SPECTOR® Club - Part 23

[Joe Murray]

Hmmm......I'd probably be interested if it had a J as well. Honestly, I think that most people who want a Ray will just buy a Ray.



Awesome. Congrats!!

I like the idea, it looks sharp!
I would prefer two J's myself, but would be interested in checking out this option if it were available.
BTW...did I understand you that maple fretboards are now available on Euros?

 

[stix_clgi]

Hey that mock-up with the MM pup is an awesome idea! +1 on adding a J pup in the neck position!!

Went to Atomic Music yesterday, saw an older Rebop...all mahagony with maple neck, and EMG-HZ's, selling for $699! Not sure what year it is from, but daggone it if I didn't just buy another 6 string for around the same price lol!

 

[PhatBasstard]

Thats exactly the difference. I have a non trim pot as well, but I tried lowering the pickups and it seemed to make a bit of a difference.

The trim pot is like a gain control on your amp, but for your basses preamp. The lower the control on the TP, the less gain, the less overdrive in your tone.

I really would suggest trying to lower the pickups before you get a new preamp, though. I lowered both pickups but kept the neck one a little lower, and it has made enough difference for me to hold off on getting a new preamp and continue working on my rack rig.

Just to be clear, any overdrive you may get is a result of input into your amp's pre, not any setting on a trim pot on a Tone Pump itself.

I've had a couple Spectors now that had non-trim potted Tone Pumps and now have trim pots. I have noticed that the overall tone now seems to be a little fuller with the pups up close (trim pots at 50%) to the strings as they should be vs. when they had to be screwed down with the old pre.

 

[bigden81]

Indeed! Thanks man! Yeah i'm keeping the Axe Fx if that is what you are talking about. haha! It REALLY does everything!!! I would use it live if i wasn't so lazy. I'd have to unhook it every time for practice, then hook it back up for recording. I'm way too lazy for that. I'm gonna look at some Ampeg and some Trace Elliot if i can find it, and possibly some GK stuff. I'm secretly hoping that i will be blown away by the SVT 4/8X10 setup

Its so weird to me that the artists that i love and respect all use Ampeg, but i couldn't get a go sound from the one i tried....

Rex Brown = Ampeg
Mike Starr = Ampeg at one point
Mike Inez = Ampeg
The list goes on...

The video 7th posted yesterday sounded really good to me as well, so we'll see what happens.

PS - I got a rough mix of a new track i wanted to post to see what you guys think. This one is gonna end up on my band's second album for sure!!!!! Hope you guys like it! It's called Yippee Skippy

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Awesome Song! Very Sevendust-ish

 

[bassgiant15]

Awesome Song! Very Sevendust-ish

Awesome! Thanks! Very happy you liked it! Its still a rough mix, but it's definitely in the direction i'm wanting to go with the song
I love the Sevendust-style of music, so i'll take that as a HUGE compliment! Thanks again!

 

[iceboxbass]

I'd say if you want to go with the CL sound, you may want an all tube amp so for versatility, you could go with an SVT-2 pro, or for power and tone you can go with a tube pre-amp and SS power amp which is what I have in the SVT 4 pro.

As far as the cab goes, the 610HLF is monstrous in itself. That is by no means a compromise.
To borrow a quote from Patrick, the 610 is a 9 out of 10 sound, the 810 is a 12 out of 10 sound

100% agree!!! The SVT-810e is to bass cabs as the USA SPECTOR Bass is to SPECTOR basses! I hope this makes sense. But I can actually speak truthfully as I have both now. Seventhframe knows what he's talking about.

Thanks!
I tried out an svt 4 pro once with 8x10 in GC and wasn't too into it. I didn't have my pedalboard though so I'm going to take with me next time. It has my di on it. I wanna get the full effect when I try it out again. I'm leaning towards an svt 4 pro & 8x10 though I think if I go ampeg. I need a big loud rig for the gigs we do
I wanna run over my guitarists like a bulldozer with my bass tone

+1 on bulldozing those guitards!

Well then...Forte 5 it is! Join our Forte club!
I was the exact opposite, I had a 5 string, wasn't for me, had to go back to 4 string.

