Hello fellow Basskateers.
So I am a short scale nut, now only play on the 30’s (except for one 32’) and mainly because I had hand health issues. I switched totally about 4 years ago, I have built and bought and modded and currently own 8 varying shorties and as the title says: THIS IS MY GRAIL
Build Quality:
The build quality and materials used are insanely good. Let’s start with the body. Chambered European Alder topped with Quilted maple. This thing isn’t just topped, it’s literally half half. Same thickness of top as back. The Black Cherry gloss is flawless and the classic Spector body design is just sooooo comfortable to play and wear. All the fit and finish on the body is 5/5 for me.
Neck:
Beautifully smooth matte finished 3pc hard maple neck with Graphite reinforcement rods. The fret board has a nice chunky piece of rosewood on it and joins the body seamlessly with a 5 bolt heel join. Solid as a rock! The medium stainless frets are perfectly done, top notch work. The nut is graphite and the dot markers clearly visible on the top of the neck. Some that like dots or blocks on the fretboard it’s self may be a little lost but after a couple minutes playing you won’t miss them.
The head stock is a beautifully polished high gloss black with the pearloid Spector logo and gold logo in the truss cover. Truss is easily adjust once cap is removed however one of the screws sits directly under the D string so you must loosen that first.
It has 22 seamless frets.
Hardware:
Nice big chunky milled aluminum bridge and gotoh 707 tuners. One of my only two gripes with this bass and why it did not score a perfect 5/5 is the control knobs. They left on the tooth paste tube top looking ones that come with all EMG pups and pres. At this price point a few extra bucks for the EMG metal dome knobs would have been appreciated. I ordered these separately.
Electronics:
EMG 35DC pups with the BTC tone circuit. This choice of pickup for this bass is spot on for me! I play a short scale for health reasons so sometimes I want it to sound like it’s bigger (34”+) brothers and sisters and this does it in spades. The DC’s just sit this thing in a perfect place in the mix and it has a ton of harmonics and useful colour and content in the sound. They are punchy and aggressive but I love that. They respond well to playing dynamic especially after a mod I did and this is my second and last “fault” with this bass. At first I was surprised a bass of this price did not have a separate battery compartment for quick change but that became a blessing due to the fact that there was just enough room to fit and extra 9 volt battery and upgrade to 18v. It’s a shame they did not do this in the factory because that little extra headroom and dynamic is the bomb. The way the dip switches are configured on the pre makes a difference too. After experimenting I left them as the factory set it as it had the best mid response in balance with the highs and lows. Perfect system for this bass. I will at some point try the 35PX in the neck just for fun.
Overall vibes:
A killer bass. The feel and mojo of this thing is awesome. I actually avoided trying this for a while as the price seemed a bit up there for a euro Spector shorty and just did not want to be disappointed. Quite the opposite, I am completely inspired and compelled to play and can not put this thing down. Aside from those two gripes about the pot knobs and the 9v / 18v thing it is just a superior quality bass, well worth the money and will give any of its longer brothers and sisters a run for the money.
This bass is not a toy and is not just for “kids and women” (which seems to unfortunately still be the stigma about shortscale) it is for anyone looking for a great bass that is easier on the hands, left one especially.
I string all my shorties with either Daddario balanced EXL160BT 120-50, EXL170BT 107-45 or Labella deep talking flats for short scale. This one I have the 107-45 and it just loves them. That bit of extra tension on the E works wonders especially if dropping to D. If you want to go lower use the 120-50. However also keep in mind if you are using “normal” scale length strings like me that the shortscale basses with the tuning post width of 3/8 (9mm) like this spector don’t so much like an E string thicker than this .107. The 1/2 (12mm) can cope with the thicker ones. But also that’s why I use the shorty scale in flats because they also don’t like to have the main body of the string wrapped around a 3/8. It will snap immediately.
This is the bass I have been waiting for and sound guys and punters alike have been commenting non stop since I got it on the road with me in the last 2 weeks.
Well done Spector, I have tried over 50 different shortscale basses in the last 4 years and owned more than 20 from various time periods, brands and price points (even having 2 custom made) and in my humble opinion you have created the perfect shortscale instrument in terms of versatility, playability and build quality. Obviously it has a more modern look than say a Mustang but if want EB0 or Mustang and that’s the only sound you want then ok but that’s all you gonna get but this thing can do that as well as super modern and all things in between (mostly)
It’s going to be hard for anyone to top this, that is for sure.
