaels]

My biggest thrill was go to pick up my fretless when it was done. Having the opportunity to meet Ken and crew while picking up my soul was one of my finest musical memories. My fiance' and her daughter came with me for the "Big day" and Ken was a sweatheart to all of us. I learned more about a lot of stuff hanging with Ken for 2 hours and even my step daughter is still talking about that trip.