| Author | Message | ||
| jazzyvee
Senior Member Username: jazzyvee Post Number: 3455 Registered: 6-2002 |
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1981-Custom-Ken-Smith-STANLEY-CLARKE-Flying-V-Bass-Guitar-MUST-SEE-/190819926555?pt=Guitar&hash=item2c6dc1021b  Don't all rush at once.... :-) Jazzyvee | ||
| that_sustain
Intermediate Member Username: that_sustain Post Number: 154 Registered: 8-2012 |
I've never seen the pics included in that sale. Is that the New Barbarians? | ||
| slawie
Senior Member Username: slawie Post Number: 515 Registered: 8-2002 |
That shape is, not quite my cup of tea. Nice wood though. slawie | ||
| pasewark
Advanced Member Username: pasewark Post Number: 212 Registered: 4-2003 |
Everything looks so....random. | ||
| tmoney61092
Senior Member Username: tmoney61092 Post Number: 869 Registered: 9-2008 |
This wins "most random bass ever" in my opinion, I'd love to hear it though ~Taylor | ||
| lbpesq
Senior Member Username: lbpesq Post Number: 5434 Registered: 7-2004 |
Notice that the Alembics get the couch ... everything else is on the floor! hehehehe Bill tgo | ||
| cozmik_cowboy
Senior Member Username: cozmik_cowboy Post Number: 1471 Registered: 10-2006 |
I like this! The V body in general is not my favorite, but this take on it has a strange elegance; move the decimal in the price one place left, though......... Peter | ||
| klinkepeter
Intermediate Member Username: klinkepeter Post Number: 109 Registered: 2-2008 |
kinda ugly but seems to have some history, anyway:17500$ is a lot of money for a bass probably will not be played seriously on stage | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 2907 Registered: 5-2009 |
I would call that the Caudal Fin (tail fin) | ||
| 811952
Senior Member Username: 811952 Post Number: 2305 Registered: 10-2003 |
It's a Ken Smith. What more needs to be said? John | ||
| pauldo
Senior Member Username: pauldo Post Number: 987 Registered: 6-2006 |
Daniel, that does look like the New Barbarians. Sorry about the hijack . . . I had a bootleg cassette w/ Stan doing a killer solo on "Am I Groovin' You?". Some wanker stole my car stereo and took that cassette, they also took a cassette that had the last on-air hour of WZMF recorded on it. I wish they would have stolen the whole car (Mercury Monarch) and left the cassettes . . . :-( | ||
| jacko
Senior Member Username: jacko Post Number: 3372 Registered: 10-2002 |
John.. "It's a Ken Smith. What more needs to be said?" is that good or bad? I listened to hadrien Feraud playing a Ken Smith at a UK bassday a few years ago and it was the worst sounding performance of the day. He was using a markbass rig but other players used the same rig and sounded great (even with a P bass) so I'm tempted to say it was the bass - especially since I bought his solo album on the day and the bass is very dull and muffled all the way through. Graeme p.s. this is the only ken smith bass I've heard up close. I have John Patitucci's first couple of solo albums and the smith on those sounds fine..... but they're on vinyl :-) | ||
| that_sustain
Intermediate Member Username: that_sustain Post Number: 165 Registered: 8-2012 |
Thanks Paul. I've read about that tour being a vacation for Stanley. There are some switches on the early Smiths that look like Alembic parts. | ||
| lidon2001
Senior Member Username: lidon2001 Post Number: 515 Registered: 4-2005 |
Milwaukee was definitely not a vacation stop on that tour; I was there. Here's some pics: http://rollingstonesyesterdayspapers.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-barbarians-concert-photos-milwaukee.html | ||
| bigbadbill
Senior Member Username: bigbadbill Post Number: 537 Registered: 10-2003 |
Graeme, I saw Feraud at Bass Day and loved his sound. Thought the performance was a bit too out for me but after Stanley he has my favourite solo sound. | ||
| jazzyvee
Senior Member Username: jazzyvee Post Number: 3547 Registered: 6-2002 |
Seems like two offers have been made on the bass. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-1981-Custom-Ken-Smith-STANLEY-CLARKE-Flying-V-Bass-Guitar-MUST-SEE-/190819926555?pt=Guitar&hash=item2c6dc1021b Jazzyvee | ||
| 811952
Senior Member Username: 811952 Post Number: 2341 Registered: 10-2003 |
Graeme, I'm not a Ken Smith bass fan. ;-) He's the only guy I've ever met who told me I was playing the instrument wrong. John | ||
| hifiguy
Advanced Member Username: hifiguy Post Number: 378 Registered: 10-2006 |
That is NOT an attractive bass, at least IMO, regardless of provenance. | ||
| jim777
New Username: jim777 Post Number: 4 Registered: 9-2013 |
"It's a Ken Smith. What more needs to be said? John" At the time this bass was made, Vinnie Fodera was doing 95%+ of Ken's woodworking in NY. I think you can definitely credit Ken with the electronics package (filters galore) on this one but this bass was almost certainly built by Vinnie Fodera for Ken Smith, not by Ken himself. | ||
| pasewark
Advanced Member Username: pasewark Post Number: 223 Registered: 4-2003 |
Ghastly | ||
| charles_holmes
Advanced Member Username: charles_holmes Post Number: 270 Registered: 3-2009 |
Referring to the July 29, 2013 post,I'm unclear as to how you were playing the bass wrong. Were you playing it with your toes? | ||
| cozmik_cowboy
Senior Member Username: cozmik_cowboy Post Number: 1569 Registered: 10-2006 |
And what if he was? I saw John McEuan play banjo with his toes once; sounded pretty darn good! Peter | ||
| jim777
New Username: jim777 Post Number: 5 Registered: 9-2013 |
I know Ken can be a VERY opinionated guy, but honestly I love his basses. I think he was very influenced by Alembic on the visual side, and I think it has served him well. I would never turn up a chance to play one of his basses just because he can be so...persnickety? Yes, persnickety. You don't hear that word as much as you might, like 'zany'. He's also sort of a PITA lol  | ||
| mtjam
Member Username: mtjam Post Number: 76 Registered: 11-2011 |
I had a Ken Smith 5-string BSRM5 for a while, but I never got the sound I wanted from it. It was a very solidly built bass, relatively lightweight, and felt great. However, the sound just never did it for me. I have watched other people play different Smith models and make them sound excellent, though. I always loved the look of Smith basses since I first saw them on their string packages I used to get when I first started playing bass in the 80s. Then my hero, Phil Lesh, played one for a while so that made them even cooler in my mind. I have read before about Ken Smith's sometimes abrasive personality, but I never had to deal with him myself. Bringing my rambling back to Alembic, I am so glad I have finally found my sound with my Distillate, Orion, and Series 2 basses. Also, I have found my dealings with Alembic to be the best! Those Wickershams make the ultimate basses, and are always a pleasure to talk to. I suppose that's why we are all here...for life! | ||
| bassmanblue
New Username: bassmanblue Post Number: 3 Registered: 9-2013 |
after a good look at this bass it's not so much a flying v as a tulip a flower/ it is a one on a kind but there is something odd about it |
