SPECTOR® Club - Part 40

[LimaGuy]

Anyone know why the Euro LX4 with the TWs come with a plastic nut instead of brass? Is that a regular thing or is that something that happens only on a few random basses?

Most if not all of the 4LX TW's I see pictured on BassCentral have brass nuts. Not sure why one wouldn't have brass.

Must be random. There's one on Amazon that's black plastic. And there are some on BC's site that have black plastic too. I guess it's just random one-offs or mistakes or they just didn't have enough brass on hand to finish up that particular bass. Although I can tell you if I ordered a Euro and it showed up without a brass nut, I'd be calling the NY shop to see if they'd put one on for me under warranty or I'd just flat out return it. The brass nut is a key to how good the open strings sound.

The Black Matte Euro4LX that I owned (now Lee's) came with a graphite nut. If I remember correctly the Euro 435 TW (Black Matte Stain) that Patrick owned also had graphite nut.

They were both early 2010 models. I think this was done for cosmetic reasons on the Euro Black Matte series at that time.

It appears they now come with brass nuts.

 

[Wolf Tower 5]

Not at all if you have a good tech who charges reasonable prices. You can buy brass nut blanks off of eBay for like $15 for 3 of them. Just make sure they are big enough. Better to be too big and need filing down than too small. Then take it to your tech and ask him to shape, slot and install it. Mine did it for $100 on the NS-2A I fully restored and upgraded (scootbass1 had it and now is on its way to brotherbassj) because I provided the brass blank.

IMO it made a big difference in the tone of the open strings. I never want to go back to plastic or graphite nuts. If I had to choose between those two as a secondary because I couldn't get a hold of a brass blank (or couldn't afford one), I'd definitely go with graphite just because it's self-lubricating (resist that one guys, resist) and also very durable.

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it. I live near Chicago, so I am thinking I'll call Chicago Bass Club and see what they will charge. Plus being a high end dealer, I would think they would have some quality techs.

Thanks again for the input.

 

[grendle]

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it. I live near Chicago, so I am thinking I'll call Chicago Bass Club and see what they will charge. Plus being a high end dealer, I would think they would have some quality techs.

Thanks again for the input.

Hit up Dickhead designs @yahoo.com. he does them for a lot of people here. Inexpensive, fast turn and excellent work from what I hear. He has the factory spec's and the proceeds go to help kids. Drop in custom bass nut.

 

[husky123]

Hey guys,

Huge news, I sold my Mesa M9....wait what? Yep, in my endless search and boredom with that tone I let her go. Right now, I'm using my MB800 and it stomps but tonight I brought my '73 SVT upstairs (ouch) and set it on top of my 215. Holy cow, I forgot how gooooood that sound was.

Anywho's, that got me thinking about going down the Ampeg road again and have been pondering the SVT 4 Pro. Of course, I hit up resident fanboy Omer and he highly recommended it. I can't remember, anyone else here run a 4 Pro?

Grendle, I see you have the beast II Pro, ever play through the 4 Pro?

 

[PhatBasstard]

Man Phat...I'm having a tough time wrapping my brain around that replacement! But...each to their own tone, right?!

I'm totally convinced they just really got it right on the 2001-2003 Euro's. Every one I've played is just phenomenal. I've owned many from the NSCR series and, although good, just not quite as good. All the Euro LX's I've tried have left me flat in comparison. The 2001-2003 Euros are the jewels of the Czech line.

I'll shut up now, lest they go up in price.

 

[LimaGuy]

no worries, I think there are like 4 different versions. Sam has a link for a page with all the descriptions... interesting stuff. It gets confusing sometimes...

There seemed to have been a bunch of versions of the 9Volt Circuit.
The mighty mite mm114 was a copy of the Haz Labs design it was never stock in any Spector model.

The Korean 9Volt Circuit came stock in NS-2As.
There was also a Czech Made 9Volt Circuit (which was in WilsonMusic's old SSD NS-4CR)
There was also a slightly different looking one in the old Jaymi mystery NS-2A.

Below are a few different photos of the 9Volt Circuits.
I couldn't find the photo of the Czech Made one.

Also; here is a link to a Japanese fan site showing different versions. I am not sure how accurate some of this information is.
http://www.sfcj.net/en/e_data_Preamps.html

 

[smadder]

I'm totally convinced they just really got it right on the 2001-2003 Euro's. Every one I've played is just phenomenal. I've owned many from the NSCR series and, although good, just now quite as good. All the Euro LX's I've tried have left me flat in comparison. The 2001-2003 Euros are the jewels of the Czech line.

I'll shut up now, lest they go up in price.