Join usJoin usJoin usJoin usJoin usJoin usJoin usJoin usJoin us

I like having both! There are some weeks that we really don't play anything lower than the low E, so it's faster to get around on the fretboard on the 4 string. But then for the weeks we have those in the basement low notes that require the "THUNDER" I have my 5 string to bring it on! Well...I don't have it now but come April I will have my new Forte 5. I miss having a 5er so bad I've been wanting to buy a used one...but I'm sold and hooked on these USA SPECTORS!

First band practice with Parallel 45 last night! Everyone was amazed at the tone. Even the lead guitarist! Lol Our new KB reached over and petted Lucy Lui and said, wow that's really awesome looking! Lol "Hands Off"! Lol

 

[Trailight]

First band practice with Parallel 45 last night! Everyone was amazed at the tone. Even the lead guitarist! Lol Our new KB reached over and petted Lucy Lui and said, wow that's really awesome looking! Lol "Hands Off"! Lol

I got a similar reaction as well

 

[Trailight]

Rex Brown = Ampeg
Mike Starr = Ampeg at one point
Mike Inez = Ampeg
The list goes on...

BassGiant = Ampeg....

PS - I got a rough mix of a new track i wanted to post to see what you guys think. This one is gonna end up on my band's second album for sure!!!!! Hope you guys like it! It's called Yippee Skippy

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

NICE! Some parts are Meshuggah-esque. I like it!

 

[worshiprocker]

Dear Spector likers&lovers, I`ve been wondering about getting myself one of these basses. I`ve come across a few used 5-string european models, but havent had much time to fiddle with the sounds, or try them in band. So far I like what I hear though, and they`re wonderfully fast and easy to play.

But I have one question, and forgive my possible ignorance: What kind of music do you people use these basses for?
Rock`n roll? Jazz? Funk? Metal? Jamming at home on your couch?

i play rock, CCM, and it works great.

Just make sure that if you decide to get an interface (a great investment IMO, that you set the input and output to the right option in your garageband preferences, you may also need to download drivers to make the interface work, but I haven't needed a set of drivers for anything since I got my iMac.

The interface is also really convenient for late night practices as you can just plug your headphones directly into it.

True, you might plug it in and say man this doesn't work... lol

+1, IMHO everything sounds great on a Spector. I play Metal, Rock, Blues, Jazz...etc and I always get the tone I am looking for. I currently own two 4 string Euro models and one 4 string USA model

Here is a clip of a Euro 5LX I recorded, with a Modern Jazzy feel.
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Here is a clip of a Euro 4LX I recorded, with a Rock, Metal feel
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love it

Indeed! Thanks man! Yeah i'm keeping the Axe Fx if that is what you are talking about. haha! It REALLY does everything!!! I would use it live if i wasn't so lazy. I'd have to unhook it every time for practice, then hook it back up for recording. I'm way too lazy for that. I'm gonna look at some Ampeg and some Trace Elliot if i can find it, and possibly some GK stuff. I'm secretly hoping that i will be blown away by the SVT 4/8X10 setup

Its so weird to me that the artists that i love and respect all use Ampeg, but i couldn't get a go sound from the one i tried....

Rex Brown = Ampeg
Mike Starr = Ampeg at one point
Mike Inez = Ampeg
The list goes on...

The video 7th posted yesterday sounded really good to me as well, so we'll see what happens.

PS - I got a rough mix of a new track i wanted to post to see what you guys think. This one is gonna end up on my band's second album for sure!!!!! Hope you guys like it! It's called Yippee Skippy

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Great track! I wonder how many of those guys sound is coming from the cab or just a DI to the FOH... I mean they travel with their own soundmen so I would think they could dial it in.

 

[worshiprocker]

SeventhFrame I just watched that video... awesome song! We have some talented songwriters in this club

 

[dukeisdog]

Just to be clear, any overdrive you may get is a result of input into your amp's pre, not any setting on a trim pot on a Tone Pump itself.

I've had a couple Spectors now that had non-trim potted Tone Pumps and now have trim pots. I have noticed that the overall tone now seems to be a little fuller with the pups up close (trim pots at 50%) to the strings as they should be vs. when they had to be screwed down with the old pre.

