Ken Smith back in PA

[frankie5string]

their necks are def not like an upright. very thin and fast. if it wasn't for the smaller sting spacing I would have never sold mine. played like and absolute dream and killer tone.

I just sold it last year and got back what i paid for her. so i think the demand is still there. If i find a 19mm I'd buy it again.

Yeah, actually I find his necks have varied slightly. The one I had was slim but round with a very flat radius. Very comfortable, very easy to play. I never felt that my thumb was going to ache like on some really thin necks out there.

 

[Element Zero]

Ever since watching John Patitucci play one in his instructional video as a teenager I've wanted one. But I've never had a band where I thought, "this would be the perfect project to play a Ken Smith". And that's before looking at the prices.

I'm with @Element Zero ; if I won the lottery I'd be placing an order right away. In the meantime, maybe I should find a Squier and drop some Smith pickups in it.

I have a feeling such a bass would not come very close to actual Smith, given the way they are constructed. I had one for two years during the Nineties. It was bolt on, but the body was made of many layers of wood, the neck was three piece too. The pickups were located in way that emphasized lots of mids. I don’t imagine a Squier body would capture the Smith essence.

@Jefus If you ever do it PLEASE lemme know the outcome. Would be incredibly interesting to hear how close it could get. @Dr. Cheese Ive heard a Fender Jazz 5 with the Standard Pope preamp that comes in the Fodera Standards and it sounded close enough to my Yin Yang in single coil mode that I couldn’t really tell a difference.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

@Jefus If you ever do it PLEASE lemme know the outcome. Would be incredibly interesting to hear how close it could get. @Dr. Cheese Ive heard a Fender Jazz 5 with the Standard Pope preamp that comes in the Fodera Standards and it sounded close enough to my Yin Yang in single coil mode that I couldn’t really tell a difference.

I suspect that Fender has better body wood than most Squiers.

 

[Nenor]

I believe the Brubaker basses had different finishes and a couple 'burst colours.

They tried those things and decided to close that chapter and move everything back in-house.

Since moving production back to PA it seems they stayed with the Poly-mix finish, not going back to the old oil/oil+lacquer finishes (AKA Ken's secret sauce). So far no neck-through models. No more custom orders, just stock batches once or twice a year. It isn't back to normal yet, or maybe it's the new normal.

 

[gwangi]

Since moving production back to PA it seems they stayed with the Poly-mix finish, not going back to the old oil/oil+lacquer finishes (AKA Ken's secret sauce). So far no neck-through models. No more custom orders, just stock batches once or twice a year. It isn't back to normal yet, or maybe it's the new normal.

This was the question I was going to ask, yes it seems like you only get what Ken Smith happens to produce in batches now and there is not a lot of basses being produced each year.
My question is, is he back in some type of facility producing these instruments or is this in some type of small building in his backyard, I kind of think he doesn't have his big building he had back in the day producing basses, that building I bet was expensive to run each month.

 

[frankie5string]

This was the question I was going to ask, yes it seems like you only get what Ken Smith happens to produce in batches now and there is not a lot of basses being produced each year.
My question is, is he back in some type of facility producing these instruments or is this in some type of small building in his backyard, I kind of think he doesn't have his big building he had back in the day producing basses, that building I bet was expensive to run each month.

Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but as far as I know, he bought and owns the building where the basses are made…His office, which he occasionally VLOGs from is just on the other side of the door to the workshop.

I believe Ken is still somewhat discrete about whatever custom builds he actually has in progress for clients. His custom clients tend to be higher up on the food chain than forum lurkers. So most of his advertising has been about production models he’s releasing. You can still order a custom Smith, but he will only deviate so far from his recipe.

 

[Nenor]

or is this in some type of small building in his backyard

I find this hard to believe. He would not let anything less than perfect (by his all times standards) out the door. He's more likely limited to what and how much he is able to produce. This may or may not change.

 

[ModuMan]

He's using his old wood stock. So that kind of dictates what he is interested in doing batches of.

I spoke with him recently when I had a preamp refurbished and I tried to get an idea of his current operation. For example, he had some multi-laminate neck-through necks that for whatever reason didn't work so they were cut short and set aside to be bolt ons. Those had not been used so they have been waiting...

I'm super interested in seeing what he comes up with and I just hope the bank account will be ready when the right thing comes along!

 

[B-Mac]

I meant to respond to a thread that @Dr. Cheese posted about a year ago or so...

Ken Smith USA Basses to be Produced by Brubaker Guitars

The only thing I changed was blocking out my name and email address. Everything else is the actual screen grabs.

And then there's this...
Ken Smith Basses Move Production Back To Pennsylvania

 

[L. L. Elwood]

Yeah, I have had a couple of Ken Smith’s I had a 2011 four string black tiger that was literally the finest instrument I’ve ever laid my hands on. Absolute perfection and incredibly beautiful on top of that. It was the easiest playing fastest action bass I have ever owned. The neck was similar to a jazz but a little bit more heft to it depth wise. Not a huge neck by any means.It was an oil finish bass and honestly the reason I ended up selling it was because I was super paranoid that I was going to drop it or take it out on a gig and get dinged up. It was that fine, it felt like a collectors item that I had to totally baby. So it ended up staying at home almost all of the time. And I basically only own instruments that I actively play at home and on gigs. Otherwise, they just tend to go away. I owned the bass for a couple of years and ended up selling it for over $1000 more than I bought it for. They’re definitely not diminishing in value. Also note volume and quality of tone was 100% consistent from the nut all the way to the 24th fret I mean this thing was a masterpiece level build for sure.

 

[pepj]

I see a few Smith's in the market and like the idea, but I just don't have a gig where that unmistakable sound would sit.
Maybe...some other time then.

 

[Z-Bass]

I remember back in the day (maybe mid-late 90's/early 2000s) a lot of major players in my area had a Ken Smith. A lot a jazz and funk heavies. I remember seeing a lot of Ken Smiths when going out to see live sessions. The basses were gorgeous and the tones were beautiful. A local shop actually carried the brand back then. I do remember trying out few and probably lusted after a few as well. I can see why someone wouldn't want one but they were really works of art and an example of true craftsmanship.