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SPECTOR® Club - Part 27

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#782
New Spector Day coming soon!!! Bought a Rex 5 off Guitar Center's used site! This will be my second Spector and my first 35" scale, my first neck-through, my first active bass, and my first bass made of something other than basswood (lol)!!! I'll have to sell off my Fender Aerodyne than I've never even played since I got my Spector, but I think I'm in for a treat with this one!
So excited!!! :hyper::hyper::hyper::bassist::bassist::bassist:

Here's a teaser pic from GC's website:
106413116_lg.jpg
 
#783
bclark812008 said:
I'm glad you are enjoying it! :bassist:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the bass. I sure am enjoying it. There are so many great tones hidden within a few twists of the knobs. This NS-2A is exceeding my expectations.

I opened up the control cavity to check out the preamp and found a little note taped around the empty clip for a 2nd battery. I'm still learning about the different preamps and which ones are safe to run at 18V.
 
#785
evanatch said:
New Spector Day coming soon!!! Bought a Rex 5 off Guitar Center's used site! This will be my second Spector and my first 35" scale, my first neck-through, my first active bass, and my first bass made of something other than basswood (lol)!!! I'll have to sell off my Fender Aerodyne than I've never even played since I got my Spector, but I think I'm in for a treat with this one!
So excited!!! :hyper::hyper::hyper::bassist::bassist::bassist:

Here's a teaser pic from GC's website:
106413116_lg.jpg
Click to expand...

That's great. Congrats
 
#786
delucajohn2000 said:
I know I always seem to jump to defend Alex Webster so I am sure everyone was expecting me to reply :) All I have to say is watch this video:

Cannibal Corpse - Frantic Disembowelment (Guitar, Bass & Dru - YouTube

There are no vocals in it since it was from the studio but I only wish I could have a fraction of the talent this guy has. Death Metal is not for everyone but there some seriously talented musicians that play that type of music so I will always give them the props they deserve.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a CD that is skipping.
 
#790
evanatch said:
I prefer this as a demonstration of Webster's playing ability, I'm not a Cannibal Corpse fan myself but I like a lot of Blotted Science, much more musical in my opinion. I don't know if you'd find it more to your liking:
Blotted Science - Synaptic Plasticity - YouTube
Click to expand...

I don't like the music, but I truly admire the talent. I could listen to that just to be impressed.
 
#791
Just catching up with this thread. Here's my take, if anyone cares. I also thought SPECTOR was a mostly Metal bass. Only because most of the players I saw playing SPECTORS were metal guys. But that doesn't bug me. I knew that tone was the tone I have in my head.
Now I'm just a weekend warrior so I need a bass that can cover a lot of territory. We play Stevie Wonder to Aretha to Allman brothers to Susan Tedeshe to Little Feat to Steely Dan to Etta James and on and on. My Euro5LX covers all that and more. A couple of tone adjustments but mostly technique adjustments get the job done. Playing back by the bridge with tips of the fingers or up by the neck with more of the meat of your fingers yields a vastly different tone not to mention palm muting. Anyway, for me, this bass is a very versatile instrument. If your not getting the tone you want with a SPECTOR maybe the problem is in your hands. YMMV
 
#792
JPSBassist said:
I'm not really sure why you feel that Spector's marketing is geared towards metal bassists...

Since I'm the guy who's been helping them develop their marketing for the past two years, I'm very interested to learn why you have this impression.

For instance on the front page of the site you have under USA basses the following artists (not talking about the Signature guys down the left side):
Doug Wimbish - from funk to rock
Billy Sherwood (Yes) - Progressive Rock
Leigh Fox (Blondie) - Pop/Rock
Bernard Harvey (Justin Bieber) - Pop
Abe Millett (Third Eye Blind) - Pop

Under the Euro Section you've got:
Evan Seinfeld - Metal
Mike Rodden - Pop/Rock
Olivier DeMartino - Hard Rock
Robbie Merrill - not what I'd really consider Metal. just more hard rock.
Alex Webster - Death Metal

Under the Professional Series:
Rich Campbell - Folk/Rock
Johnny April - Rock
Tim King - Hard Rock
Chris Kael - Metal
Eric Leonhardt - Rock

Under the Performer:
Nigel Griggs - Pop
Collin Raye - Country
Jerry Scott - Southern Rock

In the signature artists...

OK I'll give you Rex, Ian Hill and Alex Webster are Metal... or Death Metal in Alex's case...

But Garry Tallent... Bruce Springsteen is hardly considered Metal. A lot of his music isn't even rock... it's more pop or even folkish/pop.

I'd call Nickelback a Rock band. Not metal. But mainstream rock.

And Doug Wimbish has worked with everyone from the Sugar Hill Gang and rap stars to pop chart kings and queens to the hardest rocking band in his resume, Living Colour, who is a solid mainstream rock band in my opinion. I know Doug and he's no metal bassist.

-----------------------------------

Between 1985 and 1990, Kramer marketed Spector as a Metal/Hard Rock bass because that's what their guitars were marketed to.

And Kramer spent millions a year advertising, promoting and even giving guitars away to metal and hard rock bands.

