The Ken Smith Club, Part 2

[AngelCrusher]

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.

Nice, Ken just got back to me and also told me that the input jack was plug in. And thats the only part I need to replace, not even the preamp. I am going to check the truss rod today or tomorrow. I have all the right size hex tools showing up and I am going to clean the entire bass, polish the frets and then set it up again. Fingers crossed that the rod is not stripped.

I'm in the market for a 5 string. Anybody selling?

You probably saw it, but there is/was a beautiful White tiger 5er on Reverb for a decent asking price.

 

[Murivan]

Nice, Ken just got back to me and also told me that the input jack was plug in. And thats the only part I need to replace, not even the preamp. I am going to check the truss rod today or tomorrow. I have all the right size hex tools showing up and I am going to clean the entire bass, polish the frets and then set it up again. Fingers crossed that the rod is not stripped.

As long as you manage to remove tension from the rod (worst case scenario even cutting the nut) you are good. You can slide the old truss rod out and slide a new one in.
Of course it's always better when previous owners disclose -non insignificant- details.

 

[scubaduba]

You probably saw it, but there is/was a beautiful White tiger 5er on Reverb for a decent asking price.

Must have missed it. Not seeing it.

 

[AngelCrusher]

Must have missed it. Not seeing it.

I found it but it's a BSR with Tiger Maple, so that threw me off. I was going to buy it if I didn't go 6. - https://reverb.com/item/87986808-ken-smith-bsr-5-mw-2006-tiger-maple-walnut

@Erik Turkman When you said plug and play on the input jack, is it literally that or do I need to solder? I sent Ken the money yesterday but don't suspect he is a guy to send out tracking (I could be wrong), so I'm guessing it shows up later next week.

 

[daddymactx]

I found it but it's a BSR with Tiger Maple, so that threw me off. I was going to buy it if I didn't go 6. - https://reverb.com/item/87986808-ken-smith-bsr-5-mw-2006-tiger-maple-walnut

@Erik Turkman When you said plug and play on the input jack, is it literally that or do I need to solder? I sent Ken the money yesterday but don't suspect he is a guy to send out tracking (I could be wrong), so I'm guessing it shows up later next week.

No solder, Its totally "plug & play". Follow the wires from the jack. There's a clip inside the pre that unplugs. After that You just have to unscrew and replace the jack, wire and clip.

 

[Nenor]

No solder, Its totally "plug & play". Follow the wires from the jack. There's a clip inside the pre that unplugs. After that You just have to unscrew and replace the jack, wire and clip.

I would suggest to keep the old jack. You can take off the wires & plug for use with another "non-Smith" jack. This is the only weak spot on a Smith bass, IMO. There are more reliable jacks than the ones he uses and there's nothing special about them. It's just a stereo output jack.

 

[Erik Turkman]

I found it but it's a BSR with Tiger Maple, so that threw me off. I was going to buy it if I didn't go 6. - https://reverb.com/item/87986808-ken-smith-bsr-5-mw-2006-tiger-maple-walnut

@Erik Turkman When you said plug and play on the input jack, is it literally that or do I need to solder? I sent Ken the money yesterday but don't suspect he is a guy to send out tracking (I could be wrong), so I'm guessing it shows up later next week.

It’s a barrel style jack that is prewired to a plug. The plug easily clips into the internal preamp board. The only potential problem I can see is if the nonstandard jack that is now in there was soldered in.

 

[AngelCrusher]

Sounds good, thanks all. If solder is required I have a guy I can take it to, will probably take a few minutes. I don't have a good area to solder in my home, so I haven't soldered anything since I worked in a guitar shop as a teen. Don't trust my skills anymore, haha.

In other news I cleaned the bass up with the Smith wax and will be setting it up today. The truss rod looks great with my eye test, will have the proper hex size later today so I can verify that and take out some relief.

My observations in owning and playing this bass for a week already are that the craftmanship is on an entirely different level than even my Sadowsky (and I love Roger's builds). One stand out part is the tuners, they are so incredibly precise, I am tuning to cents instead of semitones with this bass. It is just crazy. Obviously the playability of the neck is incredible. So all of that factored together with the tone, and it's just a special instrument. It works on more electronic and synthetic tracks than an active 5 string J for me. Just the way the mids are voiced, it reminds me in a way of how I like to patch up a Moog bass sound. I know Massive Attack fooled some people who thought it was a synth on their records. I believed they ran the bass takes into a sampler to loop and process, but the core sound is the Smith.

 

[daddymactx]

I would suggest to keep the old jack. You can take off the wires & plug for use with another "non-Smith" jack. This is the only weak spot on a Smith bass, IMO. There are more reliable jacks than the ones he uses and there's nothing special about them. It's just a stereo output jack.

Absolutely!! Ive done it. Also You can add Series/Parallel and even a 3 way switch to add single coil.. It's just extremely hard to find the small flat toggle jacks that Smith uses..

