SPECTOR® Club - Part 51

[superdick2112]

Originally Posted by bunkaroo

My ears tell me I like them in this order: Black Pearl, Blue Dream, Water-Cured Redwood. All sound good to me in different ways. I like the bite I can hear from the Black Pearl but there's still some nice "meat" to it.

All three sound fantastic, but "The Pearl" is my fave too, followed very closely by the NS-4 (I may be biased here, but being a fellow NS-4 owner, this one just sounds like "home" to me..) The "Blue Dream" sounds like it would be perfect for those situations requiring more articulation & a bit less low end - say solo bass or jazz/fusion material. And yes, John Taylor was and is a highly underrated musician.

[cyclopsbookworm]

so how do I go about getting a Spector club number? Pardon my ignorance.

[Clearwave]

Someone mention a NS2a?.....in black?
Boom! I have one too. This is my fav right now. Sporting the SPECTOR tonepump with DR lo riders. Although I didn't originally order it for this bass, I'll probably stick my SPECTOR HAZ in here when it arrives. It's "Spector HAZ worthy".

[JPSBassist]

Originally Posted by cyclopsbookworm

so how do I go about getting a Spector club number? Pardon my ignorance.

Simply post a photo of the Spector(s) you own and ask for a number.

The appropriate person will contact you with one.

[JPSBassist]

Originally Posted by Clearwave

Attachment 306838

Very Nice!

[LimaGuy]

Wow now I know how I must torture people when I send them comparison clips.

They all sound great

I think the Black Pearl stands out as the most different of the bunch.

And being a NS-2 P/J guy I am going to completely give an opposite response of my fav to least fav then I expected before I listened.

1- The Blue Dream (I think it fits perfect for this the bassline in this song)
2- Water-Cured Redwood. (It's very close but a bit less punchy)
3- The Black Pearl (Almost too much drive for this song)

[awilkie84]

After listening to the sound clips, I find the chorus, while slight, seems to strip the low & low-mids from the bass.
The playing's great, but the tone's really not for me.

[cyclopsbookworm]

Originally Posted by JPSBassist

Simply post a photo of the Spector(s) you own and ask for a number.

The appropriate person will contact you with one.

Thanks JPS. So here is my NS2005...and number request. Booyah!

[Clearwave]

The black pearl is the worst one. You should give that bass to me.....

Just kidding.


I think I like the pearl the best. Can't go wrong with any of them really.

Originally Posted by LimaGuy

Wow now I know how I must torture people when I send them comparison clips.

They all sound great

I think the Black Pearl stands out as the most different of the bunch.

And being a NS-2 P/J guy I am going to completely give an opposite response of my fav to least fav then I expected before I listened.

1- The Blue Dream (I think it fits perfect for this the bassline in this song)
2- Water-Cured Redwood. (It's very close but a bit less punchy)
3- The Black Pearl (Almost too much drive for this song)

[Zitch]

Black Pearl-Blue Dream-Red

[GBassNorth]

Originally Posted by JPSBassist

I set my three USA NS-Body Spector Basses circuit controls on "neutral", where basically all the settings are in the center indent.
I placed the volume at full
The balance in the center between the two pickups.
The bass control on the center indent
The treble control on the center indent

I used the MXR M87 Bass Compressor (the same settings on all three basses)
And a Boss CEB-3 Bass Chorus Pedal (with very little effect added - Same settings on all three basses).

I played directly into my MXR Bass+DI and brought that into SoundForge via Midi port.

Lastly, I used SoundForge and Sony Vegas to mix my bass track into an instrumental *karaoke track for Duran Duran's "Save a Prayer"... one of my favorite bass lines from that band. And I really think John Taylor is greatly under-rated as one of the best pop bassists of the 1980's... so I find I like a bunch of his tracks.

Here they are:

Water Cured Redwood NS-4
https://soundcloud.com/patrick-stern/save-a-prayer-wcr-ns-4

NS-2 with Maple Fingerboard - The Black Pearl
https://soundcloud.com/patrick-stern/save-a-prayer-the-black-pearl

NS-2JJ - The Blue Dream
https://soundcloud.com/patrick-stern/save-a-prayer-spector-ns-2jj

What's interesting is to look at the shape of the wav patterns above. The only thing that changed between these three tracks was the bass being played. So there's visible differences in the tone.

What does your ears tell you?
Is there one that stands out to you as sounding better?
Curious to see what you all think.

My ears tell me you're a great player and you've got at least 3 fantastic basses. I liked the Blue Dream best then the Redwood and the Black Pearl least. The Blue Dream sounded tight and focused the Black Pearl got a little boomy on some of the passages. The Redwood was somewhere in the middle. Thanks for the clips!

[TK4261]

Great sound clips JPS!
My personal favorite would have to be the Blue Dream with that track but they all sound excellent
You are right about John Taylor being underrated for his Bass playing. Rio is also a good example of how good and creative his Bass lines fit in the mix. I always practice to that song even after learning it so long ago. Taylor has a lot of fun Bass lines to play.

