• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

SPECTOR® Club - Part 40

Status
Not open for further replies.
#161
cjmodulus said:
Haha, I remember the first time I heard BTBAM. Check out the albums 'colors' and 'the great misdirect' if you haven't already. I got both of the songbooks too ( Dan tabs them himself)- I'm most of the way through prequel to the sequel, and maybe 1/3 of the way through obfuscation. Not easy tunes to work through!
Click to expand...

I just bought both of those CD's from iTunes. I haven't had the chance to listen to them yet though since I need to go pickup my new car but I definitely plan on listening to them later when I get home. I need to check out this songbooks too since Dan tabs them himself. At least I know they will be accurate :)
 
#165
worshiprocker said:
usually somewhere between 30-60% is where you want the TP. I have it in 2 basses... a NS-4CRFM (I run at 50%) and Rex 4 pro (I run at 40%) I have EMG 35p and 35j in the Rex 4 pro. you can also try running the TP at 18v and it will tighten up the bottom end allowing you to run it a littler hotter and keeping a nice tight bottom end.

as far as head room... for me its all in my right hand.. If I really get on it it will growl real nice. for normal playing and light fingerstyle it just has a nice warm tone with a little bit of growl in the mid range. This is a rough cut of one of my band's songs for our upcoming album... this is Spector CRFM direct into a sansamp pre (tone shaping only no gain)

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Click to expand...

Awesome bass tone Donny!!! I'd love to hear more bass in it. Love your bass riff at 1:25! :bassist: \m/
 
#169
BrentSimons said:
I feel the same way though. I can't get past the growly vocals. Have you guys checked out Scale The Summit? Really great all instrumental band. Their original bass player (Jordan Peavey Cirrus 6 player fantastic BTW) left early this year and the new bass player Mark is using a Legend 6 now and is endorsed by Spector.
Brent
Click to expand...

Yep, scale the summit is awesome. Mark gets an amazing sound out of his legend 6, and both him and their previous bassist are monster players.
 
#170
worshiprocker said:
Well first off I want to say that you should take ANYONE's opinion with a grain of salt. Because people's opinions are based on experience and what we hear in our heads... not reality most of the time. Techs/players included.

I don't agree with the assessment that the 18v mod makes the signal hotter... I have not seen this with my basses, but is headroom on the Pick Ups, not the preamp.

We are essentially running 3 preamps when we run active EMGs, pre, amp... that's crazy to think about. lol

I have run the 18v mod in my CRFM used it live and practiced with it (solo) I noticed a difference in a couple areas. The bottom end (was tighter, sounded better when doing solo work) it was a cleaner tone, less grit and growl.

I have gone back to the 9v setup with my EMG/TP setup.

I've had this talk with Omer before, some people don't have an ear for all of the little nuances. Some people plug in and play and it sounds great. Some of us hear different things and tweak forever. So I would say to the inexperienced ear you wouldn't notice. I will also say that when I tried the 18v mod I was very skeptical. Definitely worth it, not my cup o tea, but a noticeable difference especially in a band setting.

Spector must have gotten wise the 18v thing, because the old TPs couldn't handle it and then they changed it so they could.

keep in mind the TP handles the signal from the pickups different than an EMG preamp. off to see my parents run a tri. be back later...!
Click to expand...

Agreed Donny. I know my ears aren't as big as other peoples' and that there are nuances that I do and don't get because of that. What I love about the spectors is the consistency from bass to bass esp in the euros (old and new) and us basses. And also the pro series neck throughs. As long as it has Emgs in it, I can hear the Spector growl signature regardless of the preamp. The pre (depending on what it is) may clean it up or dirty it up but regardless I can still hear that I'm still listening to a Spector. So many of the guys here in the club (including you) have helped me get my ears to grow. I was a die hard Bart user forever and the change to Emgs wouldn't have happened without me discovering the Spector tone for myself. Going bankrupt and losing all of my gear for a little over a year also helped clear out the cobwebs for me, so I was more of a blank slate when I was finally able to get an instrument again. Getting my hands and ears on a Spector was a revelation for me. I'd never considered neck throughs, Emgs, or all/mostly maple construction. But it was perfect and now I'm happier than I've ever been with my tone. I also like being able to take advantage of this forum to learn. This place is a great classroom. If Chris and Patrick hadn't convinced me to check it out and participate, I would have missed a lot of opportunities to learn more about the hows, whats, and whys of these instruments and just how flexible they are. When my Wimbish neck lx comes, I'm going to intentionally sit with the tone pump for a while in order to open up my ears more. I may end up selling it off as I have the others, but now that I've had a chance to play so many different pick up and preamp combinations, I want to see if my ears have gotten broader, if that makes sense. and I still want to get a USA 9v at some point because after hearing it on a USA ns2.... Well, it's just really incredible.

