Kiwi

I think graphite neck manufacturers should stop mucking about with unnatural substances and get back to working with real living materials!

Whats wrong with a nice bit of wood for a neck, hmm? There's no need to go pouring out all those air pollutants while sucking up oil reserves just for the sake of a fat B string!! There's loads of perfectly good wood sitting in the amazon and congo going to waste. Imagine all the time wasted on making plastic necks and basses so far, which could have been spent making more authentic vintage Fenders for example! For goodness sakes, there's not nearly enough of them on Ebay.

If God had meant for us to work with plastics, he would have given us vacuum molding buttocks and xacto blades for fingernails.

In order to make room for the Shuker Custom headless MIDI 6 which is heading my way at some point, I'm selling my beloved Smith BSR6GN. I probably don't need to describe the attention to detail and craftsmanship or Ken's reputation for no compromise in his quality control. Each bass is inspected and signed personally by him before leaving the factory.

These basses are THE ultimate instrument for jazz-fusion, RnB and soul, but the warmth is such that the bass will sit in most genres happily and it records beautifully!

Overall, the sound is completely different to anything else out there. Its warm, deep and growly in the lower and mid registers and the treble response is clear and sweet without being brittle. In the upper registers the instrument sounds very mellow almost like a flamenco guitar and it makes chordal playing extremely musical.





The bass has NEVER BEEN GIGGED - thats right, home use and rehearsals only because I get confused by the number of strings sometimes and didn't want that to happen in front of a room full of punters! It was made in 2003, I bought it in 2004 and it features quilted maple facings on an unusual black walnut body core which gives is a crisp and clean sound with a full but not boomy bottom end. The 5 piece, graphite reinforced, through body neck is aged rock maple with bubinga laminates and a lovely, smooth carved cutaway heel. The neck is 34" scale, has 24 frets and is very flat which is also great for chordal work. Ken Smith uses many techniques that are employed in double bass construction so you can expect an instrument that is designed to last for years and can be easily repaired in the event of wear or an accident.

The pickups are Smiths own passive humbuckers mated to a 9v Smith 3 band eq. and the frequency centres of each band are tuned to the characteristics of the bass. String spacing is 18mm at the bridge and the nut is 55mm wide which is very comfortable and easy to get around on. The action is very low and buzz free and the neck is free of any twists or warps thanks to that huge slab of ebony used for the fingerboard.

Here's a couple of vids of John Patitucci playing an older Smith BT6 Custom, but the sound is almost identical to mine (although mine's probably warmer sounding though).




Beautiful huh? It could be yours for £2000, no trades or offers thanks though because I need the cash! I can bring it to the SE Bassbash tomorrow if anyone asks but if it doesn't sell in the next few weeks before I put my deposit down on the Shuker, its going to go to the Bass Centre where their commission will be added on to the asking price.

You also get the Smith hard case and lots of case candy such as brochures, allen keys, strap, duster, Smith polish and a packet of crisps.

[quote name='JimD' post='46627' date='Aug 16 2007, 09:34 PM']Hi there

Joined recently. Based in Oxon, and have been playing bass and guitar for 21 years. Currently own a Westone Superheadless, a Hohner B2A and a few other goodies. Super-fan of guitars in general and lust after different models daily.[/quote]

Hi Jim, welcome. One of my first bouts of GAS was for a Westone Super Headless many, many years ago. Has it got the dark birdseye maple finish or light? There was a refinished purple one on Ebay a couple of years ago too.

[quote name='Tinman' post='46715' date='Aug 17 2007, 06:33 AM']CK, I don't suppose you saw anything covered in Buckeye lying around, did you?[/quote]
I don't remember seeing anything that stunning I'm afraid.

He only showed me the basses that were finished (as in they had a finish applied) and the discussions of spec for my bass got quite involved. I held John's headless 6, played Colin's myrtle bodied bass and another with camphor facings. There was a stack of bodies on one shelf in a back room and there were a couple of necks with graphite reinforcing bars being glued up as well. I expect one of those necks might have been for your bass?

As has already been suggested, the loudness of the amp is probaby more relevant to me. I used to run an Eden WT800 into a pair of 8ohm 2x10" cabs and they were pasted by a GK RB400 combo as far as volume goes. Better quality sound from a single driver also - much clearer in the mids and lower frequencies to my ears.

I've also played my '79 Alembic Series 1 through a 100w Burman valve head through an Ashdown 4x8 and 1x15 and blasted away the guitarist who was playing through a 100w Fender Twin.

The GK RB700 1x15 combos I keep raving about are more than enough for most gigs I play in small - medium sized bars and would probably be OK for a larger venue like the Clapham Grand if it wasn't too far from me and used like a wedge monitor. I tried adding a 2x10 to the combo for fun once and the volume was just silly - I couldn't get the amp quiet enough.

[quote name='Johngh' post='46643' date='Aug 16 2007, 10:25 PM']Just a quick update. I spoke to Jon yesterday and he is still waiting for the hardware to finish it off. The pups are in and he says I might be able to collect it next week !![/quote]

I had a look at it today while I was visiting him. It looks nice - the black hardware (when it finally arrives) will set off the light woods very nicely. I really liked how comfortable the body was and told Jon I wanted mine identical in shape to yours. My neck profile is going to be different though - a bit chunkier so my left hand doesn't cramp up.

