SPECTOR® Club - Part 29

[iceboxbass]

thats exactly how i got my ns-95. total blind buy from bass central. i initially wanted a "plum colored" bass i saw in a buyers magazine in the 90's. lol. well i didnt know it was a then $1200 czech made bass. so i then got the 95 and hadnt a clue what i was getting. it came and i immediately called beaver felton and told him it was the wrong color. lol. he sent me the "padauk" stain, which we thought was the plum color. so i sent it back, he sent the other one and it was the same bass. i said dont worry about it and i kept it. when i first started playing it, i was like "***" i didnt like the neck at first. but as i played it for about an hour or two, i was in love. lol

Wow haha...what a mix up eh?!

I bought mine off the eBay from a dealer that bought it from a went out of business guitar store. It was in the stock room unopened, "New/Old stock! So it was a brand new SSD! The headstock got a small ding in it by the time it arrived. No biggy...the guy would make it right with a refund but when I plugged it in and played it...I was in love! Haha! But sold it bc wanted to upgrade to USA made Forte 5.

see im more of the first 5 frets kind of guy. lol. and im not much of a slapper. i cant get that down very well. that 5er for the way i play got stretchy on the hands and fingers. but yeah, i agree, the way it fit on me, i sure miss that and the neck once i got used to it was a joy to play.

I'm not a slapper either...just don't care for the tone, it's judt not for me. I have very large hands (I can easily palm a basketball lol) so the large necks are very comfortable for me. Can't wait for my Forte 5! Fivers from here on out for me! I'm contemplating whether I want to covert my Forte 4 to BEAD tuning...I just converted it to 18V last weekend and at my Wed. band practice I had to use half the volume bc it's so hot! Haha! Thanx to LimaGuy, seventhframe, jaymi and everyone else that did the mod that influenced me!

 

[iceboxbass]

In

Basstovsky - what model is that burst bass on the left? I'm a 5 string preference guy and have seen only a few Spector 5s that have that headstock vs the narrow one. I like it, now if if it came in a P/J or JH configuration I'd really be all over it.

WOWZER!!!!!!! Love all that color!

 

[cjmodulus]

Dan Briggs live with Trioscapes
definitely a euro there

Yeah, your definitely right. I saw those posts to their FB page, too. Guess I just skimmed over 'em.
You have any idea what tuning he's using for trioscapes? I'd guess standard, but you never know. I want to start transcribing 'blast off'. It's such a cool tune!

 

[Basstovsky]

Wow, JPS broke my browser trying to open that page it was so awesome haha

Reposting from the last thread, does noone know the answer to this?

Is the Euro4LX-TW™ the only 4-string neck-through Euro model available with humbuckers that isn't a custom order?

I love humbuckers in my current Spectors, and may someday order a Euro, but I have no use for single-coil mode, and it would probably be a hassle to switch from them to CS's because of the extra wires.

 

[grendle]

I think JP is officially a "Porn Star"! Lol

I'm in .

 

[Basstovsky]

Basstovsky - what model is that burst bass on the left? I'm a 5 string preference guy and have seen only a few Spector 5s that have that headstock vs the narrow one. I like it, now if if it came in a P/J or JH configuration I'd really be all over it.

It is an NS20005, an update of the Korean made NS-95, they were made for a few years. Mine is 35" scale, with emg-hz soapbars.

With the EMGs you could conceivably get their active P or J pickups (or J and humbucker) in soapbar shape if you wanted that kind of sound, would just need to upgrade the volume pots to 25K for the active pickups I think. I know a few guys have done this kinda thing to get a P-J sound in a 5 or 6 string Spector and surely they would chime in should you get one.

I have seen 3 or 4 of these basses sell on ebay for around 400-550 bucks depending on condition, though a few dreamers seemed to think they could sell them with a buy it now price of 700 or even more, maybe if someone didn't do their research they would pay that much.

 

[iceboxbass]

Welcome back JPS! Thank you for the Spector porn/SAS!!!:scowl:
My wish list from your porn;
Coda 5DLX Red W/BEM FB
ForteX 5
NS-5 XL Blue (burst?) on black
Coda 5DLX Red Flame Maple Pau Ferro FB

Only one missing is the NS-5 XL WCR

 

[iceboxbass]

Wow, JPS broke my browser trying to open that page it was so awesome haha

Reposting from the last thread, does noone know the answer to this?