And yeah, it is crazy that on a typical active EMG Spector there's 3 preamp stages before hitting the power section of the signal chain. There's lots of room for over or under cooking your signal. Unity gain becomes even more critical.
 
#171
JeffplaysBass said:
Todd sold it to me for $1200......j/k.....I think Sam is first in line from 2 months ago. You are 8th in line if I'm correct. But I think I would sell my orange Kramer and even the Black one that isn't built yet before this one. I had 3 offers this morning alone. I guess people love swimming. :D
Click to expand...

Hahaha...it's probably best for me to be further back in line anyways. Lol
 
#175
iceboxbass said:
Awesome bass tone Donny!!! I'd love to hear more bass in it. Love your bass riff at 1:25! :bassist: \m/
Click to expand...

AMEN! Donny, this is just great stuff. So up my alley. I finally feel like it's time to get back out there and try to find a gig and there's only a few folks in the Atl looking for a bassist, but if I could find a rock outfit like yours, that would be a dream. Great groove. Yum.
 
#176
worshiprocker said:
Ya Steve... I have matured with the brand. Coming from being a guitarist, sound man and band leader for a long time, I've had to relearn certain things because I was soo much one sided with my opinion.

I love every spector, regardless or electronics.
Click to expand...

One sided in what sense do you think? Just curious because I can totally relate on the relearning thing... as much bad stuff that went down in my life from 2005 - now, it was 2009-2011 (about a year and a half) of not having any way to play a bass without begging to borrow or going to a store during the week and playing for a while since it's slow and the sales guys didn't mind so much since it was usually empty during the week. But man did I get dirty looks sometimes...:hiding:
 
#177
It was more that I had used certain bass setups, guitar setups, and mixed them (i had complete control) and dialed in the tone from said instruments. I was a p bass guy with emgs and no pre.

Ive always been a "how does it sound in the band" guy and not how it sounds by itself.
 
#178
Sorry I arrived so late today.

I just got up :hiding:

I was up till 5AM practicing, it was just one of the nights where I was feeling good and fingers were moving really well :bassist:

Steve glad you brought up the question about the 18V vs 9V.

It always is an interesting discussion.

Here is the 9V vs 18V Tonepump comparison I did 6 months ago.

Tonepump at 9V
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Tonepump at 18V
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
Last edited by a moderator:
#179
worshiprocker said:
It was more that I had used certain bass setups, guitar setups, and mixed them (i had complete control) and dialed in the tone from said instruments. I was a p bass guy with emgs and no pre.

Ive always been a "how does it sound in the band" guy and not how it sounds by itself.
Click to expand...

Well you definitely have that down dude. The tracks are great.
 
#180
LimaGuy said:
Sorry I arrived so late today.

I just got up :hiding:

I was up till 5AM practicing, it was just one of the nights where I was feeling good and fingers were moving really well :bassist:

Steve glad you brought up the question about the 18V vs 9V.

It always is an interesting discussion.

Here is the 9V vs 18V Tonepump comparison I did 6 months ago.

Tonepump at 9V
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Tonepump at 18V
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Click to expand...

Okay, I can hear what Donny was saying about the 18v making the bottom tighter. But other than that, I can't tell. But again, I don't think I have the best ears. I'm far from being an audiophile, but I know what I like when I hear it... if that makes sense.

This is also why I decided to put the BQC system into this faux Forte 5 instead of the OBP-2. I want to force myself to start exploring midrange usage more instead of just always curving it out. My ears aren't going to get any bigger without work, and I think the BQC being so broad in terms of mid frequency selection that while it might prove to be frustrating at first, I need to learn more about how I can use mids to shape my tone more effectively instead of just using the amp's eq to notch stuff in or out to suit the room. I don't know if using a preamp as a learning tool is necessarily what springs to mind when I think about pre amps, but I feel like I'm lacking in knowledge in this part of creating my tone and this can be a great way to teach myself how to get comfortable with using mids to find the right place in the mix.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back