[Clearwave]

Originally Posted by Clearwave

The black pearl is the worst one. You should give that bass to me.....

Just kidding.


I think I like the pearl the best. Can't go wrong with any of them really.

I do think the blue dream would be good in a dense mix, a song with lots of electric guitars eating up all the space.

[JPSBassist]

Originally Posted by awilkie84

After listening to the sound clips, I find the chorus, while slight, seems to strip the low & low-mids from the bass.
The playing's great, but the tone's really not for me.

I totally agree with you. It's one of those things that playing the tracks live it fit much better, but then when playing the recording and mixing it the chorus was too much.

So I'm going to re-record them with the same settings, just no extra filters or pedals to color the tone.

[JPSBassist]

Originally Posted by Clearwave

I do think the blue dream would be good in a dense mix, a song with lots of electric guitars eating up all the space.

I agree. I think it's going to cut through that sort of thing really well.

I talked with Justin Medal-Johnsen at the NAMM Show a couple of years ago... he was at the Aguilar Booth and checking out one of the Coda basses there.

I said to him that I noticed that he often uses J basses live with Nine Inch Nails... which is sort of a strange marriage if you think about it. And he said, the J's cut through better.

He also pushes them through two DI's and does a bunch of stuff on the other side of the DI's. He's a huge pedal guy in the studio, but live he uses software and rack-mount efx to get what he needs.

[JeffplaysBass]

Originally Posted by brotherbassj

Jeff

Being an avid fan of Bergs .....id love.to know what you think about your new to you 12s?

Also please tell me what you think about that new Glock !!!!!

That mini rig looks freakin awesome!!!!!

I am shocked.....I have yet to play in a band situation but i can say I am 110% satisfied...I have owned a 70's SVT,Mesa 400+,GK's, Mesa walkabout, 2 different Genz Benz shuttles, The Aguilar DB750, 3 Different Thunderfunk's, SWR, 2 Markbass's and a few others I can't remember right now....Again I only played it for a little over an hour and I can say the clarity and punch is unreal!!!

[JPSBassist]

Originally Posted by TK4261

Great sound clips JPS!
My personal favorite would have to be the Blue Dream with that track but they all sound excellent
You are right about John Taylor being underrated for his Bass playing. Rio is also a good example of how good and creative his Bass lines fit in the mix. I always practice to that song even after learning it so long ago. Taylor has a lot of fun Bass lines to play.

I've been playing Rio a lot myself lately.

I love all the ghost notes. It's a really simple, yet complex bass line.

He really brought a depth and maturity (musically) to Duran.
Another favorite bassist of mine (this one from the 1990's) is Robert DeLeo from STP.

My favorite warmup song is Interstate Love Song. Some 500+ notes in a 3 minute, 15 second song.

Of course I also will grab my ARC6 and play the guitar parts to that song too. It's a great song the way it's structured.

[JeffplaysBass]

Originally Posted by brotherbassj

I miss that rig....very modular with the two 210 cabs. Spectors would sound awesome through it.....I wonder if Jeff has sold his combo? I replaced that rig with aguilar 112's and a thunderfunk 550B. it sounds great too

Your buddy bought it.

[ynot12]

Originally Posted by chrisloe

I have to say talking about these little amps with Spectors, Lee was awesome and gave me an incredible deal on a GK MB 200 that I am planning on taking with me to my treatments, I bought a GK neo 112 to go with it and the NS-2 through that little rig just kills. Never given the GK stuff a try before this, and don't get me wrong, still love my other "practice amp, (my SVT and 8-10, ridiculous, I know but that's part of why I love it.) but for how light it is that little thing kills. It's nice having the SVT where I do most of my playing in the office and the GK by the TV when I just want to play on there. Lee Rocks!!

Thanks for the input, Chris. I'll have to check out the GK MB 200. I hear GK and Spector is a mighty combination!

[ynot12]

Originally Posted by delucajohn2000

Yeah, I must have done something right I guess

Man, you have more patience than me, LOL. I would have cracked that thing open already

I picked up the 1 Spot Combo Pack by Visual Sound. That is the one that Darkglass recommends and and I think most people have that one and are using it with great success. The combo pack is $40 but it gives you adapters to plug in up to like 8 pedals if you want but if you just want one tip to power the B3K, you can get just the plug for like $20. All the Guitar Center's have them in stock by me so I don't think you will have an issue finding one.

I probably would have cracked it open if I has the power cord. LOL

I stopped by GC on the way home today and picked up a 1 Spot. Thanks for the recommendation. Plugged it right in to my MXR M-80, which is great because that thing just cooked through batteries. Now I'm counting the days til Christmas and the BK3. The distortion on the M-80 is fun, but I want some of that sick Overdrive.

Different subject... Have you run through Drag The Waters 10 times in the last few days? Haha.