SPECTOR® Club - Part 33

[basstones]

Originally Posted by worshiprocker

My decked out Rex was amazing last night at practice! It actually has a bigger low end presence than the CR4FM... I'm still on the honeymoon, but I foresee more of these basses in my possession.

Would this be considered R.A.S.

[delucajohn2000]

Originally Posted by iceboxbass

Lolol! No worrys!

Yeah I've been able to download a lot of Amplitube Apps for free or .99 cents. They have specials all the time. Of course I've not used any of it yet...busy packing house now...have it up 4sale.

How much did the David Ellefson Rock shop cost? Are you using it with Appogee Jam?

I'll give a review on using iRig with the new iPad later today.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone!

The Rock Shop app is 9.99 but I will say it's a bit rough around the edges but they do improve it with every update they put out. I could care less about amp modeling or effects so this app is good for that but the interace just needs a few more changes and I think it will be really good. They added a tuner with the last update which was really nice so they are definitely listening to people's requests which i like.

Originally Posted by worshiprocker

My decked out Rex was amazing last night at practice! It actually has a bigger low end presence than the CR4FM... I'm still on the honeymoon, but I foresee more of these basses in my possession.

That's great to hear man. You still have the BT in there or did you swap it out with a Tonepump? Sorry but I totally am drawing a blank and can't remember which pre you were going with on that bass. I keep going back and forth with getting one of these Rex models and after hearing how much you like it, I am leaning back to getting one. I want to get a bass for my daughter and this might be perfect for both of us to use.

Dr. Sam will be performing surgery on my Rebop and Euro this weekend so I will hopefully have a ton of comparison clips. Its funny because he had me take pictures of the control cavities for both so he can study them. I told him he is like a doctor that is studying the x-rays before surgery

[worshiprocker]

Originally Posted by delucajohn2000

That's great to hear man. You still have the BT in there or did you swap it out with a Tonepump? Sorry but I totally am drawing a blank and can't remember which pre you were going with on that bass. I keep going back and forth with getting one of these Rex models and after hearing how much you like it, I am leaning back to getting one. I want to get a bass for my daughter and this might be perfect for both of us to use.

Dr. Sam will be performing surgery on my Rebop and Euro this weekend so I will hopefully have a ton of comparison clips. Its funny because he had me take pictures of the control cavities for both so he can study them. I told him he is like a doctor that is studying the x-rays before surgery

I put the tonepump (trimpot) with EMG PJs in it. For what they go for used.. its a no brainer... get one for the kiddo and you

ya sam will get it done, that guy sure knows his wiring

[Mr.Bassie720]

Originally Posted by bassgiant15

Ran my Euro at 18 volts last night! It sounded awesome!!! I'm so torn on getting a Haz or another TP for my CR4FM.

I know most of us are saying HAZ. I will be one of the few to say Tonepump, with trim of course. $99.00 new includes tone pots and knobs. Dare I say it. It is more versatile than the HAZ. There are some members here that have both. They can tell you, the TP is very,very close to that HAZ sound at a 60% saving. IMHO and the opinion of a few other Spector club members.

[worshiprocker]

Originally Posted by Mr.Bassie720

I know most of us are saying HAZ. I will be one of the few to say Tonepump, with trim of course. $99.00 new includes tone pots and knobs. Dare I say it. It is more versatile than the HAZ. There are some members here that have both. They can tell you, the TP is very,very close to that HAZ sound at a 60% saving. IMHO and the opinion of a few other Spector club members.

I'm also a tonepump fan, it's my go to preamp

[foderaman]

I have had 3 Spectors the first was a Early NS-2 and then got a 93 SSD NS4 and now the most favorite of mine id this 93 SSD NS 4 with Oil finish.This is the best sounding and playing one I have had. I think the Oil Finish gives it a warmer tone over the High Gloss but this is only my opinion!

