SPECTOR® Club - Part 57

[iceboxbass]

Here are some clips I made a couple of threads ago.
1. is the aggie ob2 in the red ns2a
2. is the US 9v in the ns2a prototype
3. is the tonepump in the black ns2a

https://soundcloud.com/jeremy-stephens-4/sets/ns2a-preamp-test

It's weird, I like the tone pump better than the aggie in this test. Sitting in my house here going back in forth between the two, I like the aggie better.

To my ears...the OBP 2 has fuller, bigger sounding tone yet still has grit. The 9V usa circuit a little less fuller but gritty. The tone pump sounded more empty, not as strong.

 

[worshiprocker]

I like it!

me too... good stuff!

 

[Clearwave]

Both NS2a circuits I've come across we're vol/vol.

It's interesting the Kramer era spectors are so desirable. Mr. spector wasn't involved with them that much. The SSD basses are not nearly as desire able as the kramers. I bet mr Spector was involved with every build in the SSD era.

My NS-2A's original circuit had volume/blend/bass/treble.

Unless there's a bunch of you with NS-2A models (not the Samick version) that have volume/volume versions... it is my understanding that the volume/volume preference for the imports in an SSD thing.

That the NS-2A and Kramer Haz copies should always be volume/blend.

But again, if you can get Stuart to talk about Kramer (and it is not advised, that wasn't a good time for him and he'd just as soon leave it in the past... he sincerely is a forward thinker and doesn't dwell on the past very much), he'll tell you that after he left Spector lots of strange things happened during Kramer's last days.

The NS-2As with inlays are a good example.

It makes sense that Kramer would use the Haz copy in a lot of things, Spector and non-Spector such as the actual "Kramer" branded basses.

I've seen Kramers from the end days of the company with Spector branded pups like the NS-2A had.

And the stock circuit option for the NS-2O WAS the NS-2A circuit. That's one of the other price breaks in production that allowed Kramer to offer the NS-2O at prices between the NS-2A and the full-blown version of the NS-2.

The NS-2O models were like the Forte... they had one upgrade option, the USA circuit. That was it.

Only about 1/5 of the NS-2O models made had the USA circuit added as an option.

 

[Clearwave]

Yes! Everybody says how "clean" the aggies are. my obp 2 has lots of grit.

To my ears...the OBP 2 has fuller, bigger sounding tone yet still has grit. The 9V usa circuit a little less fuller but gritty. The tone pump sounded more empty, not as strong.

 

[Rockin Mike]

It's a first-gen Legend... what is now called the Legend Classic. It was often married with a Bubinga Top. But some came with figured maple tops.

The circuit is a but of a mystery. That should have a standard 4 pot setup like the current Legends. Someone must have upgraded it.

The set-neck Legend Custom came with a special EMG 3-band circuit made just for Spector. It had a stacked pot so oddly, it may have one of those circuits. It's obviously a bolt-on.

So it's not a Legend Custom.

$300 is a good deal in my opinion. It looks pretty good from the photos.

Also... Jacksonville (or as Lex and Terry called it, "Freakville"). LOL. I used to go down to Jax on occasion for business. I lived in Savannah, GA for 25 years.

I've also spent some time at Mayport and Jax NAS... I've had several good friends who were Navy and I'd go down and party with them, back when I was young and stupid.

Partying with Navy is rough sometimes. The Rangers were more tame, believe it or not.

Well hey I'm just down the road from Mayport. If you're ever in Jax let's get a coffee or something.

 

[worshiprocker]

Both NS2a circuits I've come across we're vol/vol.

It's interesting the Kramer era spectors are so desirable. Mr. spector wasn't involved with them that much. The SSD basses are not nearly as desire able as the kramers. I bet mr Spector was involved with every build in the SSD era.

I feel that the Kramer era basses are so popular because of the neck profile and older components used in the 9v pre. I know I prefer a thinner (front to back) neck profile

 

[connected2aj]

Yes! Everybody says how "clean" the aggies are. my obp 2 has lots of grit.

I will say that the OBP-2 is cleaner than the US tone circuit, but is very close. I compared the 2 last week at a gig & right now I'm loving the OBP-2. The 9V will always be my fave though. Both are great pres & I love having different colors in my palette.

 

[cjmodulus]

me too... good stuff!

Thanks Donny!

I will say that the OBP-2 is cleaner than the US tone circuit, but is very close. I compared the 2 last week at a gig & right now I'm loving the OBP-2. The 9V will always be my fave though. Both are great pres & I love having different colors in my palette.