Its definitely worth going, although the aftershow party is better, you're not guaranteed to see him though. Just leave your camera behind, they confiscated 3000 on Tuesday night at Prince's direct request which resulted in 3000 irate people waiting in line for an hour at a single 5m wide counter. Half of that time was spent with the staff looking stupid and doing nothing.

The official word was that Prince didn't like the flashes, I think he objects to video and images being posted on sites and forums. Maybe he's planning to release the London concert on DVD too eventually.

[quote name='m0reilly' post='46170' date='Aug 16 2007, 03:33 AM'] thanks! i feel very much at home [/quote]
Welcome aboard

[quote name='Crazyforkillua' post='46168' date='Aug 16 2007, 03:13 AM']Hi, I just joined. My friend from the UK (I'm from America) suggested this site to me. I guess his name is LethalLion here, because that's what he calls himself everywhere else.

Anyway, I'm new to the bass and I'm self teaching myself playing tabs. I have a 5 string Calvin Bass, but I;m going to buy a new 4 string, but I don't know which to get. Any suggestions?[/quote]
I crazy too. Welcome!

I'll have a pint of bitter before a gig sometimes just to loosen up a little, but that's about it.

I've learned that late nights+ alcohol = wasted day after.

But that's great in some respects because I can really push the boat out on some nights if I don't drink. For example, I went out last night to see Prince, came back at 5am, didn't touch alcohol the whole night, got about 5 hours interrupted sleep (it was a day off) before getting up feeling pretty sharp and I attended a very successful job interview this afternoon.

If I'd been drinking the previous night, I'd have looked like death warmed up and been more or less incoherent.

No idea when I will be there - chances are around lunch time, but I won't be staying for too long. Will most likely bring the MM Cutlass, Smith 5's and Celinder. If someone is bringing a 400w 4ohm cab or two 8 ohm cabs I might bring the V8 as well.

Also I'll bring the DHA prototype valve compressor if anyone fancies a go on it.

I have a pair of the Yamaha's, they're excellent.

We had great fun playing "Hey Ya" by Outkast at rehearsal on yesterday - but we do have 6 singers to cover the harmonies and vocal improvs. The tune is really simple but its got a nice sassy fun feel to it.

BTW, I can bring it to the SE Bassbash in Surrey this Saturday.

[quote name='King of Loss' post='44443' date='Aug 12 2007, 02:43 PM']At £1300, I would forget about Yamaha/Ibanez/Warwick etc, and get yourself a custom bass. [/quote]
A good idea but you need to know what you want when you go custom. If there's an off-the-shelf bass which supplies a sound which is just as desirable, the chances are it will have a better resale value also.

Hey Mimi, we've got all types here. How did you discover the forum?

If you have them, how about posting pics of your stuff here?

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3975&st=20&start=20"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...20&start=20[/url]

Welcome!

If noone takes this in the next week, I'm going to let the council collect it as an oversized item. This was an jinxed sub woofer where nothing ever worked the way it should. I installed an amp module which is fine and a replacement, old EV speaker cone but the character of the sub is thumpy without necessarily being deep.

I need the space this takes up and I'm more likely to get a decent price for the amp module by itself rather than the whole thing. So if someone's willing to pick the unloaded cab up from west London, they're welcome to it.

[quote name='Mottlefeeder' post='24872' date='Jun 29 2007, 01:12 PM']+1 on these. They are the same range as the ones David Nimrod spoke of in message 14 -[/quote]

They've recently set up a website too!

[url="http://www.leathergraft.co.uk/"]http://www.leathergraft.co.uk/[/url]

[quote name='micahbell' post='44329' date='Aug 11 2007, 11:47 PM']All the links in this post go to the products, as most of them mentioned are either American or Canadian companies, and I do not expect you all to know of Warmoth or Fralin pickups.[/quote]
Warmoth? As in the neck/body makers? Lindy Fralin? No, we've never heard of those Welcome aboard BTW.

Dood - has to be the most under rated metal player in the country. I'd give my left nipple to see him face off John Myung.

Blimey [i]another[/i] Talkbass refugee? We must be doing something right! Welcome aboard good sir!

I tried a GK RB400 at a gig at Leonards in London once and it was love at first listen. I was playing a pair of 2x10"'s and an Eden WT800 had at the time. So I sold the lot and got a pair of RB700 1x15" combos instead and have NEVER regretted it. I've compared and contrasted the amps against Trace, Ampeg, Markbass, Epifani and the GK's won through on evenness, frequency response and clarity. The controls are centred at useful frequncies, the boost control literally dials in extra growl, its bloody loud and very noise free. I can also play a variety of basses through the combos and they all sound good. I could never do that with either the Eden or the SWR heads I owned previously.

I really can't fault the amps sonically although the wheels on the combos can be fragile over rough surfaces.

[quote name='MB1' post='43948' date='Aug 10 2007, 07:13 PM']"Well, i dont quite know rita!"....thought the v stood for valve??..[/quote]
And guess what's in the preamp?

[i]"Young man"?![/i]

Sunshine, I'm not old enough yet to take that as a compliment.

[quote name='dood' post='43944' date='Aug 10 2007, 07:07 PM']It's great fun pretending to be David Bailey![/quote]

I have visions of Austin Powers...



[i]"YEAH DOODLEBABY!!! YOU'RE A SEXY MEERKAT! I WANT YOU POPPING UP OUT OF THOSE BURROWS AND TAKING A GOOD LOOK AROUND!!"[/i]