Do Spector Tonepump Jr's have detentes on the pots?

Oneirogenic · #1 11-10-2011, 07:38 PM

So I have a mid 2000's Spector Legend 6(that I bought used) and I have been doing some research because I have been considering replacing the preamp in it with something more versatile. In my research I found out that Tonepump preamps do not have detentes on the pots but on my bass the treble and bass knobs have center detentes like most active basses do. I am confused....does the Tonepump Jr. have detentes or do you think that I have an after market preamp? It does seem that when the tone knobs are turned all the way down that it is cutting frequencies quite a bit which doesn't seem characteristic to the Tonepumps since my research has me thinking that when turned all the way down they are relatively flat. Anybody have any ideas?

grendle · #2 11-10-2011, 08:15 PM

There are some variations on the tone pumps I believe. This is one for the Spector bass thread. Some jr's and older tonepumps have detents, some have blend pots, some don't. POP the cover and see if there is a small black box in there if it has a pot on the box its a newer style tone pump if not it should be a jr. If no box and a chip on one of the pots its an emg BT tone circuit. There are a bunch of pre's in different Spectors over the years. The HAZ pre (usa 9v ) and the new tonepump are generally considered the best or at least most liked for the "spector" tone. Lots of good info on the Spector site too. Everyone on the Spector thread will be happy to help as well. Cudos on a great bass!

grendle · #3 11-10-2011, 08:27 PM

They don't sound flat as in 0 when turned down really, they do sound "cut " imo as you would normally expect. All pre's are really all boost anyway if you think about it . Just the "starting point" is different (-10 vs 0) I do prefer the detents as a refrence point but it doesn't matter much. I adjust it like I like it and use something on the bass as a refrence point , like a screw or the corner of a pickup. I the take the knob off and reposition it so its pointing at the refrence point when its set to where I like it. Works better for me then just guessing or going by feel. I always boost the bass about 75-80% and the treb about 60%. Usually both pickups on full or with my p/j bass there's a sweet spot favoring the front pickup about 60-40.

Ymmv

Oneirogenic · #4 11-11-2011, 09:41 AM

Thank you Grendle. I finally got a chance to pull the cover off the control cavity and it appears to be an EMG tone circuit...not the Tonepump Jr. Good to know if/when I go about replacing it.

Kano2864212 · #5 11-11-2011, 12:45 PM

If its an older legend with gold HW and emg hz's the came stock with the emg 3 band