I'm really wanting to try out the OBP-2 now. I think I might put one in my legend 5 when I've got the funds. Since I already know I'm not parting with it I won't feel bad modding it.

 

[ynot12]

Yes! Everybody says how "clean" the aggies are. my obp 2 has lots of grit.

I actually use my CRFM with OBP-2 as my detuned bass. Whole lot of Rex riffs and plenty of grit!

 

[iceboxbass]

Hi All,
Well my Spalted Wimbish showed up today (a day early) and I am at a loss for words about how awesome this Euro is!

I'm late in the know here (only by 11 pages ) but a Big congratulations on your gorgeous Spalted maple Euro and welcome to the Spector family!!!

 

[PhatBasstard]

Both NS2a circuits I've come across we're vol/vol.

FWIW, all three of my NS2A's were volume/blend.

 

[JPSBassist]

It's interesting the Kramer era spectors are so desirable. Mr. spector wasn't involved with them that much. The SSD basses are not nearly as desire able as the kramers. I bet mr Spector was involved with every build in the SSD era.

Well... it's sort of an interesting reality of the guitar/bass making business.

The first Spectors from 1974-1975 were made by Stuart. Then Alan Charney, a friend of Stuart's from the Brooklyn Woodworker's Cooperative, joined him and they formed Spector Guitar Company.

Alan and Stuart would work side-by-side, day in and day out until the sale of Spector Guitar Company to Kramer in late 1985.

In the first decade of Spector, Stuart and Alan worked together; all the Brooklyn Spectors have BOTH Stuart and Alan's mark on them.

As things towards the end of the Brooklyn Era started getting busy, artists, dealers, etc... Stuart was spending more and more time running the company as Alan continued to build guitars.

When the Kramer deal was inked, Stuart didn't want to move to NJ and he wasn't interested in a 5 day a week commute. Alan didn't mind.

So of the Kramer Era Spectors... really the two guys who had ALWAYS been Spector, Stuart and Alan, were there for every build. Alan was there full-time, Stuart there 3 days a week. So Kramer models are no less "Spectors" than the Brooklyn Era models. Towards the end of the Brooklyn Era it was pretty much the same setup... Stuart had a couple a days a week of phone calls, meetings, talking to artists, etc...

What's so cool about the Kramer Era was the willingness of Stuart to experiment. Kramer was catering to some of the most famous bassists on the planet. And they wanted new and "different" things.

From Ian Hill's skinny neck NS-2 to Doug Wimbish's Jazz nut Spector... to the creation of a real in-production 5-string. A lot of cool things were born during the Kramer Era.

Kramer had in-house finishing, so Stuart and Alan didn't have to send things out to get finished (they figured out pretty early on in Brooklyn how toxic a small space could get when you had to do lacquer finishes).

And still, where the USA Spectors were concerned, nothing left Kramer without both Stuart and Alan inspecting it.

The SSD Era was cool because the first year of production Stuart was pretty much working by himself. So if you want a Spector made by Stuart (the way Mike Tobias works) then you look for an SD-4 or SD-5. Those are pretty much the only basses except for very early Spector (which PJ Rubal owns most all of them) that would be built by Stuart and Stuart alone.

By the end of 1993 Stuart had hired employees to work with him. One of those people is a man named Jim Quick who STILL works at Spector today and Stuart's right arm when it comes to the physical building of the basses. If Stuart is out sick or at NAMM or on vacation, production continues and Jim Q and Jimmy Eppard (who does the electronics and final setups) keep things moving. Jimmy Eppard has been there going on 15 years.

The main people helping Stuart build Spectors today have been there no less than 10 or so years.

And they work like a well-tuned machine.

The ONLY way for Stuart to have kept Spector in a place where he built everything would have been if he had gone through with his original plan after Kramer to just work in his garage alone and built 5-7 (max) basses a month.

The bottom line is that Stuart is hands-on with supervising everything that goes on, regardless what Era we are talking about. The trick is that he's always been smart and hired talented people to work with him to spread out the duties so things are more consistent and workflow is better. There are in reality, very few Spector basses that were 100% made by Stuart beginning to end.

 

[Basstovsky]

Hm, I have a spare NS-2A preamp awaiting my next Spector bass (vol-vol) and I wonder if it would be possible to modify the board to accept a blend pot, seeing as there were some with blend and some not...I'll have to compare my vol-blend pot preamp with my vol-vol.

 

[JPSBassist]

FWIW, all three of my NS2A's were volume/blend.

So perhaps there were more than one type made by Kramer. But like Phat's, mine had the volume/blend.