I think we may have gotten a little mixed up. I didn't mean a nice overdrive such as some tube gain, I mean the boost on the preamp is just too much and it starts to get a really dirty but not nice sounding overdrive (very similar to when I crank the preamp on my S.S amp). Fwiw, I usually keep my gain set at about 11:00.

 

[Trailight]

SeventhFrame I just watched that video... awesome song! We have some talented songwriters in this club

Thanks man!!!

 

[grendle]

Thanks guys. It looks great in person! And yes, the newer cases are certainly a more snug fit. Still have new bass eyes for it, but two things struck me about it already. Its quite a bit different sounding than the older euro 4, more than I expected....course this could be caused from many things. Secondly, this b string is probably the best I've played. My mm was great, but it never felt or sounded quite the same as the other strings. With this bass, there is no floppiness, and even the lowest notes ring clear and true.

Told ya yep its the wood for the tone on the euro Stu knows his stuff.

 

[stjohn1299]

Thanks, Grendle! Was able to play around on it some more at lunch. Now it's got me wondering how much closer my older, all-maple-winged Euro 4 would sound to the newer Euro LX series if a changed the tone pump out for the trimpot version....

 

[madbassplaya]

Thanks, Grendle! Was able to play around on it some more at lunch. Now it's got me wondering how much closer my older, all-maple-winged Euro 4 would sound to the newer Euro LX series if a changed the tone pump out for the trimpot version....

With the tonepump only being 100 bucks I don't see any resin not to.

 

[delucajohn2000]

Secondly, this b string is probably the best I've played. My mm was great, but it never felt or sounded quite the same as the other strings. With this bass, there is no floppiness, and even the lowest notes ring clear and true.

Welcome to the world of the Spector B string. You have now been spoiled and will have a tough time playing the B string on most other basses. The larger scale length does help it from not being as floppy but others on here have posted that even their older 34" scale Spectors have had an amazing B string so Spector definitely knows what they are doing.

 

[grendle]

Indeed! Thanks man! Yeah i'm keeping the Axe Fx if that is what you are talking about. haha! It REALLY does everything!!! I would use it live if i wasn't so lazy. I'd have to unhook it every time for practice, then hook it back up for recording. I'm way too lazy for that. I'm gonna look at some Ampeg and some Trace Elliot if i can find it, and possibly some GK stuff. I'm secretly hoping that i will be blown away by the SVT 4/8X10 setup

Its so weird to me that the artists that i love and respect all use Ampeg, but i couldn't get a go sound from the one i tried....

Rex Brown = Ampeg
Mike Starr = Ampeg at one point
Mike Inez = Ampeg
The list goes on...

The video 7th posted yesterday sounded really good to me as well, so we'll see what happens.

PS - I got a rough mix of a new track i wanted to post to see what you guys think. This one is gonna end up on my band's second album for sure!!!!! Hope you guys like it! It's called Yippee Skippy

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Cool track!


Here's the thing about Ampeg, totally IMO, YMMV, but guys on the amp forum seem to agree.

With the sealed 8x10, your not going to hear this massive bottom end like you want to hear playing solo. The cab rolls off about 50-60hz on the low end and also rolls off about 2k on the high end. All the Spec. babys and guru's will tell you all kinds of things about how this cab goes lower and this one goes higher yada, yada..... The fact is that onstage and elseware (esp mic'd), that sealed cab sits exactly where you want it to in the mix. The good, powerful low end that is "bass" that you want is all there, esp in the 100hz range where it counts. The whole cab actually resonates a little lower but you don't really hear it until you give it some room, put it on a stage and stand 20 feet back from it. Than you go "ohhhh.....". The sealed 810 stays tight and keeps you out of the mudd.

Now, that cool sounding 30 hz tuned ported cab that sounded great in the store falls to it's knees in the mix vs the 810. All the low end that sounded killer solo (which we all love) , turns to mud in the mix and is usually so pronounced that you have to turn things down further to compensate. Believe me , been there done that, learned, and went " why does my bass sound like a beast live with this ampeg 810 cab?"

