Ken Smith BSR5GN (2002)

[Kiwi]

[b][i]Features:[/i][/b]
This 34” scale instrument was made in 2002 at the Smith manufacturing facility in Perkasie, Pennsylvania. I boughnt it from the now defunct Bass Palace who obtained it as NOS in a deal from The Low End. The bass has 24 frets and 5 strings with laminated facings of 5A quilted maple front and back.

The bass has a preamp and the controls include volume, which can be pulled for passive bypass, pickup pan, bass, mid and treble, and the pickups are Smiths own passive humbuckers wired in parallel. The body features a mahogany core and the neck is a 5 piece graphite reinforced laminate of 3 maple and 2 bubinga pieces.

The bass is finished in a soft oil finish and the body style is a modified precision inspired shape with bigger cutaways and extended horns. The bridge is made from brass and is a fairly standard quick release type with two dimensions of movement. The tuners are Smith monogrammed but internally geared and almost identical to Schaller M4 in design.

The neck dimensions are probably my favourite part, typically fairly chunky in depth with a pronounced C profile. This feels great to me because my hands tend to cramp up on thin profile necks. The bass came with a hardshell, leather trimmed case and case candy including dust cloth, Smith strap, polish, brochures and guarantee card.

[b][i]Sound:[/i][/b]
I guess the sound of this bass could be best described as warm and sweet. The lows are very full and open, the mids scooped and the highs sweet without sounding brittle or muffled. It’s pretty much the ultimate bass for any styles of music that require a full, rich tone such as RnB, hip hop, latin, house etc. At the moment I use the bass with Gallien Krueger and Trace valve amps through Gallien Krueger and EBS neo 2x12 cabs. I’ve tried it with SWR, Eden, Peavey, Ampeg, and rack based systems as well with mixed results. Generally the basses have a prominent upper mid-scoop. This character is emphasised by many hybrid heads already coloured with a mid-scoop to sound best with jazz type basses making the mids so scooped that its difficult to tell what pitch is being played at performance volumes.

Therefore I ended up going for a solid state and other wise fairly aggressive sounding GK amp to go with the Smith basses because the amps preserve most of the mids meaning that any tonal changes I make are more effective. After countless gigs I’ve been able to hear myself superbly in a variety of situations ranging from acoustically dead marquees to echo chamber type narrow halls with nothing but hard, reflective surfaces. The relatively neutral sound of the amps means that I can use them with other basses as well

In terms of the variety of sounds, the bass is fairly versatile but maybe not for all kinds of music. For example, the neck pickup is very warm with a little bit of a upper-mid/low treble bite which is OK for ballads while the bridge pickup does more than a passable status bass impersonation. On reflection I’d say the bass probably has a slight 80’s flavour but with lots more warmth. I’ve tried the bass in both live and recorded situations and its performed superbly. It doesn’t do jazz or precision interpretations very well at all but this doesn’t mean it can’t find a place in the mix. Comparing this bass to a jazz would be like comparing a Gibson Les Paul to a Stratocaster. What I like most about this bass is the huge warmth, growly mids and sweet highs, the bass can be plugged in with no eq and still sit in the mix superbly.

In situations where the bass has been subject to extreme gain, I have noticed some microphonic characteristics with the pickups. I wouldn’t recommend this bass to be used in situations with hi gain distortion.

[b][i]Action Fit and Finish:[/i][/b]
The action of this instrument is pretty good, but Ken Smith deliberately builds some flexibility into the necks of his basses as he feels it adds to the quality of the sound. This means that I’ve not been able to achieve Status/Alembic levels of low action, but the bass is still very playable. The finish of components is superb and flawless, the fit is also excellent and faultless.

[b][i]Reliability/Durability:[/i][/b]
The bass has proven very reliable in live situations, the hardware is robust and the neck stable. The finish has proven to be very thin and probably doesn’t do a very good job of protecting the bass as such. The bass takes even fingernail marks easily and a sharp belt buckle could probably cause irreparable damage to the back of the bass in for one gig.

I have found that the Dunlop strap loks haven’t been 100% reliable. In situations where diagonal strain is placed on the strap loks, they do tend to pop off. In normal playing situations I haven’t encountered any problems and the bass has never fallen off the strap while gigging on stage.

[i][b]Customer Support:[/b][/i]
I have dealt with Ken Smith and have found him to be curmudgeonly at times. He has come across as defensive when I’ve raised my varied experiences of his basses with him. Other Smith owners appear to share my experiences with the support. I get the impression that he’s not that interested in offering support unless it leads directly to a sale of some kind. This stands in stark contrast to the friendly service offered by some companies such as Alembic.

[b][i]Overall rating:[/i][/b]
I own a range of other bass gear including a Smith BSR6GN, a Smith BSR5GN fretless, Musicmans, Alembic, Celinders and Pedulla plus more stuff I’ve sold on. I’ve been very satisfied with the bass since owning it, its managed to hit the right spot every time I’ve used it. Generally this is my fall back bass when there’s no need for a specific tone from one of my more specialist basses. I wanted a Smith bass ever since hearing John Pattitucci playing one in the late 80’s. Originally I bought this bass as a step up to getting the Smith 6 string, which I bought and have actually sold on while still keeping this bass. There’s nothing out there on the market which sounds like a Smith. Having said that the Peavey Cirrus comes close and does have some Smith characteristics although it lacks the sweet treble and deep bass.




Check other reviews here:
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=15452"]Smith BSR5GN fretless[/url]
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=15450"]Celinder Update P[/url]
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=15449"]Celinder Update J[/url]

[groovebuster]

hello...? if y that rich buy a fodera or alembic. altho i do like old burners. but the rest of em, to clean cut kenny g stylie. oh n ps free speech is a myth omg. ur american rite? it was 2 witty.

Edited July 25, 2012 by groovebuster

[MoJoKe]

[quote name='groovebuster' timestamp='1342190301' post='1731257']
hello...? if y that rich buy a fodera or alembic u dumbass. altho i do like old burners. but the rest of em, to clean cut nice guy.
[/quote]

I'm not quite sure I understand your comment. Kiwi has an Alembic in a really nice stable of basses... This is a great review of a stunning bass...

[lettsguitars]

[quote name='groovebuster' timestamp='1342190301' post='1731257']
hello...? if y that rich buy a fodera or alembic u dumbass. altho i do like old burners. but the rest of em, to clean cut nice guy.
[/quote]? Great review.

Edited July 13, 2012 by lettsguitars

[MoJoKe]

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1342191591' post='1731297']
? Great review.
[/quote]

Sharp, incisive, witty, informative..

[Dood]

[quote name='groovebuster' timestamp='1342190301' post='1731257'] hello...? if y that rich buy a fodera or alembic u dumbass. altho i do like old burners. but the rest of em, to clean cut nice guy. [/quote]

PM'd

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='groovebuster' timestamp='1342190301' post='1731257']
hello...? if y that rich buy a fodera or alembic u dumbass. altho i do like old burners. but the rest of em, to clean cut nice guy.
[/quote]

That was probably Ken himself... whilst a little annoyed

[groovebuster]

yes i am ken smith! i have loadsa money and loadsa cheesy sounding basses but i still find time to write on basschat! i do have anutha winter job tho. im also santa!