I know Sam has had a few NS-2As... I think he's doing family stuff right now. But hopefully later he can chime in on what the setup in the circuits he's owned were.

 

[brotherbassj]

For the Record, the three different NS2a's that have gone through my hands in the last year were all V/V/B/T

Correction-Two of the three, the other had EMG X series pickups and BT with exb expander cicuit........oops.

 

[Mr.Bassie720]

Mr.Bassie....DROOLS.... over here for that Dougy Refinish,BEST top end refinished jobs if I may say,WOW!!!

Thanks the color is a variation on Spector's candy tangerine. Without the metallic, of course, and in a transparent finish.

 

[brotherbassj]

Thanks the color is a variation on Spector's candy tangerine. Without the metallic, of course, and in a transparent finish.

And a GLORIOUS job if i might say so myself!

 

[superdick2112]

Thanks the color is a variation on Spector's candy tangerine. Without the metallic, of course, and in a transparent finish.

Looking forward to your next re-finish project with great anticipation.

 

[Mr.Bassie720]

Well... it's sort of an interesting reality of the guitar/bass making business.

The first Spectors from 1974-1975 were made by Stuart. Then Alan Charney, a friend of Stuart's from the Brooklyn Woodworker's Cooperative, joined him and they formed Spector Guitar Company.

Alan and Stuart would work side-by-side, day in and day out until the sale of Spector Guitar Company to Kramer in late 1985.

In the first decade of Spector, Stuart and Alan worked together; all the Brooklyn Spectors have BOTH Stuart and Alan's mark on them.

As things towards the end of the Brooklyn Era started getting busy, artists, dealers, etc... Stuart was spending more and more time running the company as Alan continued to build guitars.

When the Kramer deal was inked, Stuart didn't want to move to NJ and he wasn't interested in a 5 day a week commute. Alan didn't mind.

So of the Kramer Era Spectors... really the two guys who had ALWAYS been Spector, Stuart and Alan, were there for every build. Alan was there full-time, Stuart there 3 days a week. So Kramer models are no less "Spectors" than the Brooklyn Era models. Towards the end of the Brooklyn Era it was pretty much the same setup... Stuart had a couple a days a week of phone calls, meetings, talking to artists, etc...

What's so cool about the Kramer Era was the willingness of Stuart to experiment. Kramer was catering to some of the most famous bassists on the planet. And they wanted new and "different" things.

From Ian Hill's skinny neck NS-2 to Doug Wimbish's Jazz nut Spector... to the creation of a real in-production 5-string. A lot of cool things were born during the Kramer Era.

Kramer had in-house finishing, so Stuart and Alan didn't have to send things out to get finished (they figured out pretty early on in Brooklyn how toxic a small space could get when you had to do lacquer finishes).

And still, where the USA Spectors were concerned, nothing left Kramer without both Stuart and Alan inspecting it.

The SSD Era was cool because the first year of production Stuart was pretty much working by himself. So if you want a Spector made by Stuart (the way Mike Tobias works) then you look for an SD-4 or SD-5. Those are pretty much the only basses except for very early Spector (which PJ Rubal owns most all of them) that would be built by Stuart and Stuart alone.

By the end of 1993 Stuart had hired employees to work with him. One of those people is a man named Jim Quick who STILL works at Spector today and Stuart's right arm when it comes to the physical building of the basses. If Stuart is out sick or at NAMM or on vacation, production continues and Jim Q and Jimmy Eppard (who does the electronics and final setups) keep things moving. Jimmy Eppard has been there going on 15 years.

The main people helping Stuart build Spectors today have been there no less than 10 or so years.

And they work like a well-tuned machine.

The ONLY way for Stuart to have kept Spector in a place where he built everything would have been if he had gone through with his original plan after Kramer to just work in his garage alone and built 5-7 (max) basses a month.

The bottom line is that Stuart is hands-on with supervising everything that goes on, regardless what Era we are talking about. The trick is that he's always been smart and hired talented people to work with him to spread out the duties so things are more consistent and workflow is better. There are in reality, very few Spector basses that were 100% made by Stuart beginning to end.

I, like many, am really looking forward to the documentary you are making.

 

[Mr.Bassie720]

And a GLORIOUS job if i might say so myself!

Looking forward to your next re-finish project with great anticipation.

Thanks y'all. I can't take the credit for any of it. I get high with a little help from my friends. Like Rich, who, very generously, sent me a USA bridge for the project currently in the works, and the rest of you guys who I bounce ideas off, and harass for advise.