A little added bonus, the 810 has a nice sweet spot in the 800-1000 hz range, right were.....you guessed it , the Spector growl resides . On a plus note.... if your looking at an ampeg head, stay away from the the ultra low and ultra high buttons. They will basically give you a preset EQ curve and render the rest of the EQ on the head practically useless. you'll find yourself cranking things on the graphic to get a little bit of difference. The ampeg eq knobs aren't flat when set to 12:00 either. There's a bit of a hump at 100-120 hz with them set flat. I have the svt2 ( non pro) preamp with a power amp and 810e and love it. I use the vol on the svt 2 as kind of a gain knob, and the vol on the power amp as a master. that combined with the trim pot on the tone pump to vary the output level on the bass (to not drive the input so hard but have all of my bass and treb boost avail) works out great for me. The new svt 7 pro is the most "SVT cl / SVT 2 " sounding head from ampeg. Reguardless of having one 12ax7, most guys agree. I plugged into one and set my eq like I do on my 2, and my tone was there.

 

[grendle]

Thanks, Grendle! Was able to play around on it some more at lunch. Now it's got me wondering how much closer my older, all-maple-winged Euro 4 would sound to the newer Euro LX series if a changed the tone pump out for the trimpot version....

It should be close in the lows and mids, but the high mids , highs and the growl on the new euro's is much more like the US basses imo.

 

[stjohn1299]

Welcome to the world of the Spector B string. You have now been spoiled and will have a tough time playing the B string on most other basses. The larger scale length does help it from not being as floppy but others on here have posted that even their older 34" scale Spectors have had an amazing B string so Spector definitely knows what they are doing.

Man, it really is. I definitely noticed that at lunch, too. I've had 3 5 strings now. The first one was a Dean Edge, and it's B string was basically a thumb rest. If you tried to play it, it was horrible floppy, and to get it's B string playable required some pretty extreme string height compared to the other strings. My MM Sterling's B string was much better, but there was still some mild floppyness. It was just enough that it made me slightly alter how I attacked that string vs the other strings though. The notes on its B string below the 7th fret had a tendency to die out quickly without much resonance. Now, the Euro5LX's B string has none of those problems. I can attack that string like any other, and the notes ring long and true. Add to that the fact that the string actually feels under tension without any floppyness, and you've got yourself a winner.

 

[Clearwave]

Cool track!


Here's the thing about Ampeg, totally IMO, YMMV, but guys on the amp forum seem to agree.

With the sealed 8x10, your not going to hear this massive bottom end like you want to hear playing solo. The cab rolls off about 50-60hz on the low end and also rolls off about 2k on the high end. All the Spec. babys and guru's will tell you all kinds of things about how this cab goes lower and this one goes higher yada, yada..... The fact is that onstage and elseware (esp mic'd), that sealed cab sits exactly where you want it to in the mix. The good, powerful low end that is "bass" that you want is all there, esp in the 100hz range where it counts. The whole cab actually resonates a little lower but you don't really hear it until you give it some room, put it on a stage and stand 20 feet back from it. Than you go "ohhhh.....". The sealed 810 stays tight and keeps you out of the mudd.

Now, that cool sounding 30 hz tuned ported cab that sounded great in the store falls to it's knees in the mix vs the 810. All the low end that sounded killer solo (which we all love) , turns to mud in the mix and is usually so pronounced that you have to turn things down further to compensate. Believe me , been there done that, learned, and went " why does my bass sound like a beast live with this ampeg 810 cab?"

A little added bonus, the 810 has a nice sweet spot in the 800-1000 hz range, right were.....you guessed it , the Spector growl resides . On a plus note.... if your looking at an ampeg head, stay away from the the ultra low and ultra high buttons. They will basically give you a preset EQ curve and render the rest of the EQ on the head practically useless. you'll find yourself cranking things on the graphic to get a little bit of difference. The ampeg eq knobs aren't flat when set to 12:00 either. There's a bit of a hump at 100-120 hz with them set flat. I have the svt2 ( non pro) preamp with a power amp and 810e and love it. I use the vol on the svt 2 as kind of a gain knob, and the vol on the power amp as a master. that combined with the trim pot on the tone pump to vary the output level on the bass (to not drive the input so hard but have all of my bass and treb boost avail) works out great for me. The new svt 7 pro is the most "SVT cl / SVT 2 " sounding head from ampeg. Reguardless of having one 12ax7, most guys agree. I plugged into one and set my eq like I do on my 2, and my tone was there.

+1