Ksd

[Michael Wilson]

KEN JUST WANT TO KNOW HOW CAN YOU AFTER MAKING SO MANY GREAT BASSES, PUT YOUR NAME ON SUCH A BAD BASS LIKE THE KSD. It is so not your craftsmanship.

[Ken Smith]

WHY are you YELLING?

KSD means Ken Smith Design. I am not Fender and the quality of that Bass is very good. Tighter Neck pockets that the first 50 years of Fender. Do you want to know what part of that Bass is KS Designed? Ask nicely!

[Michael Wilson]

Sorry if you feel that i am yelling. Most of the reviews on the Ksd has not been that good. I bought one and it is so far from being a smith bass craftsmanship and playability For many years i have bought and played basses with your logo name and it has been a great ride, but these basses are not even close. Even your lower priced basses are 100% better than the Ksd. The company [Brooklyn Gear] never returns calls, does not help buyers, just bad all around service and that has never been a Ken Smith policy. So my question is why. Not trying to be funny, but if its for the profit gain,thats sad.

Michael

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by bassmanzbe

Sorry if you feel that i am yelling. Most of the reviews on the Ksd has not been that good. I bought one and it is so far from being a smith bass craftsmanship and playability For many years i have bought and played basses with your logo name and it has been a great ride, but these basses are not even close. Even your lower priced basses are 100% better than the Ksd. The company [Brooklyn Gear] never returns calls, does not help buyers, just bad all around service and that has never been a Ken Smith policy. So my question is why. Not trying to be funny, but if its for the profit gain,thats sad.

Michael

When you type in ALL CAPS like in your initial post, it is considered YELLING. That's why I made that reference. The KSD is a Fender clone, not a cheaper Smith. Try looking at it in that light and then it might make sense to you. I cannot explain why Brooklyn Gear works as they do. It's not my company. I just helped them with the design of this Bass, that's all.

[Michael Wilson]

Sorry to hear that you let a company use your name on a product and Brooklyn Gear has such a bad rep. Most people who look to buy the Ksd dont know that you have nothing to do with how the company does business. But they are finding out real fast. Anyway,thanks for the info and keep making great Ken Smith basses.

Mike

[George Shippey]

Brooklyn Gear does not answer any calls, nor do they say when stocks without defects will be available. Adam Levy said new basses would be shipped out at "the beginning of April 2008" to date none of the dealers have any nor have they no delivery dates.

George Shippey

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by gwshippey

Brooklyn Gear does not answer any calls, nor do they say when stocks without defects will be available. Adam Levy said new basses would be shipped out at "the beginning of April 2008" to date none of the dealers have any nor have they no delivery dates.

George Shippey

I have informed Adam levy just now by phone. He will reply shortly with what I think is good news.

[Brooklyn Gear]

Mr. Shippey

As you and others have learned through reading my posts and other threads we have had problems with quality control with our last factory. That is why I am switching to a new factory.

I have responded to your emails about when basses were ready to ship with the information given to me by the new factory. I am not releasing basses until I am completely positive that the basses are up to Ken Smith Standards even though Ken Smith only designed these basses.

So when I emailed you in April that the basses were ready to ship that was what the factory stated to me before they were inspected on site by my representatives. They were not ready and that has caused the delay.

To be honest....I would rather be criticized for delaying shipments than releasing an inferior bass guitar.

I do expect the basses to be released by the end of next week from the factory. It will then be another four weeks or so before they arrive in the USA. You do not want to buy a KSD in the UK and want to buy one from another country. That is your right and I respect that.

I hope this answers your concern. My biggest concern is again releasing a bad KSD. I take Ken Smith's reputation very seriously and rather take blame for delays than have a bad bass.

Sincerely
Adam Levy
Brooklyn Gear

[George Shippey]

I strongly disagree with bass players who have stated that the KSD bass is a bad product. On the contrary man fusion players/rock players like them because of their vintage sound. They compare very well with Sadowsky basses and F-Clef basses which I have played and cost less which is the reason they are so popular. If you are wanting a more modern sound then naturally you would choose a Ken Smith Burner which has a different tone and color completely because of the woods,scale of the bass and it's electronics. I won't complain any more about the company that distributes them as I heard that they are doing their best to make the bass available as soon as possible and the hold up is with our friends from the far east.

George Shippey

[George Shippey]

Dear Ken
Thanks for asking Adam Levy when the KSD basses will be available, you have assuaged my six month nearly seven months anger and I hope to be a recepient of the bass soon. I disagree that it is a bad bass, I have played one and I was impressed. Some users might have tried to be clever and use the wrong wrench for the truss rod. Do what I do, get a pro to set up your instruments. Though I could I never tamper with my truss-rod.


George Shippey

[Gerry Sivers]

I just played one of these for the first time last week at Guitar Center over here (they finally got one) and found it to be a good Fender like instrument. It played as well as the American Deluxe 5 that I used to own.
I like the price on these basses because they sound as good as basses costing far more. My only issue is witj the B string sounding "boomy".
The other issue is with the store for not setting up the bass even though they have a "pro" in the store 3 days a week and with people that come in off the street and have a new bass looking dirty within days.
While that bass isn't my cup of tea, it was nice and sold in a week.

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by Gerry Sivers

I just played one of these for the first time last week at Guitar Center over here (they finally got one) and found it to be a good Fender like instrument. It played as well as the American Deluxe 5 that I used to own.
I like the price on these basses because they sound as good as basses costing far more. My only issue is witj the B string sounding "boomy".
The other issue is with the store for not setting up the bass even though they have a "pro" in the store 3 days a week and with people that come in off the street and have a new bass looking dirty within days.
While that bass isn't my cup of tea, it was nice and sold in a week.

Guitar Center is THE LAST place I'd expect to find any bass with a decent set-up and/or with fresh strings: You most likely didn't get a good test drive with the bass because of this.

[Gerry Sivers]

Originally Posted by Tim Bishop

Guitar Center is THE LAST place I'd expect to find any bass with a decent set-up and/or with fresh strings: You most likely didn't get a good test drive with the bass because of this.

Overall, I still liked it. GC is notorious for defiling good instruments. They used to let me go in just to set up the Warwicks.
The clips I've heard of this bass even before trying one out were impressive as well. Like I said, I had more issues with the store than the actual bass.

[Bob Faulkner]

It was at a guitar center that I first found a Smith bass, played it, and made the decision to order one. I'm still amazed someone took a 5 string Smith and traded it in at GC.. That bass was beyond awesome and convinced me of the superiority of Smith's in 1 sitting. Mind you that was a real Smith, not a KSD.

[Tim Bishop]

Originally Posted by Bob Faulkner

It was at a guitar center that I first found a Smith bass, played it, and made the decision to order one. I'm still amazed someone took a 5 string Smith and traded it in at GC.

Yeah, that's unusual, for sure. Sounds like you were at the right place at the right time and in the end it worked out well for you.