SPECTOR® Club - Part 56

[e.rich]

If anyone's interested, Bass Central has a few cool NAMM Show Spectors on their "new arrivals" page.

My favorite is the RX-T in the Coral Reef finish, w/BEM fingerboard. Stunning...
While I do like Rex, I think I'd have to remove the sharpie autograph from the body.

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Or in case you have several grand burning a hole in your pocket, you could give Todd a call at Guitar House. The purple NAMM bass was up there a few days ago but seems to have gone missing

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[superdick2112]

Or in case you have several grand burning a hole in your pocket, you could give Todd a call at Guitar House. The purple NAMM bass was up there a few days ago but seems to have gone missing

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Ohhh... My... Slobber slobber, drool drool...

I wonder if he mis-labled the color? It looks more like peacock than bahame blue.

 

[e.rich]

Agreed. I want to go swimming in those wings...

 

[JeffplaysBass]

A OBP3 will give you a great tonal range for sure, but I think it may be too clean for your genre's that you mentioned. Better fitting would be USA 9V circuit but of course nobody can get a new one, or the USA 18V, the OBP2 especially boosted to 18V would work also to give you some grit. My 2cents

Hahahahahah......

 

[GBassNorth]

A OBP3 will give you a great tonal range for sure, but I think it may be too clean for your genre's that you mentioned. Better fitting would be USA 9V circuit but of course nobody can get a new one, or the USA 18V, the OBP2 especially boosted to 18V would work also to give you some grit. My 2cents

The OBP-2 or 3 at 18 is the plan unless I get some really other interesting ideas. I'm sure the Aggie will meet my needs.

 

[JeffplaysBass]

18Volts??

 

[GBassNorth]

Radical change.....preamp......speak to mr bassie about this one......Delano pickups and an ACG filter preamp.......that would be a start in experimenting with tone. Go to bestbassgear.com and read up on that ACG preamp....it's a different concept of pre. The only one I know that has real experience with it is brother Ho!

I've used the Delano pickups in a different bass build a couple of years back and liked them a lot. The AGC preamp is a unique beast but similar in concept to my Alembic basses with the filter to control tone. It's a concept that works well when it comes to quickly shaping the tone. I also have several of John Easts preamps (AGC uses John to build the preamps to their spec) some of which he custom built to my specs and they all sound great but are very smooth. I suspect the AGC would be similar. Would love to hear from someone who has tried one on a P/J configuration.

 

[GBassNorth]

Well, since I have the USA 9v, USA 18v, Tonepump & EMG preamps covered, I would have to go with a Bartolini P/J & Bartolini preamp setup.
I was planning on a USA 9v to replace the EMG pre in my CRFM, but since I scored the NS-2, I may just end up going the Bartolini route instead.
Gonna be a while though - the 'ol credit card still smoking from the NS-2 purchase....

I have a Bart P/J and preamp setup in my Pedulla and that thing sounds beautiful. I think Pedulla has the pickups and preamp special made for them so I don't know if I could match that tone or not. But it is one of my favorite bass tones. All the Bart pickups I've owned or played have been relatively dark sounding so that would be an interesting departure from the hifi EMG pickups.

 

[GBassNorth]

I plan on doing this at some point to either a Euro or Forte...I really want to try the Victor Wooten EMG P/J set with either an OBP-3 or Pope Flexcore. The flexcore would probably be a bit tame for your needs as it seems better suited for jazz/funk etc, but the OBP-3 can go from tame and smooth to a growling beast with just a turn of a knob or two...especially at 18v!

That Pope Flexcore looks like a Swiss Army knife. I've looked at their literature a dozen times and still haven't been able to figure out what options I would need to get it down to a 4 knob and no toggle switch layout. Very confusing but I'm sure sounds great.

