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The Ken Smith Club, Part 2

#381
ped said:
I've admired the Smith sound for years, it's so distinctive. I finally bought a Smith which I had to import from Portugal to here in the UK. They are quite unusual basses here.

BT5 1991, Koa top and Morado board. Sounds every bit like I hoped, lowest action possible and dead straight neck. It sounds exactly the same as Washington's bass on Morph The Cat!

Cheers

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Congrats on scoring a KS "on the other side of the pond." Looks like it is in great condition for a 27 year old bass. Yes they all have a sound that is recognizable and stellar! I bought my first KS a couple of months ago - a 5 string - and was so impressed I immediately acquired a 6 string. Each has slightly different tonal qualities due to different wood tones, but both have what I would call that distinctive KS sound: punchy in the low mids, slightly compressed, and great slap tone too.
 
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#382
cross-posted on the amps side, but since this gig was all about the Smith 6'er...

Well, yesterday was a long but amazing day. Was asked a month or two back to do music for a live streamed SciFi show. Wait, a what?!? Yes - a SciFi show that is totally done live. As in live shoot (10 cameras), live video effects, live audio effects, multiple live sets, broadcast debut of a cool 60's album from Austin, and live improv music score (where I came in). To be honest, we (trio - keys, bass, drums) weren't totally improv, as we had the script and worked through where we were going to play and roughed out some chord progressions. But take everything together, nothing like it had ever been done. Zero post-production, and the only pre-recorded bits were the title sequence and the Austin song.

8:30am call this morning, and the plan was four rehearsals, then live broadcast at 6pm (with live pre and post show). The main set - over a mile of cable, 40 interactive screens, including a functional Soviet-era simulator software program (running on MS-DOS).

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Our setup on the side of the set

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My setup for the day - the Smith 6'er (I bought it pretty much in anticipation of this gig, knowing I'd need the extended range), my basic pedal board, Helix HX for crazy sounds, Subway for tone, and IEMs for monitor. We did our own stereo submix that we sent to the main sound board, then got a feed of the program.

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During rehearsal, house lights down. You can see the script on my iPad along with notes on the split screen.

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Preshow with the Nerdist host:

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Best 11 hours I've spent in awhile. Amazing production, and great to be part of a team. The writer/director gave a number of inspirational moments through the day, quoting Neil Armstrong and Carl Sagan among others. Right before we went live, he talked about everyone there having two two qualities - passion and courage. Those of us that play live music know about the tight wire that you need to walk, but something with this many moving parts done in real time was particularly amazing. No one was there for the money - this was a day of firsts and being part of it was something special.

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And the final product. The Austin song is a needle drop, the other music is us live and in color (but off-screen). Show starts at 15:22, our 3 seconds of fame at 4:31.

 
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#385
Nenor said:
Looks perfect. Pure curiosity, what does it weigh?
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I haven't weighed it yet but not much - and I'm used to carbon necked basses. I was expecting it to be a bit of an anchor as the most similar bass I've had to this was an Alembic that was really, really heavy.

Edit: just weighed it, 4.4kg (using bathroom scales, not accurate).
 
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#387
My Smith/Jackson BT 6 Strings (1985)
14a. B.T. 6-String Arce Flameado.jpg
 
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#393
I worked out the financial bind I was in and pulled the ad for my Elite 6. So, at least for the time being, I am the incredibly lucky owner of these two masterpieces. I know I've posted a lot of photos of these basses here but I can't help it! The only bass I lust for now (which I have on order) is a Dingwall NG3 6 string.


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#395
Bassheart365 said:
I worked out the financial bind I was in and pulled my ad for my Elite 6. So, at least for the time being, I am the incredibly lucky owner of these two masterpieces. I know I've posted a lot of photos of these basses here but I can't help it! The only bass I lust for now (which I have on order) is a Dingwall NG3 6 string.


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What I heard in Washington Music store when I bought mine is so true. "They are like pieces of art... Masterpieces."

So true.

Every one a masterpiece.
 

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