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Ken Smith production shifting to Kevin Brubaker

#9
Veldar said:
So what's the general consensus of Brubaker as a brand? I don't know anything about them, I just love my Ken Smith and I was working on getting an endorsement haha
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I don't think I've ever heard an ill word about Brubaker instruments. Even the imported lines like the Brute, though the first Brute I ever picked up was heavy as hell. Kevin's just a humble everyman type, trying to make good instruments, and he even does restoration work on basses he didn't build (that's how I met him).
 
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#14
Veldar said:
So what's the general consensus of Brubaker as a brand? I don't know anything about them, I just love my Ken Smith and I was working on getting an endorsement haha
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They're as well built as anything else I suppose. I have my preferences, but the weakest of the four or so Brubakers that've passed my hands were definitely more solid than any post-80s Ibanez, any Ric, 90% of Fenders... heck, now that I think of it, they were better than the few Ken Smiths I've played.
 
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#15
zortation said:
Apparently one of his lead woodworker dudes passed away so they scrambled to find a way to keep things moving. Must have been a valuable employee...
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True and confirmed. I was at Kevin's (Brubaker) shop late last week. I saw roughly 8-10 Smith's in various stages of production. Kevin also had several Smith templates, jigs and even some of Ken's woodworking machines to maintain the same build process. Kevin also had wood from the Smith vault. Pretty cool!
 
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#16
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#18
bongostealth said:
Interesting... other than the Burner series, never thought we would end up saying, "Here's my USA Ken Smith bass from when it was still built entirely at the Ken Smith shop in Perkasie."
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It's a sad fact of reality that our bass building heroes won't last forever. An entire generation of innovators are all reaching the age where they'll be stepping away from the bench for the final time. I'm talking not just about the inventors of the boutique bass, but of the first wave of innovators and designers who helped launch these most exemplary of instruments into the market. Ken Smith, Stuart Spector, Mike Pedulla, Michael Tobias, George Furnaletto, Vinny Fodera and Joey Lauricella... the list goes on. And that is not to mention the great designers who have sadly already died, like Phil Kubicki and Greg Curbow.

It's fantastic news to me that some of these brands are either employing younger staff to pass their torch on, or moving production to new builders who can maintain that legacy. Ken Smith is rightly respected as a visionary and a master builder and I believe Brubaker is entirely fit to carry on his good work. A safe pair of hands indeed! I wish involved in this venture the very best of luck.
 
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#19
India_Sierra said:
It's a sad fact of reality that our bass building heroes won't last forever. An entire generation of innovators are all reaching the age where they'll be stepping away from the bench for the final time. I'm talking not just about the inventors of the boutique bass, but of the first wave of innovators and designers who helped launch these most exemplary of instruments into the market. Ken Smith, Stuart Spector, Mike Pedulla, Michael Tobias, George Furnaletto, Vinny Fodera and Joey Lauricella... the list goes on. And that is not to mention the great designers who have sadly already died, like Phil Kubicki and Greg Curbow.

It's fantastic news to me that some of these brands are either employing younger staff to pass their torch on, or moving production to new builders who can maintain that legacy. Ken Smith is rightly respected as a visionary and a master builder and I believe Brubaker is entirely fit to carry on his good work. A safe pair of hands indeed! I wish involved in this venture the very best of luck.
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It'll be sad to see the passing of so many quintensial bassists and star manufactures over the next couple of years, I guess that's the worst part of our instrument being so young.
 
#20
I didn't catch wind of this until today. Good to see Ken was able to work out something with another respected builder. Rather than just closing up shop. As mentioned above, it will be interesting to see how things play out with some of the other "old timers" as they get older.
 
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