Is the Euro4LX-TW™ the only 4-string neck-through Euro model available with humbuckers that isn't a custom order?

I love humbuckers in my current Spectors, and may someday order a Euro, but I have no use for single-coil mode, and it would probably be a hassle to switch from them to CS's because of the extra wires.

You can pretty much custom order what pickups that you want.
When I ordered my Forte5 I didn't want humbuckers so I ordered EMG 40P5 40J.

 

[grendle]

Wow, JPS broke my browser trying to open that page it was so awesome haha

Reposting from the last thread, does noone know the answer to this?

Is the Euro4LX-TW(TM) the only 4-string neck-through Euro model available with humbuckers that isn't a custom order?

I love humbuckers in my current Spectors, and may someday order a Euro, but I have no use for single-coil mode, and it would probably be a hassle to switch from them to CS's because of the extra wires.

I think you can just order it as a 4LX and get DC's. If not I'm sure you can spec DC's instead of TW's. Or just don't use the single coil mode

 

[grendle]

You can pretty much custom order what pickups that you want.
When I ordered my Forte5 I didn't want humbuckers so I ordered EMG 40P5 40J.

Oh you need to post clips of that. Did you get the haz also?

 

[JPSBassist]

Wow, JPS broke my browser trying to open that page it was so awesome haha

Reposting from the last thread, does noone know the answer to this?

Is the Euro4LX-TW™ the only 4-string neck-through Euro model available with humbuckers that isn't a custom order?

I love humbuckers in my current Spectors, and may someday order a Euro, but I have no use for single-coil mode, and it would probably be a hassle to switch from them to CS's because of the extra wires.

First... the TW is actually called the CS-TW. It is a CS... so if you want CS dual humbuckers... just leave it in dual coil mode. There's no difference. So you don't need to change pups.

It's only a problem if you want to go to straight EMG DC humbuckers. The DC's being dual ceramic and the CS being dual ceramic and steel.

You'd have to special order one with DCs in it. Unless you can talk one of the Spector Dealers into doing the switch out for you at their location. Some have on-site techs that would be able to make the switch for you. But it'd be up to them as to if they'd do that for you.

Looking at some of the inventory the larger dealers have, one may have a Special Order Euro4LX-DC in stock. You might want to ask around.

 

[Basstovsky]

Is there a good resource that compares the sounds of different EMG pickups consistently?

The EMG-hz's in my NS20005 are about as bright and punchy as I can take without it sounding bad to my ears, not sure if the CS or DCs are the ones I heard that I like that weren't too bright or low-mid scooped, and I've never heard any good comparison of the P-J's to humbuckers.
If I do order a Euro, I want to know what it is going to sound like because I am not the biggest fan of the 'active' sound being really clean articulate with a lot of high end (blech, hate anything over 2k, maybe more like 1500) I know I'm picky, I just wanna make sure I don't buy something and go "aw man why didn't I..."

 

[JPSBassist]

Quick note...

I've been here the last two weeks... just been really busy building the new Bass Central website. It's killer. I'm really happy with the way it's turning out (as is Dave, Mike and Beaver at BC). So I've been armpit deep in their site these past two weeks.

BC has a Euro4LX-DC in stock. It's listed as a DC, but clearly has EMG HZ pups installed. Which has to be a special order someone asked for but then backed out and so it got put into BC's inventory. They're asking a ridiculous-low price for it. It might be a better option for switching out to DC's if that's what you want.

Like I said in the post above, I've been able to tell NO difference between the CS-TW pups in dual mode and straight EMG CS pups. And no offense, I like the DC's better. The CS models are flatter on the high-end and lack the clear punch that the DC's have. I think the DC models are better balanced with deep/growly lows and clear/punchy highs... whereas the CS models seem to be more traditional... vintage sounding and thumpy or flat when it comes to punching through in the mix.

I tell people that if you want a more classic vintage tone (think pre-Spector) then the CS models are probably a better bet. But the DC models are what Stuart originally put in the NS-4 and NS-5/NS-6 models when dual humbuckers became something he was willing to put into a Spector back in the early 1990's with the SSD models. And that's the sound I prefer (when we're talking about Spector).

And honestly, I'm probably most in love with the mix of two EMG J pups and the USA 9v Haz circuit. That's the tone I've really come to appreciate.