 

[AngelCrusher]

What does the Truss rod hex wrench look like that comes with the Ken Smith basses? Just the standard 90 degree bent hex wrench? I know I need a 1/8ths size but I was curious how deep it needs to get into the truss rod? My truss rod seems fine, but the hex tool I have is not really ideal so I can't get much of a turn on the rod. I am pretty sure I need to tighten it a little more since frets 19-24 on E-G are fretting out no matter what I do. If I can't fix it, ill take it into a luthier, but it would be nice to be able to do this myself. Not my first setup job, but I'm just being extra cautious since this bass is obviously quite expensive.

 

[Murivan]

What does the Truss rod hex wrench look like that comes with the Ken Smith basses? Just the standard 90 degree bent hex wrench? I know I need a 1/8ths size but I was curious how deep it needs to get into the truss rod? My truss rod seems fine, but the hex tool I have is not really ideal so I can't get much of a turn on the rod. I am pretty sure I need to tighten it a little more since frets 19-24 on E-G are fretting out no matter what I do. If I can't fix it, ill take it into a luthier, but it would be nice to be able to do this myself. Not my first setup job, but I'm just being extra cautious since this bass is obviously quite expensive.

Depending on the era you might not actually get the 1/8" hex for the truss rod, but only the 3mm one for pickup poles. A regular allen wrench works fine, in the end you shouldn't be applying a lot of torque to a truss rod.
You say that you have problems with fretting out in the high register, but the truss rod is not the typical culprit there... What is the current relief with the neck? What is the action? If you are not sure what is going on you might check the Hardware, Setup & Repair subforum.

 

[AngelCrusher]

Depending on the era you might not actually get the 1/8" hex for the truss rod, but only the 3mm one for pickup poles. A regular allen wrench works fine, in the end you shouldn't be applying a lot of torque to a truss rod.
You say that you have problems with fretting out in the high register, but the truss rod is not the typical culprit there... What is the current relief with the neck? What is the action? If you are not sure what is going on you might check the Hardware, Setup & Repair subforum.

Action is around 3/32 on low B. Which is fine everywhere but that upper area on the board.

Relief at 7-9 feet measures .20. There is a little bit there when I fret 1 and 24.

 

[AngelCrusher]

I can update this. I got a good 1/8 hex wrench and was able to tighten the truss rod a half turn. I then set the bridge up and I think I have this almost nailed down. I am going to let the neck settle until tomorrow and then possibly tighten another 1/4 turn. The upper frets are playable now.

What I think is the last setup was just done by lowering the strings on the bridge for low action without tweaking the relief on the truss rod. With a back bend in the neck and slamming the strings down, it makes sense that the upper frets could fret out. I always start with adjusting the truss rod, but I am pretty sure that plenty of people just go to town on lowering the strings and don't really know to do the complete process.

Once I get the neck settled in, I will set the intonation, but besides the E string going a little sharp, it's almost perfect already.

 

[scubaduba]

Who here has played older Smith's and new 2023 and newer Smith's? How different feeling are the new ones being built back at Ken's shop (post the Brubaker builds)?

 

[Nenor]

Who here has played older Smith's and new 2023 and newer Smith's? How different feeling are the new ones being built back at Ken's shop (post the Brubaker builds)?

Also, how does the single coil mode sound? Which coils are used (inner/outer)?

 

[AngelCrusher]

There is a 90's Smith 6er for under 4k on Reverb right now. It's not in mint shape or anything, but it still looks like a good deal for any of you looking. Probably going to sell soon based on cart adds,but I figured I'd share.

My thoughts on old versus new. The woods on the Smith are so good, that the older ones with wear just feel incredible in the hand. The new ones, feel like new basses, which can be great too. I have not played a Brubaker version or post Bru, but I did play a brand new Black Tiger around 2016 and it was incredible. I still like the worn in feel of my 2001 though.

https://reverb.com/item/88775266-ken-smith-b6m-6-string-bass-guitar-w-hard-case-1997

 

[ModuMan]

That one was well-loved for sure!

Speaking of Reverb Ken Smith basses, how about this time machine?

https://reverb.com/item/88857533-ken-smith-ii-g-1986-natural

Ken had posted one like this on his Insta maybe last year but didn't really get into the controls. The pics here are good and there's a spec sheet as well. These filters are pretty interesting! And the woodwork is amazing, I'm assuming that's some Vinny Fodera special sauce there.

 

[hands5]

Some vids done with the Burner, love that bass..

Why is the video private

 

[hands5]

I'm curious what other Smith players are using for backup basses. While I love the sound and feel of my BSR 5 string, in summers, I sometimes play gigs at outdoor festivals, near pools, and at other unpredictable outdoor events, contexts in which I don't necessarily want to bring a high priced instrument. I initially thought of getting a five string Smith Burner bass or KSD, but the tighter string spacing on those models doesn't really work for me. Have any of you found instruments that can get in the ballpark of the Smith sound/feel, especially a five string that might have 24 frets, a 34 inch scale, and 18-19mm string spacing at the bridge? Or, if by any chance any of you have a five string BSR that has seen heavy use and you can let go of it for a reasonable price, please let me know. Thanks for your insight.

If I’m not playing my Smith I’m playing my Sadowsky 24 fret Jazz Bass and a Fender Ultra Jazz . Both 5 strings

 

[deepender]

Got my Kenny all shined up and waiting for tomorrow morning.