My first Smith ... a long journey.

[Michele Caramazza]

I just got my first Smith bass, a CR5MW. It has been a long journey and I'd like to talk about it a bit.
My first experience with a Smith bass dates back on October 2003 as I was in NYC during my honeymoon. At that time I was pretty into J basses and was already set on buying a Sadowsky which I did. While there I went to Sam Ash at 48th street and spent some time playing some of the beauties on the wall. I tried a Fodera VW standard (the bolt on ... nice bass) and a 5 strings bolt on Smith. I was really surprised by the ease of playablity of the Smith. At that time I hadn't any experience with 5 strings but that Smith impressed me mainly for its neck. It fitted like a glove and I remember playin' it and thinking "wow .... is that me?". But I was set on buying a Sadowsky and the guy that was at Sam Ash didn't help me to look more into the Smith. Money went down to Jay Street.
Years have passed and basses as well. Owned some nice ones: another Sadowsky, couple of nice Fenders, a custom made Bordwell till a currently owned Carl Thompson. As I grabbed the Thompson at Carl's shop I placed an order for another one so I'm on the list again. Since the first one is a 4 strings I was trying to make my mind about having this second CT built as a 5 or even a 6 strings. So I bought a dirty cheap used Yamaha Trb 6 and also went in every music shop in my town playin every 5er or 6er I could put my hands on. Until in one shop I had my second Smith meet up.
This time it was a 5 strings Burner from the '90 and I still have tears in my eyes thinking at the condition of that bass. It was full of tiny scratches from showroom playing, set up was totally a mess, the four screws that bolt the neck were completely covered of rust, strings were totally dead and rusted as well. Would you believe they asked for it 2400 euros (that's kinda 3500 bucks, guys)?
But even in those conditions that bass told something to me. Strings spacing was tight but the neck profile made me flying 8 years back to that Smith at Sam Ash. Also I fell in love with the vintage body shape.
But now ... to my CR5MW!

It happened last month that a friend wishing to thanks me for organizing his tryp to the States (I'm a Travel Agent by day job) told me "if you manage to buy a bass and have it shipped to my last stop in the States I'll bring it to you". I think " Hell, why not ... I could save shipping and italian taxes and duties... maybe it's time to look deeper into this Smith thing!"
I had a look at Bass Central website and focused myself on two Smiths, the one that I bought and a Black Tiger 5. They gave me a nice price for the Black Tiger but they went beyond my expectations on the bolt-on CR5MW. I really couldn't pass on this!
Well, bass is here now and I want just to tell you (mainly for the guys that don't own a Smith and are toying with the idea of buying one) a couple of things:
You could tell about Mr. Smith love for superbly crafted old Italian and European double basses from the past centuries just by looking at his electric basses. Because like those old beauties his basses show perfection on every detail and a natural sober elegance. A class all of its own. Something pretty rare these days...
The neck is for me, once again, a glove. Never, never, never saw a fret job like this. Impeccable, like everything on this instrument. The bass balances perfectly sitting or standing (despite all the talk about different body shapes).
Regarding sound, I'll write something else as I'll become more familiar with the instrument. For now I just mention the two things that immediately hit me: an incredible deep growl coupled with a presence and a complexity in the hi- mids never experienced before. Notes in the upper register make me think of bullets against a big brass bell.
I'll try to take some nice pictures of the beauty and post 'em. Stay tuned...

[Michele Caramazza]

[Ronen Tat]

VERY NICE walnut top! Congrats and welcome.

I also went through a similar path. Ended up with a BSR5GN last September, followed by an incredible BSR6EG a month ago. Best basses for me, ever.

[Michele Caramazza]

Yeah, the walnut has this "wave" pattern crossed by some subtle flame in the middle. It's very nice and elegant indeed.

Originally Posted by Ronen Tat

VERY NICE walnut top! Congrats and welcome.

I also went through a similar path. Ended up with a BSR5GN last September, followed by an incredible BSR6EG a month ago. Best basses for me, ever.

[Michele Caramazza]

Some days have passed since I received the bass and I'm goin' on writing my impressions.
I'm taking my time on this one. I'm not in a rush and I'm givin' the bass some time to settle in before making any adjustment. The action is a little higher than what I'm accustomed to but it came from the other side of the pond and currently it's hot and humid here so it won't be a wise move to touch it now. Anyway it's more than playable and I'm quite happy for now. Later it could benefit of a minimal truss rod adjustment or even just a little lowering on the bridge saddles. We'll see...
I'm playing the bass exclusively straight flat by now: I want to be well aware of the instrument's own voice before dealing with the preamp that however seems to be very powerful and effective.
I'm also deliberately leaving the gain trim pot at the factory setting: I want to do couple of gigs with full band setting before deciding I need more output volume.
I'm more and more amazed at how the neck fits my left hand. That was a concern for me as I recently experienced tendonitis issues in my left wrist and was really worried about it. Since I got the Smith I played it exclusively and my left wrist is ok and in perfetc working order so it's probably an issue related with another instrument.
Another positive fact about the Smith is it's weight. I don't have a scale handy but it should be around 10 lbs and, man ... the weight coupled with the perfect balance make this baby the most solid feeling instrument I ever had. Love this feeling!