[gearHed289]

Originally Posted by foderaman

I have had 3 Spectors the first was a Early NS-2 and then got a 93 SSD NS4 and now the most favorite of mine id this 93 SSD NS 4 with Oil finish.This is the best sounding and playing one I have had. I think the Oil Finish gives it a warmer tone over the High Gloss but this is only my opinion!

Cool! #093 built in '93!

[LimaGuy]

Originally Posted by anton72

Hi Spector fellows. Has anybody had a problem with height of bronze nut on their Euros? Bronze nut on my 4LX-TW seems to be taller than graphite one on my 435LX, making the action higher closer to the headstock. So my graphite-nut euro plays easier than my bronze-nut one. Anybody noticed the same with your basses?

Originally Posted by LimaGuy

I have experienced this.

The graphite nut on my Blk Euro was very very low.

When I got my Cherry Euro the brass nut was higher.

You can have a tech shave the brass nut down a bit on your 4LX-TW.

Originally Posted by anton72

Hi Sam, thanks. At least I know that it's a common case not just mine. Time to tech visit. BTW, which one og these nuts settings do you personally prefer?

I prefer the strings to come off the nut as low as possible.

If its too low you will get some rattle on open strings if the string doesn't clear the first fret properly.

But if its too high you will get some rattle when you play anything on the first or second fret if you don't press down hard enough.

As long as your TW-LX is clearing the first fret without any rattle then try to get the tech to match the same height on the 435.

[LimaGuy]

Originally Posted by bassgiant15

Ran my Euro at 18 volts last night! It sounded awesome!!! I'm so torn on getting a Haz or another TP for my CR4FM.

Originally Posted by Jaymi

Get the HAZ....DO IT!!!

Originally Posted by bassgiant15

So far the consensus is Haz.

Originally Posted by Mr.Bassie720

I know most of us are saying HAZ. I will be one of the few to say Tonepump, with trim of course. $99.00 new includes tone pots and knobs. Dare I say it. It is more versatile than the HAZ. There are some members here that have both. They can tell you, the TP is very,very close to that HAZ sound at a 60% saving. IMHO and the opinion of a few other Spector club members.

Originally Posted by worshiprocker

I'm also a tonepump fan, it's my go to preamp

Some more 2 cents and Pro-Con opinion about the Haz vs the Tonepump.

As you hear in my sound clips they do sound very close and I can honestly say,
I am not sure if its worth the extra $250 for the Haz over the Tonepump. ($99 for the Tonepump vs, $349 for the Haz)

But....if you are just going on hearing my clips its not the full experience of the Haz. For me, once I heard the Haz in person coming out of my amp and even more impressive through recording software it just blew me away.

So I think I can also speak for Jaymi and Lee who also have both a Tonepump and Haz in their basses. If you can afford a Haz do it. Its gonna impress you in person even more.

I have heard Cory's previous recordings and I know the sound he is looking to get and I think he will be blown away by the Haz tone in his NS-4CRFM.

[grendle]

For what its worth, I was a haz fan forever till I ran the pump at 18 v. There's more bottom end available and more highend sizzle as well. The haz has it beat in mid range bark though, not by much but its there. Solo comparisons are one thing, lets face it the haz is bad ass. In the band mix though ,for me, the pump does the damage a little better , cost not being a factor. At 9v for both, imo the haz puts the hurt on the pump though.

[husky123]

The Tone Pump is Barbara Streisand, the Haz is Janice Joplin.

What Sam said is very true. When you hear it LIVE, amplified through a monster rig the Haz really grinds... especially in the band scenario. Look, I f'ing looove the Tone Pump in Sam's Euro. I play it all the time and just grin, grin, grin. But every time I switch over to that Haz in my Forte it almost buckles my knees. Is it worth an extra 250 bucks? Hell yes it is.