I agree. If I ever find one loose, I'm going to try and grab it before anyone else can get their hands on it as long as the price isn't ridiculous. The full maple body and the 100% brass bridge are the big keys to the tone upgrade from other Euro models. And I love the Euro line from back in the 90s till now, but out of everything I've gotten to play since becoming a Spector user, those years' Euro model neck-throughs impress me the most. If I could find one in very good - mint condition and then dropped a US 9v circuit into it... that would make for one happy Steve.

 

[Gabriel51]

Just out of curiosity. My open E has always sounded a little dead. It's a Euro ReBop purchased here on TB. It has a plastic nut. Could this be a reason for the sound? And is replacing the plastic with brass a complicated endeavor?

No it cannot be, it's not hard to change but you need nut files to set the string depth.

 

[smadder]

Holy sh!t Lee!!!! I can't believe you let that go! That was YOUR head, you know? I'm glad you are letting the 800MB out to play, but that Mesa was amazing. Beautiful in form and function. If you don't mind me asking, what was the impetus behind the sale? I honestly thought you'd found YOUR amp.

Hey guys,

Huge news, I sold my Mesa M9....wait what? Yep, in my endless search and boredom with that tone I let her go. Right now, I'm using my MB800 and it stomps but tonight I brought my '73 SVT upstairs (ouch) and set it on top of my 215. Holy cow, I forgot how gooooood that sound was.

Anywho's, that got me thinking about going down the Ampeg road again and have been pondering the SVT 4 Pro. Of course, I hit up resident fanboy Omer and he highly recommended it. I can't remember, anyone else here run a 4 Pro?

Grendle, I see you have the beast II Pro, ever play through the 4 Pro?

 

[husky123]

Holy sh!t Lee!!!! I can't believe you let that go! That was YOUR head, you know? I'm glad you are letting the 800MB out to play, but that Mesa was amazing. Beautiful in form and function. If you don't mind me asking, what was the impetus behind the sale? I honestly thought you'd found YOUR amp.

A potent combination of boredom, quick money and an itchy trigger finger.

 

[smadder]

A potent combination of boredom, quick money and an itchy trigger finger.

Well, that will certainly do it. Did you get a good deal for it?

 

[jarrod cunningham]

I agree. If I ever find one loose, I'm going to try and grab it before anyone else can get their hands on it as long as the price isn't ridiculous. The full maple body and the 100% brass bridge are the big keys to the tone upgrade from other Euro models. And I love the Euro line from back in the 90s till now, but out of everything I've gotten to play since becoming a Spector user, those years' Euro model neck-throughs impress me the most. If I could find one in very good - mint condition and then dropped a US 9v circuit into it... that would make for one happy Steve.

There was one here last week and on eBay now .

 

[tomydacat]

Lee, I had the 4 pro for about 6 years LOVED IT completely ,it just got heavy for me as it is 45 pounds. but the tone is pure ampeg and very loud just a joy to play.. I play the 7 pro now it is 15 pounds not as much power but to me got the ampeg sound which i love .you will find 4 pro to be a BEAST of an amp.

 

[husky123]

Lee, I had the 4 pro for about 6 years LOVED IT completely ,it just got heavy for me as it is 45 pounds. but the tone is pure ampeg and very loud just a joy to play.. I play the 7 pro now it is 15 pounds not as much power but to me got the ampeg sound which i love .you will find 4 pro to be a BEAST of an amp.

Thanks tomy! Does it do that low grind thing well? Can you get good overdrive out of the gain? I NEED to have that grind.

 

[tomydacat]

yes that and get get any tone you want and if you get one make sure you get a converted speakon cable so you can make use of the full power of the amp.. trust me it is an awesome amp heavy but if that doesnt bother you , you will be well pleased

 

[Christian Waiau]

Thanks tomy! Does it do that low grind thing well? Can you get good overdrive out of the gain? I NEED to have that grind.

The svt3 and 4 have always been clean amps IMO... I could never get a nice break up on them

 

[tomydacat]

It has 9 EQ built in compression and with the 810 cab pure tone MONSTER.

 

[ODDBALL]

I am sure this is the best place to ask. What is everybody's thoughts on the Legend 5? Build quality and tone?



Thanks

Shaun

 

[husky123]

The svt3 and 4 have always been clean amps IMO... I could never get a nice break up on them

Thanks. I'm also thinking about an SVP Pro. I know some of them have hiss issues. That's the pre from the monster 2 Pro IIRC? I'm thinking that pre and my GK MB800 power section might make for a potent lightweight rig.

Ps. Sorry everyone for the amp derail but I there re so many in here with incredible knowledge.

 

[iceboxbass]

I have one in my Ns2a tuned to C and it sounds sick!!! I actually recorded a song in drop B as well and it sounds awesome!!!!

Here is a drum and bass mix only with the Ns2a

http://db.tt/PDsQ5C49

Oh yeah, that's it!!!