 

[brotherbassj]

I've used the Delano pickups in a different bass build a couple of years back and liked them a lot. The AGC preamp is a unique beast but similar in concept to my Alembic basses with the filter to control tone. It's a concept that works well when it comes to quickly shaping the tone. I also have several of John Easts preamps (AGC uses John to build the preamps to their spec) some of which he custom built to my specs and they all sound great but are very smooth. I suspect the AGC would be similar. Would love to hear from someone who has tried one on a P/J configuration.

Talk to Ho Gonzalez.....his screen name is mrbassie720

 

[GBassNorth]

18Volts??

I think the Aggies are compatible with an 18 volt feed. I don't know it that really makes any actual difference in sound since I haven't tried it yet. Typically all the increased voltage does is give more headroom for a cleaner sound, at least that what it does on all my East preamps. I've read differing experiences here so I had planned to try it first with my NS-2J. Is that a bad idea?

 

[GBassNorth]

Talk to Ho Gonzalez.....his screen name is mrbassie720

Will do, thanks.

 

[GBassNorth]

For some reason, that bass doesn't do much for me.

Toothpaste will take that sharpie right off. Look how crooked that bridge is. Whats the deal with that?....on a 5k bass.

Probably happened in shipping.

Besides the signature (which would have been cooler if it was on the back of the headstock) the crooked bridge was the first thing I noticed. It might just be the angle of the shot or a shadow but it sure looks outawack to me.

 

[delucajohn2000]

In my experience, bringing a pre up to 18V makes it cleaner so by bringing an OBP-2 from 9V to 18V would clean it up I would think. But hey, what do I know?

 

[cableguy]

Hi All,
Well I'm up to 10 coats of tung oil on the Legend and its looking good but I will continue till I get 15 coats on it. The top still needs a bit more of an even layer and sheen. Its been a fun project but I wont miss going out on the patio everyday putting on another coat of oil. Its very tedious and I now know why Spector prefers not to do tung-oil as a regular finish option.

Looks awesome!!!

I have a Legend 5 I'm thinking about refinishing. What did you use to strip off the old finish?

 

[5string_phunk]

That Pope Flexcore looks like a Swiss Army knife. I've looked at their literature a dozen times and still haven't been able to figure out what options I would need to get it down to a 4 knob and no toggle switch layout. Very confusing but I'm sure sounds great.

I agree! There are SO many options on the Flexcore that it would be difficult to add it to a Spector without drilling some holes for the new switches etc.

Eventually I want to find a used CRFM or Forte to refinish and mod!

 

[e.rich]

In my experience, bringing a pre up to 18V makes it cleaner so by bringing an OBP-2 from 9V to 18V would clean it up I would think. But hey, what do I know?

+1. The 18v mod on the aggie pre's gives more headroom. Sounds good too.

 

[5string_phunk]

Besides the signature (which would have been cooler if it was on the back of the headstock) the crooked bridge was the first thing I noticed. It might just be the angle of the shot or a shadow but it sure looks outawack to me.

indeed! The signature across the front is a bit lame, probably because I'm not really a Rex/Pantera fan , but the crooked bridge is unacceptable at that pricetag. :scowl:

 

[delucajohn2000]

indeed! The signature across the front is a bit lame, probably because I'm not really a Rex/Pantera fan , but the crooked bridge is unacceptable at that pricetag. :scowl:

I am a Rex/Pantera fan and I still think that signature is a bit lame I will probably get ripped apart for this too but I am just not a fan of the shape of that bass either. He had an ESP one that was similar but had a reverse in-line headstock and I wasn't really a fan of that one either. I guess I just don't like e tele body but it's obvious a personal opinion.

 

[bunkaroo]

I am a Rex/Pantera fan and I still think that signature is a bit lame I will probably get ripped apart for this too but I am just not a fan of the shape of that bass either. He had an ESP one that was similar but had a reverse in-line headstock and I wasn't really a fan of that one either. I guess I just don't like e tele body but it's obvious a personal opinion.

I've always hated the tele shape. The Spector look makes it tolerable, but it can't hold a candle to the NS-2 shape.