Ken Smith Basses Ltd

General information

Since 1978, the actual year of incorporation, it has been my goal to produce the best playing bass possible. In that time there were no custom bass parts available, bridges or even electronics other than what you could buy in a music store which was very little. My profession as stated on my Tax Return was 'Professional Musician' and not Luthier, as if the IRS would have a clue if it did (: .

Anyway, getting started then was much harder than it is now. Things that I had to have made from scratch included not only the Circuits but the Pots used in them as we needed things that were not off the shelf. De-tented Pick-up balance control pots had to be tooled and it was not cheap. We eventually made our own Bridges when we started the 5 and 6 string Basses but not in-house, so we had to find companies that could do this. Wood sources were not so easy as it is now either and required a bit of research and much of what we could buy then was rough lumber. Picking thru loads of Lumber for the few selected boards that looked right, etc.

The main inspiration to do this at first was my 18th century Italian Double Bass (aka Upright). It was deep and clear and even on every note on every string. Not a Bass Guitar at all but amongst other Upright Basses, it was a King. Back then there were a few people and companies making other than factory cookie cutter basses but to me, they were not all that much better or even as comfortable as a stock Fender to sit or stand and play. Remember, I made my living as a Bass player 24/7 so this was not a choice of hobby but rather to get the right tool even if I had to design it myself.

If you want my playing resume, just ask. If enough people push me, I will post it here so you know better where I come from which is basically the Studios, Clubs
Broadway Pits and the Concert Stage as well. Basically, I worked for a living playing bass. I also taught privately and had in total over time over 450 students of all levels on both the Electric and Double basses.