[Ken Smith]

I suggest that you make the adjustments now rather than wait. I was told years ago before I had this business that you should make adjustments as needed and not let the bass stay in a less-desired position. If it moves back, adjust it again. Like the flow of traffic, take off the cruise control and slow down or speed up with the cars in front and behind you. Go with the flow!

Lower the bridge first if it's high and then see what the neck does. Then, adjust the neck as desired and if need be, bring the bridge back up if you like. Leave some relief between the 1st and 12th fret, just a tiny bit. The neck doesn't bend hardly at all past the 15th fret and not at all in the body area so use the 1-12 fret area (and then the 1-15 fret area) to scope out the neck by pressing down the low string at 1 and 12 with both hands at the same time and look about the middle of that length under the strings over the fret to determine what might be needed. Do not pull the neck up all the way at once with the rod. After you slightly turn it, the neck needs time to react to the rod torque and 'give' over time, and hour or a day depending. Otherwise, it's like over shooting the runway flying a plane, back and forth and back and forth. Just do things little by little and never wait when you see something too high or too low. Set it to the desired action sooner rather than later.

[Michele Caramazza]

Thanks for the hints, Maestro! I'll work on the bass right now!

[Michele Caramazza]

Done. Lowered bridge saddles first and then straightened the neck a little, about 1/8 turn on the rod. That allowed me to' set action at 1,5 mm. at the 12th fret. But I've found out that there wasn't enough room to' let strings breath and bass didn't "speak" well. So I raised saddles to' a more reasonable 1,75 mm. height. Works great now.

[Michele Caramazza]

I'm goin' on adding my impressions as I become more and more familiar with this amazing instrument...
Today I've spent some time playing it in passive mode. I know that Ken intend this mode to be used in case the battery fails and consider the active mode as the true voice of the instrument but I have to say that I really enjoyed playing the instrument in passive mode. Not to say that I prefere it over the active mode but it's refreshing to know that I have another tonal nuance at disposal. I hear a certain rawness in the instrument voice when played without engaging the preamp and I can totally see how this could be really nice in certain playing situations.
The lack of a passive tone control doesn't allow you to sculpt this tone but you have the controls on your amp for that.
Very nice!

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Michele Caramazza

I'm goin' on adding my impressions as I become more and more familiar with this amazing instrument...
Today I've spent some time playing it in passive mode. I know that Ken intend this mode to be used in case the battery fails and consider the active mode as the true voice of the instrument but I have to say that I really enjoyed playing the instrument in passive mode. Not to say that I prefer it over the active mode but it's refreshing to know that I have another tonal nuance at disposal. I hear a certain rawness in the instrument voice when played without engaging the preamp and I can totally see how this could be really nice in certain playing situations.
The lack of a passive tone control doesn't allow you to sculpt this tone but you have the controls on your amp for that.
Very nice!

In the early 1980s we made Passive basses as well. These pickups (4-string model) were originally tested in Passive Smith Basses as well the early BT models starting around 1982-'83. The Passive model was called the 'PAS II' and had a different pickup originally from late 1980 but within 2 years, this current pickup became the only SMITH Pickups used. The 5 and 6 string Pickups of the same design came out around 1984-85.

The 'true voice' as you call it s actually the Bass 'as it is made' and then the strings amplified with this Pickup. The sound will vary with different Amps and speakers as they differ in what the reproduce, colored or un-colored sound depending and also the strings used matter as well, gauge and style.

The Preamp is actually an additional Tone enhancer or a intended to 'Shape' the sound from the pure original voice of the instrument pre-EQ.

[Steven Freitas]

Originally Posted by Michele Caramazza

I'm goin' on adding my impressions as I become more and more familiar with this amazing instrument...
Today I've spent some time playing it in passive mode. I know that Ken intend this mode to be used in case the battery fails and consider the active mode as the true voice of the instrument but I have to say that I really enjoyed playing the instrument in passive mode. Not to say that I prefere it over the active mode but it's refreshing to know that I have another tonal nuance at disposal. I hear a certain rawness in the instrument voice when played without engaging the preamp and I can totally see how this could be really nice in certain playing situations.
The lack of a passive tone control doesn't allow you to sculpt this tone but you have the controls on your amp for that.
Very nice!

Very nice bass Michele. Just purchased my first Ken Smith also and I can't wait until it gets here.