Another one for Stanley Clarke fans

[jazzyvee]

On 02/11/2022 at 17:23, Reggaebass said:

Call me boring but that would not step foot inside my front door  

It would mine if it was brought to me as a gift. Not the sort of bass i would drop my hard earned cash on though. I wonder why Stanley sold it.

[Ralf1e]

I can't agree enough with all the above comments about the bad taste of that ugly abomination 

Maybe he didn't sell it maybe it just flew off on it's own.

[Piers_Williamson]

I would just like to say that looking at the pics brought a big grin to my face.  I think it is so OTT it is pretty good (but I'm a leftie, so not much use to me)

[Chris2112]

On 02/11/2022 at 14:09, BigRedX said:

Proof that just because you have a great deal of talent for working with wood don't necessarily mean that your design skills are up to scratch as well.

 

IME the best luthiers are nearly always ones who initially trained in some other creative arts.

 

Ken has a certain vision for his basses. He is content that he has the recipe nailed. I think he does. However, in the context of when this was built, when Ken was building his business (already garnering a reputation for extreme quality), I can understand why he'd make it. If you have one of the most popular bassists on the planet looking to throw a load of cash at you to build something he has in his head, why wouldn't you? 

 

Ken has been candid previously about having said to customers that he'll build something to their specs but that he advised against it. I'm pretty sure that a conversation like this happened in this case because that bass looks as ugly as sin and probably had the weight and balance of the boat anchor it was modelled on. 

 

I would imagine that Stanley probably got the bass and went 'woah, Ken was right, this is awkward to play!' and put it back in it's case. I've never seen him use it live or record with it. At the time, Stanley was trying out a few different basses. It was in the same era that he collaborated on the composite Spellbinder bass. 

[Beer of the Bass]

In the context of Clarke/Duke shows at the time, it doesn't feel so outrageous next to George's keytar and his plexiglass whammy bar Clavinet! Though I suppose it's not what Clarke would go for today, since it's on sale. 

And I think Ken Smith has talked about working on Clarke's double basses too, so there must be a fairly established relationship between them.

Edited November 5, 2022 by Beer of the Bass

[MacDaddy]

On 02/11/2022 at 16:44, visog said:

With the man himself... and dog (animal not the bass). It's not my favourite in his collection TBH...

 

You should move that to the Basses on the Settee thread 😜

[MacDaddy]

On 03/11/2022 at 09:52, BigRedX said:

 

In what way is it not his fault? He could have always tried to gently persuade Mr Clarke to pick one of his standard design basses instead, and if that didn't work just say: "no".

 

I can never quite understand the thinking behind getting a luthier to build you something that is wildly different from their normal style (c.f. the Alien Ant Farm Fender bass). Surely you pick your luthier because you like the style of instruments they are already making? And this one appears to have Alembic electronics shoehorned into the design rather than the standard pre-amp you'd get if you ordered a Ken Smith bass. Mr Clarke was already a well-known Alembic user so why not get them to make this bass? It's far more in keeping with their design ethos.

 

Well speaking personally, my thinking was that my luthier - Jon Shuker - had the talent and enjoyed the challenge of helping me realize my custom bass dream.

[MacDaddy]

On 04/11/2022 at 10:00, jazzyvee said:

It would mine if it was brought to me as a gift. Not the sort of bass i would drop my hard earned cash on though. I wonder why Stanley sold it.

 

If it's not good enough for Stanley it's not good enough for me!

[jazzyvee]

Maybe it was just part of a general clear out of basses. Stanley does seem to check out other basses but always comes back to his alembics. 

[alembic1989]

On 01/11/2022 at 23:07, Clarky said:

One of a kind Flying V bass made by Ken Smith for Stanley Clarke. A cool £10k (give or take) at the Bass Gallery. Like the Spellbinder, this unfortunately does nothing for me aesthetically

 

 

 

https://thebassgallery.com/products/ken-smith-bespoke-b-bass-1981-ex-stanley-clarke

I love it.