SPECTOR® Club - Part 32

[iceboxbass]

Not to start a flame war, but I must agree with the former.
I would probably get a lot of "Cool Dude" with the blood spatter on my Rock gigs,
but on most of my RnB, Country, Blues and corporate stuff, the black with red inlays would be fine.
The blood splatter would get a lot of this .

Could always have another bass too...

 

[ynot12]

Really...I personally like JPS's blood splatter design but...if I was going bloodless I'd go with MP crown inlays.

For the record, I mentioned bloodless more out of affordability than looks. I think that blood is pretty cool for the right audience, but I'm not playing out anytime soon and my wife and kids might begin to question my mental stability if I chose a blood splattered bass to play by myself in my basement. Especially if I told them I paid $300 extra for it. LOL

 

[Worldeeeter]

Not to start a flame war, but I must agree with the former.
I would probably get a lot of "Cool Dude" with the blood spatter on my Rock gigs,
but on most of my RnB, Country, Blues and corporate stuff, the black with red inlays would be fine.
The blood splatter would get a lot of this .

I hear you on that. Unfortunately, that's the problem with people. If you played a bass with country-style slug trails and saddle stitching at a metal show, people would get a kick out of it and appreciate your playing that much more. Everyone is so obsessed with looking appropriate that they forget about what's important.
Plus, it gives you a reason to buy another bass.

 

[JPSBassist]

Uh..... -1
Yeah, to each his own.
Seeing as how the entire bass is red-and-black coordinated, the blood spatter looks less odd than a plain black body with red neck inlays.

I don't want to come off as sounding defensive... but as the guy who designed the blood splatter for Alex and PJ (the blood splatter was Alex's idea, PJ came to me with the concept, I did several mock-ups and then we developed three different patterns that could be applied randomly by the factory so each one can sort of look unique and different), I think you can go two ways with it.

First. It's a copy of the bass Alex commissioned as his "ideal" bass. His signature model. And the blood stain was his idea. I mean over-the-top? Sure. But look at any Cannibal Corpse album cover... It fits.

So if you want to show respect to Alex and what CC stands for, then you have to do the blood drip. It's part of the "total Alex Webster experience."

That being said, Alex also had the EXACT same bass made WITH NO BLOOD DRIP. Which is the "stock" Alex Signature that's available. And he did this because he knows it's over-the-top and sometimes HE just wants to rock and it be about the music and not so much about the spectacle.

I imagine he'll use his solid black non-blood versions with Blotted Science and other projects like that.

And sometimes he probably just wants to not be about the blood and the gore.

So Phat is right... if you want the thin neck, DC pups, EMG 3-band pre... but want to not make a statement every time you pull it out. That's what the non-blood model is for.

It's all good. And honestly I have one with the blood. It's an awesome bass. But I don't ever plan on playing it once Alex autographs it for me. It'll be hanging on my wall in my office after that. Actually, I took the 9v batteries out of it months ago.

Lastly, you can SPECIAL ORDER a Doug Wimbish Euro4LX in different colors. You can SPECIAL ORDER the Ian Hill model in something other than gloss black.

I haven't asked PJ this yet, but I'm sure it's coming... someone is going to want an Alex Webster model with a stained body and MOP inlays. So if it's the fast neck and electronics that excite you about this bass... ask PJ if you can special order a Euro5LX with Alex Neck and electronics.

I don't know what he'll say. But you can always ask.

 

[JPSBassist]

For the record, I mentioned bloodless more out of affordability than looks. I think that blood is pretty cool for the right audience, but I'm not playing out anytime soon and my wife and kids might begin to question my mental stability if I chose a blood splattered bass to play by myself in my basement. Especially if I told them I paid $300 extra for it. LOL

Nice! But depending... it might be a good way to keep your kids from misbehaving.

You can use a croaking voice when you talk to them. But only when you're holding the bass... LOL.

They'd be like, "Oh crap, dad's getting his bass... we're in trouble now."

That'd be funny. I mean not really for them. But it'd be cool to see in a movie or something.

 

[JPSBassist]

I've talked with Phat about this in the past...

The volume drop between single and dual coil didn't bother me that bad... what bothered me was the crappy sound of these pups in dual coil mode.

I just don't like it. It's not as crisp as the DC pups are. There's more dynamic range (in my opinion) tonally with the DC pups.

The TW's sound great in single coil mode. But at that point why not just play a Jazz bass. Because that's what you've got.

I ordered a USA Doug Wimbish NS-2 with the USA 9v Circuit (Haz) and instead of the stnadard P/J setup I went with an option that really doesn't have an official model name. Todd Cooke refers to this model on SpectorWorld as an NS-2JJ. Which makes sense to me so that's what I call it. But basically it's an NS-2 with two J pups instead of a P/J setup.

