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Olinto P bass vs Ken Smith

#41
prndltech said:
get whatever one you like the sound and feel of best. I haven’t had anyone complain whether it’s a mustang with flats or a sadowsky modern 5 with stainless steel strings. Use whatever tool lets you play best, the rest is history.
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This 👆
You'll sound best with the bass you feel most comfortable with. All the rest is nonsense that we like to argue about on forums. Nobody will hear any difference, especially with live music. I'm not saying there's no difference, I'm saying nobody would care or notice. It's really about what makes you play better. Personally I'd go with the Smith, neck pickup soloed for a P tone. For recording purposes had I needed a pure P sound I'd just get a decent Fender to have around.
 
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#42
I have a Ken Smith Black Tiger 4.
I don't have an Olinto but I have a Moollon and various Fender P (74, 75, 78, Fullerton 62 Reissue, Custom Shop).
They are different in every way (sound, build, feel, ergonomics...) that it's apples to oranges.
So I'd say you need both 😎
 
#43
pepj said:
Those two basses are way different gigs, imv so if you dont know why you want one or another...and sitting in the mix is only half an answer anyway, imv, then get the P.
This is because the P can cover way more gigs than the Smith can.

I do pretty mainstream gigs ...but more varied than most around here, and there are some gigs that just can't have a Smith on it.

One of the reasons I have settled on my 3 go-to's is because I listened very closely to recorded songs and could identify which bass didn't work...even though I was loving playing them at the time.
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Any bass can cover Brown-Eyed Girl, and nobody should care that your bass doesn't look like you roll a pack of smokes in your sleeve.
 
#44
In terms of notes, yep, but there are certains gigs that are made for a Smith and certain others you just can't have one on.

I had the Smith sound and certain bandleaders would say 'leave that bass at home'

Now, if you can't hear or don't care about that..then thats another matter entirely.

I'm of the opinion that this stuff does matter..myself.
 
#45
Great comments, I want to thank everyone. I made my decision there is no doubt that both bass are great. Once thing I learned. It seems that Olinto made by Mas Hino are the more desirable basses, not that the current Olintos are not as good. However the old KS are getting harder to find than the Olinto. So for now I decided to invest in an old Ken Smith and then possibly maybe in the future get the Olinto. But before I get the Olinto P bass I would definitely get a tryout with a Fender p bass from a guitar center, as they give 45 days return policy so if its not my thing or if I like it I can return and get the Olinto. I always hear great comments about the Olinto basses but before considering dropping $$$ on a Olinto bass, I am going to test the P bass with a Fender.
 
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#46
pbass2 said:
In peak TB fashion, I'll suggest a different bass from either of those: a Sadowsky PJ5.
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I was going to suggest the same thing but without the J pickup.

The best feeling P5 I have ever played was a Sadowsky. …and I’ve played Mas’ basses. I was at Roger’s shop looking for a J5 and he said “I know you’re looking for a jazz bass but you should play this P.” It was stunning. I should’ve bought it. The fact that it can go either modern or vintage sounding makes it a really good middle ground between your Olinto and KS extremes.
 
#48
The KS bass I was going to buy owner back out. I had a deal with the seller for a week now. I send the money this morning, however once he realized he would get hit with the PayPal fees he told me to cover the fees, and because I wasn't going to cover the fees, he decided to back off and issued me a refund. Because of this I decided to just test the P bass from GC.
 
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#49
otto B said:
The KS bass I was going to buy owner back out. I had a deal with the seller for a week now. I send the money this morning, however once he realized he would get hit with the PayPal fees he told me to cover the fees, and because I wasn't going to cover the fees, he decided to back off and issued me a refund. Because of this I decided to just test the P bass from GC.
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If the PBass doesn’t do it for you , maybe find another Smith.
 

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