For sale 1990 Ken Smith BT5 Custom 5AAAAA Flamed Maple

Wow.

Ah.....the over sized black head stock and the old 3 band preamp. These are the ones sprinkled with fairy dust. These are the best sounding basses Ken ever made and the ones to collect.

Amen! Indeed so they are IMO Thee Best Smith's ever made!

I have owned that bass and it's indeed a KILLER ONE!!! Grab it!!!

very very nice!

This is HOT!!!!!!!

You're killing me..........VERY NICE

Any idea what happened to the original brass nut?

Great question, I was wondering the same thing?

Tnadu said:

Any idea what happened to the original brass nut?

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Good eye!!!!

Tnadu said:

Any idea what happened to the original brass nut?

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That is the Original Brass nut from 1990.

basspro557 said:

That is the Original Brass nut from 1990.

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I'm sorry, but you are mistaken. That may be a brass nut, but it most certainly did not come from Ken's shop. Looking at your fourth photo you can clearly see it does not even fit well (too short on the low B side), not to mention it is not scalloped. Ken told me his nuts are hand carved and fitted for each individual bass...it's not a part you can buy off the shelf, and if you need a replacement you have to have his shop do the work. No other builder makes as nice a nut, and the scalloped carving is unique to Smith. Why someone would have removed the original nut I cannot imagine. Below are two 1990 BT5's with a close up of the first one's (flame maple) headstock showing the carved scalloping. I don't have a close up of the lacewood BT5's headstock, but you can still easily see the scalloping. Hope this helps...I know others here have wondered about it as well.

You are correct Tnadu,,,I just looked up some real old BTS even from the 80's and they are indeed All scalloped.Original owner must have replaced it.It does fit perfectly and its a Brass nut could be a Fodera.When I replaced the Strings it moved that's why you can see a little gap but I re-glued the Nut and its perfectly centered with no gap.I sold the bass to Lalo Garcia Maynez and bought it back a few months ago.

SOLD.