So I am a short scale nut, now only play on the 30’s (except for one 32’) and mainly because I had hand health issues. I switched totally about 4 years ago, I have built and bought and modded and currently own 8 varying shorties and as the title says: THIS IS MY GRAIL
Build Quality:
The build quality and materials used are insanely good. Let’s start with the body. Chambered European Alder topped with Quilted maple. This thing isn’t just topped, it’s literally half half. Same thickness of top as back. The Black Cherry gloss is flawless and the classic Spector body design is just sooooo comfortable to play and wear. All the fit and finish on the body is 5/5 for me.
Neck:
Beautifully smooth matte finished 3pc hard maple neck with Graphite reinforcement rods. The fret board has a nice chunky piece of rosewood on it and joins the body seamlessly with a 5 bolt heel join. Solid as a rock! The medium stainless frets are perfectly done, top notch work. The nut is graphite and the dot markers clearly visible on the top of the neck. Some that like dots or blocks on the fretboard it’s self may be a little lost but after a couple minutes playing you won’t miss them.
The head stock is a beautifully polished high gloss black with the pearloid Spector logo and gold logo in the truss cover. Truss is easily adjust once cap is removed however one of the screws sits directly under the D string so you must loosen that first.
It has 22 seamless frets.
Hardware:
Nice big chunky milled aluminum bridge and gotoh 707 tuners. One of my only two gripes with this bass and why it did not score a perfect 5/5 is the control knobs. They left on the tooth paste tube top looking ones that come with all EMG pups and pres. At this price point a few extra bucks for the EMG metal dome knobs would have been appreciated. I ordered these separately.
Electronics:
EMG 35DC pups with the BTC tone circuit. This choice of pickup for this bass is spot on for me! I play a short scale for health reasons so sometimes I want it to sound like it’s bigger (34”+) brothers and sisters and this does it in spades. The DC’s just sit this thing in a perfect place in the mix and it has a ton of harmonics and useful colour and content in the sound. They are punchy and aggressive but I love that. They respond well to playing dynamic especially after a mod I did and this is my second and last “fault” with this bass. At first I was surprised a bass of this price did not have a separate battery compartment for quick change but that became a blessing due to the fact that there was just enough room to fit and extra 9 volt battery and upgrade to 18v. It’s a shame they did not do this in the factory because that little extra headroom and dynamic is the bomb. The way the dip switches are configured on the pre makes a difference too. After experimenting I left them as the factory set it as it had the best mid response in balance with the highs and lows. Perfect system for this bass. I will at some point try the 35PX in the neck just for fun.
Overall vibes:
A killer bass. The feel and mojo of this thing is awesome. I actually avoided trying this for a while as the price seemed a bit up there for a euro Spector shorty and just did not want to be disappointed. Quite the opposite, I am completely inspired and compelled to play and can not put this thing down. Aside from those two gripes about the pot knobs and the 9v / 18v thing it is just a superior quality bass, well worth the money and will give any of its longer brothers and sisters a run for the money.
This bass is not a toy and is not just for “kids and women” (which seems to unfortunately still be the stigma about shortscale) it is for anyone looking for a great bass that is easier on the hands, left one especially.
I string all my shorties with either Daddario balanced EXL160BT 120-50, EXL170BT 107-45 or Labella deep talking flats for short scale. This one I have the 107-45 and it just loves them. That bit of extra tension on the E works wonders especially if dropping to D. If you want to go lower use the 120-50. However also keep in mind if you are using “normal” scale length strings like me that the shortscale basses with the tuning post width of 3/8 (9mm) like this spector don’t so much like an E string thicker than this .107. The 1/2 (12mm) can cope with the thicker ones. But also that’s why I use the shorty scale in flats because they also don’t like to have the main body of the string wrapped around a 3/8. It will snap immediately.
This is the bass I have been waiting for and sound guys and punters alike have been commenting non stop since I got it on the road with me in the last 2 weeks.
Well done Spector, I have tried over 50 different shortscale basses in the last 4 years and owned more than 20 from various time periods, brands and price points (even having 2 custom made) and in my humble opinion you have created the perfect shortscale instrument in terms of versatility, playability and build quality. Obviously it has a more modern look than say a Mustang but if want EB0 or Mustang and that’s the only sound you want then ok but that’s all you gonna get but this thing can do that as well as super modern and all things in between (mostly)
It’s going to be hard for anyone to top this, that is for sure.