With that said though it's just the sound in my head that I've been after since the 80's. The Haz just does it for me. Someone mentioned at the TP may be more versatile. I think that is definitely a fair statement. It is more polite when it needs to be. The Haz just grinds no matter what and says LOOK AT ME!

Isn't this hair splitting fun? Imagine if all the Spector's sounded identical. Sooo boring. They're all just separated by slivers of awesomeness.

[chrisloe]

Just a quick heads up, my friend Sean (Spector endorsed artist) has had some health issues with his back and may be retiring from playing and might be looking to sell his 2 Euro Doug Wimbish signatures. One is Amber with the Tone pump, the other is Matte black with Black hardware with a EMG Preamp, I will find out which one. Hit me with a PM if you want more info on how to contact Sean. Not sure on condition or price, waiting to hear back from him with hopefully some pics...

[superdick2112]

Originally Posted by grendle

For what its worth, I was a haz fan forever till I ran the pump at 18 v. At 9v for both, imo the haz puts the hurt on the pump though.

Only the trim pump can be run at 18v., correct?

[PhatBasstard]

Originally Posted by superdick2112

Only the trim pump can be run at 18v., correct?

No. Only the extremely early, non-trim versions (less then a year in) had the internal voltage doubler and thus, could not be given 18 volts. These were changed quickly and it's not likely you will run into one.

[Mr.Bassie720]

Originally Posted by husky123

The Tone Pump is Barbara Streisand, the Haz is Janice Joplin.

What Sam said is very true. When you hear it LIVE, amplified through a monster rig the Haz really grinds... especially in the band scenario. Look, I f'ing looove the Tone Pump in Sam's Euro. I play it all the time and just grin, grin, grin. But every time I switch over to that Haz in my Forte it almost buckles my knees. Is it worth an extra 250 bucks? Hell yes it is.

With that said though it's just the sound in my head that I've been after since the 80's. The Haz just does it for me. Someone mentioned at the TP may be more versatile. I think that is definitely a fair statement. It is more polite when it needs to be. The Haz just grinds no matter what and says LOOK AT ME!

Isn't this hair splitting fun? Imagine if all the Spector's sounded identical. Sooo boring. They're all just separated by slivers of awesomeness.

Thats the quote! "They're all just separated by slivers of awesomeness."
Perfectly said!

[superdick2112]

Originally Posted by PhatBasstard

No. Only the extremely early, non-trim versions (less then a year in) had the internal voltage doubler and thus, could not be given 18 volts. These were changed quickly and it's not likely you will run into one.

But that's exactly what I think I do have in my white euro - an early non-trim TP w/ voltage doubling. How can I confirm this?

[PhatBasstard]

Originally Posted by superdick2112

But that's exactly what I think I do have in my white euro - an early non-trim TP w/ voltage doubling. How can I confirm this?

The serial # is much too high to be one of the earlier Euro4's with such a pre. In fact, that's a Euro 4 LX by that serial. Much too far down the line if original equipment.

[MozzaRellum]

My solid maple Euro 5 have EMG pre onboard. It's much more better sounding than tone pump.

[superdick2112]

Originally Posted by PhatBasstard

The serial # is much too high to be one of the earlier Euro4's with such a pre. In fact, that's a Euro 4 LX by that serial. Much too far down the line if original equipment.

Thanks! It's all original - I purchased it new from BC about 5 years ago. So as far as you can tell, I could modify my non trim t-pump for 18v.? If so, what is the procedure?

[superdick2112]

Originally Posted by MozzaRellum

My solid maple Euro 5 have EMG pre onboard. It's much more better sounding than tone pump.

My solid maple plum CRFM4 has the older EMG pre, and I prefer it over the tone-pump in my white Euro LX.
The EMG pre does not have as much gain or bottom end, but imho, the mids are punchier, the highs sound more natural, and the overall tone is just a tad richer & more aggressive. Love those old EMG preamps!
I want to mod the tone pump in my white Euro for 18v, or just replace it with a Haz pre.