I can't help with that one, maybe one of the other guys can. You could try the Westone forums on the net. They are pretty cool cats there.
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Electra/Westone club
- Thread starter thehamsterman
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For those of us with phase-reversal switches, do any of you ever use it? My Spectrum GT has a push-pull switch on the volume that does a phase-reversal thing when both pickups are selected that makes it sound really thin and clanky. I remember back when I was a teenager and I picked this bass out partly because of the tone options, including that feature, which if you set up your amp right I figured would get a Ric-ish kind of sound.
I never wound up using it with a band, though, because it was so thin. Lately I've been experimenting with it, thinking of using it for some home recording with this spacey proggy synth stuff I've been doing. It sounds cool when doing chords and double stops (as do Rickenbackers). I've found that by kicking up the bass in the amp EQ and rolling back the tone knobs on the bass a bit I can get a pretty cool sound out of it and bring back some of the balls it loses when the switch is engaged. Downside is that these amp settings only work for this particular bass, and only when the phase switch is engaged.
But all this time later I'm still intrigued by this sound and figure it's gotta have a place somewhere. It's another thing that makes this bass unique.
I never wound up using it with a band, though, because it was so thin. Lately I've been experimenting with it, thinking of using it for some home recording with this spacey proggy synth stuff I've been doing. It sounds cool when doing chords and double stops (as do Rickenbackers). I've found that by kicking up the bass in the amp EQ and rolling back the tone knobs on the bass a bit I can get a pretty cool sound out of it and bring back some of the balls it loses when the switch is engaged. Downside is that these amp settings only work for this particular bass, and only when the phase switch is engaged.
But all this time later I'm still intrigued by this sound and figure it's gotta have a place somewhere. It's another thing that makes this bass unique.
That's cool.
Nearly 30 years later and you're still experimenting with it. I have to admit I've never used mines.
Perhaps it's about time I did
Nearly 30 years later and you're still experimenting with it. I have to admit I've never used mines.
Perhaps it's about time I did
1985 WESTONE SPECTRUM BASS BLACK - Anybody played one of these? How does it sound? Looking at an old beat up one cause it looks cool...
I have that exact model in red. If it's in good shape and the pickups are both working properly then check it out. I like the tone I get on mine straight through my Ampeg Portaflex rig, with no overdrive or other effects, just crank the gain on my amp and it gets a good growl. The pickups are pretty hot. The neck pickup is Westone's version of a P pickup, a "Magnabass III" it's called. The bridge pickup is a Magnabass IV humbucker and gets a really growly Spectorish kind of sound. I use rounds on it and it can be a metal machine. Controls are V/T/T with a 3-position toggle switch and a push-pull switch that does a phase-reversal, which is wierd. Go back a few posts I was talking about experimenting with that on mine.
Check here for more details, second one down the page: Invalid Link Removed
Some people don't dig them, like any bass, of course. I've had mine for almost 30 years and play the crap out of it still, as much as I play my Ric. Hence my user name...
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Spectrum's got it right. Westones rock. I've the red GT exact same as he has. If you want to see beat up check some of my earlier posts.
That Concord was real beat up.
That Concord was real beat up.
Thanks. Some day. The one I saw only had one pickup and looks really rough. I would like to fix something like that up and juice it up a little. It's in used section of guitar center. 150 bucks I think. I'm sorta looking for something to experiment with a little. The s westone looks like a prime candidate. Just not this one at this time.
axelrod
One'll turn up. Most likely a Spectrum or Concord, the Thunder series tend to keep a good price. Great thing is all the Westones were quality built so
whatever model you use you have a rock solid starting point.
One'll turn up. Most likely a Spectrum or Concord, the Thunder series tend to keep a good price. Great thing is all the Westones were quality built so
whatever model you use you have a rock solid starting point.
I am in! Thanks to bassfootballguy I am the proud owner of an 85 Westone Spectrum. White single pup just like my second bass that I purchased new in the fall of 85 when I sold my first bass, a Lotus 700 that I had purchased that summer because I wanted the fancy looking white bass hanging in the shop where I worked. Man it plays better than I ever remembered. So very cool to have this bass. Will post some gig pics of it next week.
Just got home from a gig in DC tonight, me and my Spectrum GT riding the last Metro train home...
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Figured I'd post an action shot of the Westone, which (after years of neglect) has went back to my main bass. The pic is a few months old, and I chopped off my hair. Luckily I can still play
Figured I'd post an action shot of the Westone, which (after years of neglect) has went back to my main bass. The pic is a few months old, and I chopped off my hair. Luckily I can still play
I haven't traced the serial# yet, but with the bumpers on both sides of the rails and white fret markers on the side of the neck, it appears to be an '85.
Merry Christmas to me! And to you all.
Jeff
Nice Rail! I have no interest in getting another bass, but if one of those crosses my path I'm taking it home with me.
I did this in my spare bedr...er..."home studio" the other night...the bass I'm playing on this starting about 3 minutes in is my Westone Spectrum GT.
I confess that with the effects I'm using it's hard to tell what the bass itself actually sounds like, but one of the reasons I used it is because the hot humbuckers put out a strong signal which makes it easy to trigger effects such as the EHX Superego.
I confess that with the effects I'm using it's hard to tell what the bass itself actually sounds like, but one of the reasons I used it is because the hot humbuckers put out a strong signal which makes it easy to trigger effects such as the EHX Superego.
This is me at the local jazz jam a couple of months ago. I stuck my little minicam on the headstock of my Spectrum GT.