And THAT will be the final determining factor for me regarding the tonal profile I like the most.

The NS-2 and NS-4 are different enough that you can't really compare them fairly. One has strengths where the other has weakness... and visa-versa. So really in my mind it's good to have one of each so you can go with the right tonal range when you need. And I'm of the opinion that the NS-4 sounds better in the studio. But then again my NS-4 is a Water Cured Redwood model and they do sound different anyway.

So once I get "The Blue Dream" this fall I'll be able to say (when speaking for myself) which circuit with pup mix works best.

But regarding any model with TW pups... I'd switch them out for either DC's or the P/J set in the humbucker housing.

I just don't like their sound.

My $0.02... for what it's worth.

 

[Basstovsky]

That's why I'm thinking of getting a Rebop instead of a Euro 4-TW, much easier to swap the Hz's for DC's than it is to change from the TW's with their coil switch wiring.

I like the HZ's on my NS20005, but it may be the preamp (might be EMG, has small circuit boards on the pots but not positive on what it actually is) and/or that it is modded to 18V.

 

[Worldeeeter]

I don't want to come off as sounding defensive... but as the guy who designed the blood splatter for Alex and PJ (the blood splatter was Alex's idea, PJ came to me with the concept, I did several mock-ups and then we developed three different patterns that could be applied randomly by the factory so each one can sort of look unique and different), I think you can go two ways with it.

First. It's a copy of the bass Alex commissioned as his "ideal" bass. His signature model. And the blood stain was his idea. I mean over-the-top? Sure. But look at any Cannibal Corpse album cover... It fits.

So if you want to show respect to Alex and what CC stands for, then you have to do the blood drip. It's part of the "total Alex Webster experience."

That being said, Alex also had the EXACT same bass made WITH NO BLOOD DRIP. Which is the "stock" Alex Signature that's available. And he did this because he knows it's over-the-top and sometimes HE just wants to rock and it be about the music and not so much about the spectacle.

I imagine he'll use his solid black non-blood versions with Blotted Science and other projects like that.

And sometimes he probably just wants to not be about the blood and the gore.

So Phat is right... if you want the thin neck, DC pups, EMG 3-band pre... but want to not make a statement every time you pull it out. That's what the non-blood model is for.

It's all good. And honestly I have one with the blood. It's an awesome bass. But I don't ever plan on playing it once Alex autographs it for me. It'll be hanging on my wall in my office after that. Actually, I took the 9v batteries out of it months ago.

Lastly, you can SPECIAL ORDER a Doug Wimbish Euro4LX in different colors. You can SPECIAL ORDER the Ian Hill model in something other than gloss black.

I haven't asked PJ this yet, but I'm sure it's coming... someone is going to want an Alex Webster model with a stained body and MOP inlays. So if it's the fast neck and electronics that excite you about this bass... ask PJ if you can special order a Euro5LX with Alex Neck and electronics.

I don't know what he'll say. But you can always ask.

A BIG +1!!!

Patrick shouldn't have to come on this thread and defend the aesthetics of their products.
Also, consider the source (owner of a Dean bass)...

 

[JPSBassist]

That's why I'm thinking of getting a Rebop instead of a Euro 4-TW, much easier to swap the Hz's for DC's than it is to change from the TW's with their coil switch wiring.

I like the HZ's on my NS20005, but it may be the preamp (might be EMG, has small circuit boards on the pots but not positive on what it actually is) and/or that it is modded to 18V.

It's an EMG BT copy. The same thing that went into the Spector Q4, Q5 and Q6

 

[levis76]

A BIG +1!!!

Patrick shouldn't have to come on this thread and defend the aesthetics of their products.
Also, consider the source (owner of a Dean bass)...

Pardon me for having my own opinion. Fact is, I love all forms of heavy metal, but I matured and grew out of the 'image' a long time ago. I guess you could say I 'sold out' and got a real job, got married, bought a house and filled it with three kids. I got a minivan in the garage with a 250W sound system that gets used for Yo Gabba Gabba! more than heavy metal these last few years.

So yeah, blood splatter is a bit much for MY TASTE. For Alex and any other metal head who is living the dream, it's friggin' perfect. I love it and can't wait to see Alex kill one on stage next time any of his numerous projects come around.

And for the record, my Dean bass is killer. Edge Q4 with Bart's and an EMG pre. Ultra slim neck and tiger eye quilt top for under $200. It slays any other bass in that price range, used or new.

 

[smperry]

closed with part 33 here: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/spector-club-part-33-a-881739