 

[JPSBassist]

Is there a good resource that compares the sounds of different EMG pickups consistently?

The EMG-hz's in my NS20005 are about as bright and punchy as I can take without it sounding bad to my ears, not sure if the CS or DCs are the ones I heard that I like that weren't too bright or low-mid scooped, and I've never heard any good comparison of the P-J's to humbuckers.
If I do order a Euro, I want to know what it is going to sound like because I am not the biggest fan of the 'active' sound being really clean articulate with a lot of high end (blech, hate anything over 2k, maybe more like 1500) I know I'm picky, I just wanna make sure I don't buy something and go "aw man why didn't I..."

OK. I think it's safe to say you're going to want DC's.

There's some big differences in the tonal range of the NS-2 and NS-4... the NS-4 having more headroom with 18v and having a newer design (in terms of the circuit).

And the TP, as Sam has demonstrated with his TonePump to USA 9v Haz comparison, is very, very similar to the classic USA tone. And musicians like Rex Brown and Ray Scheuring know this, they've been putting TonePumps in their USA basses for a while now...

So the main variables in that frequency difference you might hear is going to have more to do with the pups and your string choices honestly.

I'm so tried of looking at this screen. It's a nasty, rainy day here. The first rain I've seen in LA in 5 or 6 months. No joke.

And I honestly haven't played any this week. I feel so disconnected from my basses right now. I've just been 12 hours a day balls to the wall coding and working out the design for Bass Central.

So I think I'll do a quick comparison of the NS-2, NS-4 and Euro4LX-TW-35... I'm almost done getting one set up for someone. It's sounding really good.

And I'll try to get these sound samples online for you. I think you'll agree (not to pre-bias anyone's judgements) that my 18v NS-4 with DC's is going to sound the best. It's been my experience so far.

And of course another variable is the maple fingerboard on The Black Pearl. It does make it a brighter sounding bass.

 

[grendle]

That euro with Hz's might be just the ticket. The Hz's imo are less modern sounding that other emg's and aren't bad at all. They get a bad rap as does everything these days that isn't considered top of the line. They still get the Spector growl with the tonepump as well. If you can get a killer deal on that bass due to the different than stock pickups, I say jump on it! You should be really paying for the woods , quality construction, and quality hardware which Spector delivers. The electronics swap that has the tone your looking for is just the icing on the cake. It's a win win imo.

 

[Basstovsky]

Awesome! Yeah the DC's sound more like what I'm leaning towards, and I do agree the tonepump is pretty killer, I had been looking for a trimpot version for a while to put in my NS20005, but modding the preamp in it to 18V sounded pretty killer already so I never did it.

So glad you are re-doing the bass central website, I mean those guys over there are great, but the website, well... its very green.

 

[sumgruuvz]

Thanks! Best thing about them is that together I've only spent around $1000 total on them, the NS20005 just got inlay decals while the NS20004 had been gutted by the previous owner so I rebuilt it my way, Link Removed pickups, the Haz-copy preamp, dunlop straplocks, and of course the decal inlays. Also just got the US haz knobs I ordered through PJ, need to get a pic with those on it


There's a lotta droolworthy Spectors on this page, but I love the Green and black stjohn has, like the special Forte that never was...

that's awesome. where did you get the inlays? i really want to do that on my legend ive never heard of haz-lab stuff until i read posts on here. what are the significant advantages of it over say the emg electronics or the tone pump? id really like to soup up my bass but dont know where to start. i was thinking p/u upgrade but i dont know. from the sounds of it, you got yours up real nice. congrats!

 

[LimaGuy]

that's awesome. where did you get the inlays? i really want to do that on my legend ive never heard of haz-lab stuff until i read posts on here. what are the significant advantages of it over say the emg electronics or the tone pump? id really like to soup up my bass but dont know where to start. i was thinking p/u upgrade but i dont know. from the sounds of it, you got yours up real nice. congrats!

Here is the place to get the inlays.
eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

Regarding a Tonepump, it will give you lots of growl.
The least expensive upgrade for you is to look out for someone selling a used Tonepump on Talkbass.

 

[iceboxbass]

Oh you need to post clips of that. Did you get the haz also?

As soon as it arrives I will. I am getting the OBP3 for the mids control.

 

[jarrod cunningham]

Here