fwiw not a 6, but very comfortable fit in the Music Area AA31-EB. Has all the boxes checked including extra storage which some people might not need but it's handy. Built like a tank and highly recommend.
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Up for sale is my Ken Smith BMT5
https://www.talkbass.com/classifieds/ken-smith-bmt5-stunning.1658835/
https://www.talkbass.com/classifieds/ken-smith-bmt5-stunning.1658835/
Quoting myself here… surely someone has played one of the new ones?
If I can sell a few more basses I hope to be playing a new one!
I'm intrigued by the new 3-way switches. Might be subtle, but I do like having the options.
I'm intrigued by the new 3-way switches. Might be subtle, but I do like having the options.
They have quite a few options already. This past Sunday I used my Black Tiger at church. The first song needed a rather bright, but still deep tone so equally blended pups with treble centered and bass and mids at 70%. Second song needed to be more up front with some more texture, so pups at about 60% bridge 40% neck and bass boosted another 10%. Next song needed to be heavy and puffy; 90% bass 25% mids and 50/50 pups. Last song strong; just brought the mids back up to about 70%. The variation in tone with just small adjustments is surprising.
I have a Black TIger as well, it’s my main bass. For the most part, i play every single song with the same settings. But i would have loved to hear your variety of settings to match the songs.
By next Sunday, a video of the service should be posted. Normally, the quality sucks. Usually sounds like they just used the mike on the camera. Also, our worst sound guy was on duty, and there were several complaints. We shall see…
Got a 2001 BSR 6 from a TB’r. Of course it is an incredible bass. Needs a little work so I’m going to send it in to Ken next month so he can look at the preamp and maybe update the battery connectors which he said can go bad over time.
Any of you send yours into Ken for work, and how did it go, how the pricing? I enjoy corresponding with him, he is to the point but also provides valuable information.
Mine came with the knobs replaced with matching walnut knobs. I’m still debating getting the OGs out back on. The walnut knobs don’t really give me that quick visual of where my settings are at, so I have everything at center detent. Honestly sounds amazing flat but I typically end up boosting a little high and low on my sadowsky, and sometimes favoring one pickup over the other. All pretty subtle settings where the classic knobs would help.
Any of you send yours into Ken for work, and how did it go, how the pricing? I enjoy corresponding with him, he is to the point but also provides valuable information.
Mine came with the knobs replaced with matching walnut knobs. I’m still debating getting the OGs out back on. The walnut knobs don’t really give me that quick visual of where my settings are at, so I have everything at center detent. Honestly sounds amazing flat but I typically end up boosting a little high and low on my sadowsky, and sometimes favoring one pickup over the other. All pretty subtle settings where the classic knobs would help.
The preamp, pickups, electronics, etc are pretty simple. I normally just order the parts I need from Ken and have my luthier install them. I would only send my bass to Ken if I needed body/neck work.
Is there anything wrong with the preamp? "Little work needed" wouldn't be enough of a reason for me to send it over. I've had bad battery connectors on my Smith and replaced them myself. If you want details you're welcome to send me a message. I'd consider sending the bass to Ken only with really major issues.
I think the preamp is ok, but Ken told me the input jack on the bass is not his and it could impact the circuit. I'm going to speak with a few people out here and find a luthier that is really good and let them do it. I agree it's probably overkill to send the bass to Ken when I can just order the parts from him.
The preamp is interesting, it is the older 9 volt version but does not have any switches for serial/parallel. I don't really mind that, but I'm not sure if that impacts anything.
Other thing I am going to try and change on my own is the setup. I like low action a lot and this bass is super easy to play. My main issue is A-C strings start fretting out after fret 15. Also my B string is a little close to the pickup so there is a click sound sometimes when I mute it and play the low E. I have all the proper hex sizes so I'm thinking I just need to lower the pickups a little on the B side.
I have KS taper mediums ready to string up and am going to clean the bass with the recommended scotch-brite scuff pads he uses and then put on his classic wax polish. Just wondering if I should tweak the truss rod in this case or just focus on adjusting the strings bridge height. The frets look perfect and the neck looks rather straight, so I am hoping this is a setup tweak. Open to suggestions on how to approach it!
Good on ya.
If you need instructions, there are good videos online and I think Ken has specs on his site.
The switches are not part of and have nothing to do with the preamp. They are passive (of course) and located between the pickups and preamp, totally independent. They only control how the pickups coils are wired.
Regarding setup, from your description (assuming the neck/truss/frets are healthy) I'd guess that there's a bit of a forward bow and a very low action at the bridge. Try to set the neck as straight as possible and raise the saddles to a point there's no more buzz.
Yeah it’s funny when I look it up I read people saying the neck needs more relief but I was thinking less as well. I’ll see how it feels to tighten it up a little.
The main issue is this input jack is terrible, so I barely move sometimes and get that click/pop sound when you plug into a live channel. I have to fix that asap. I think the preamp itself is fine though. Still tracking down a luthier that I trust to do the job.
Ken’s preamp and input jacks are plug in parts, so they are pretty straight forward to replace. Just make sure you get the instructions from Ken about disconnecting the preamp. There is a tricky bit with the ground wire that looks like a Phillips head screw but is not. It’s a push on cap instead. If you twist it, you can wreck it.
I have bought a preamp from Ken and installed it myself, so it can be done by a user. I did have to send one of my Smiths back to Ken for service once when a prior owner completely stripped the truss rod nut and did not disclose that before sale. Ken had to do some surgery to get it off. For something like that, I’d send it back to the Smith shop.
I have bought a preamp from Ken and installed it myself, so it can be done by a user. I did have to send one of my Smiths back to Ken for service once when a prior owner completely stripped the truss rod nut and did not disclose that before sale. Ken had to do some surgery to get it off. For something like that, I’d send it back to the Smith shop.