Stuart was always against giving guitars away. It's nothing he's ever done. But the guys at Kramer didn't mind giving guitars away to hook an artist. So many, many NS-2A basses were handed out to musicians.

More money was spent on marketing and advertising for Spector in those 5 years than in all the other years combined.

And that "metal" label sticks until today.

But I can tell you first hand, because I'm the guy that Stuart and PJ call up and ask my opinion on these things and I'm the guy that designs the ads... Spector does not specifically market to metal bands. Or any other genre for that matter.

If anything Spector is always trying to broaden the appeal. Note I built an entire section highlighting female artists on the site. And look at the range of artists that have been selected for the spotlight section on each page.

Please do me a huge favor... can you tell me if this is a general impression you have just from the historical standpoint of the high-profile bands in Spector's history that have played them or do you feel that the current marketing materials seem to be designed to appeal more to metal?

I'm being sincere... if you can put your finger on why, telling me will help me because I've been working for 2 years to change this.

I totally agree with you. So many more genres of music would benefit from having bassists in those genres choose to play a Spector.

That's why when I developed the new Spector motto:
Uncompromising Quality
UNPARALLELED VERSATILITY
Unbelievable Sound

I worked really hard to find the three qualities that Spector has that sets it apart from everything else out there.
Click to expand...

It probably has to do with my age (almost 40) or because I live in the deep south but 85% of those artists I would consider hard rock or Metal. That is why I feel like the current marketing looks like it is geared towards metal.

Now I might be wrong about what is metal, hard rock, pop, rock etc. but when I open a Bass Player mag and I see Leland Sklar holding a Warwick, I think "must be a good all around bass".

Doug Wimbish-Known for the band Living Colour, they are considered a metal band. Especially if you remember when they first came out. I know Doug does much more than that, but that what he is known for. Every youtube video on him is Doug playing a jimi hendrix style solo. Of course he does much more than that but I'm talking perception.

Nickelback guy- Hard rock band.

Springsteen guy- Ok...thats a rock band.

Somebody needs to bust stings bass out of the museum and give it back to him, that would help. More black and/or country artists would help too.

Kudos on the Female spector artist feature...this ain't no boys club. As a father of two little girls, I hope I'm looking for one of those pink ns2's someday.
 
#793
Rick Blanc said:
Just catching up with this thread. Here's my take, if anyone cares. I also thought SPECTOR was a mostly Metal bass. Only because most of the players I saw playing SPECTORS were metal guys. But that doesn't bug me. I knew that tone was the tone I have in my head.
Now I'm just a weekend warrior so I need a bass that can cover a lot of territory. We play Stevie Wonder to Aretha to Allman brothers to Susan Tedeshe to Little Feat to Steely Dan to Etta James and on and on. My Euro5LX covers all that and more. A couple of tone adjustments but mostly technique adjustments get the job done. Playing back by the bridge with tips of the fingers or up by the neck with more of the meat of your fingers yields a vastly different tone not to mention palm muting. Anyway, for me, this bass is a very versatile instrument. If your not getting the tone you want with a SPECTOR maybe the problem is in your hands. YMMV
Click to expand...
Thats what I like to play too!!
 
#794
delucajohn2000 said:
The car is packed with 3 Spector's and a dremel so that can only mean one thing. Trip to Limaguy's!
Click to expand...

John left a little while ago.

The NS-5XL is just amazing in person.
Besides looking amazing, the neck is super fast.

All setup with new Spector Nickel Strings

Here is a photo of me with it.
Sam.gif


Here is a photo of John playing his ReBop which is now tuned down a whole step with D'Addario Nickel strings 50-70-90-110-145 (had to do some dremel work on nut for the 145 string.)

John.gif


And yes my hands are bit messed up from touching Nickel strings all day but it was worth it.
 
#796
LimaGuy said:
John left a little while ago.

The NS-5XL is just amazing in person.
Besides looking amazing, the neck is super fast.

All setup with new Spector Nickel Strings

Here is a photo of me with it.
Sam.gif


Here is a photo of John playing his ReBop which is now tuned down a whole step with D'Addario Nickel strings 50-70-90-110-145 (had to do some dremel work on nut for the 145 string.)

John.gif


And yes my hands are bit messed up from touching Nickel strings all day but it was worth it.
Click to expand...
Good photos of you guys. It looks like you were having fun. I like your "custom" chair. Taped foam on the arm to keep from scratching the Spectors.
 
#797
As far as the whole versatility thing goes, my passive Spector Performer Deluxe 5 sounded great in church this morning. It also sounds great when I play in my classic rock/pop/occasional metal cover band (We just got started and have been working on Bon Jovi, Journey, Alice Cooper, Jet, Metallica, etc...). It also sounded great when I was briefly practicing jazz to audition for school jazz band (I didn't make it, but that's all right as some other much more experienced players auditioned). It also sounds great when I'm at home playing all of the above and metal/prog/classical/slapping/tapping/solo stuff/whatever else I feel like practicing. An active bass would probably be even more versatile, I think Spectors sound great in any setting! :)
 
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