SPECTOR® Club - Part 62

[Fat240]

I have a black bridge on my rebop and notice that the strings and small nic's in the finish have taken away from the looks of it over time. I was thinking of getting the black chrome plating on it. That would be cool. I have a chrome USA bridge I was going to put on the bass I am refinishing becaues that WAS going to be trans black, but it is now going to be a oil finish so I think the gold will look better than the chrome and the chrome will go on one of my white Brooklyns.

 

[sumgruuvz]

I'm in with NBD.... Ice is an awesome guy to do a trade with... I plugged her in for a minute and it sounds great... no offense to Ice but I gotta get some new strings on it. But he sent some strings specifically to do that! awesome looking bass, its comfy and plays nice....
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never received a bass with my own band's sticker on the case... AWESOME
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sweet donny!!

 

[iceboxbass]

Hey Spector club folks! I would like to join the fold sometime this year. I have insane gas right now. Thinking about a Forte 5 or maybe a USA bolt-on 5.

- If you have one or the other, can you generally describe the neck profile?

- Can someone give a rundown on the preamps: Aguilar vs Spector, 9v vs 18v, what are your preferences?

Meanwhile I'm going to start skimming the archives. Lots of reading to do.

Hi! I had owned a Forte 5 last year...awesome bass! The neck profile was a D shape, not fat but quite thinner compared to some Euro's and Korean made Spector 5 strings I've owned. The pre was the Aguilar OBP 3, three band, LOVE it! I modded it to 18V, can be dialed in any where from clear to dirty. The String to fingerboard action was crazy low and FAST. Only sold it to pay for my Coda 5XL Deluxe, bolt-on neck.
The Coda 5XL Deluxe neck is retro to the Fender 60's jazz bass...thinnest (front to back) 5 string neck I've played to date, very flat, very very low string action and super duper fast player. The pre is the Aguilar OBP 2 @18V, clean clear tones to gritty dirty, I LOVE the Aguilar pres, with the OBP 3 as my favorite because of the mids control.
A year ago I would've sworn to you that I was a "Neck-thru" bass only, for life...but after having my USA Coda 5XL DLX for 7 months now...I believe the USA Spector bolt-on's are way ignored and best value in the USA Spectors. You won't go wrong with ANY of the Spector basses or electric guitars.
As for preamps...I've played the TonePump Jr., TonePump without trim, TonePump with trim, BT circuits, Korean 9V Haz Copy, Aguilar OBP 2, Aguilar OBP 3...but not the Spector USA 9V circuit or 18V circuit. So far the Aguilar OBP 3 is my favorite because of the mids control and at 18V it comes sooooo close to the tone of the Spector USA 9V circuit at half the cost. Hope this helps you out some.
Welcome to our humble but FUN & AWESOME family here. Enjoy the vast reading and Spector Porn! If there's any questions just ask and it'll be answered in a timely manner by some very knowledgeable cool brothers/sisters on here, most of the time. Peace

 

[AdamR]

It was 110 here when I went to get lunch

But iits a dry heat !

 

[delucajohn2000]

yup, he also sent a set of Spector Nickels, which are a big improvement for me. the flats feel cool, but not the tone in my head.

So the sound of dead strings is not the tone you have in your head?

 

[delucajohn2000]

Oh yeah, in.

 

[worshiprocker]

So the sound of dead strings is not the tone you have in your head?

dead on.... lol I could see a scenario needing or wanting that sound, but not for me.. you crack me up man!

 

[e.rich]

Black & White...CLASSY Here's an example of a silver bridge on a Euro.

Confirmed w/PJ that the chrome Euro bridges were only done for the 30 piece run of Sting LTDs. So unless I sneak into jnumme's house when he's at work and pull a covert swap, there will not be chrome in my future...

 

[worshiprocker]

Confirmed w/PJ that the chrome Euro bridges were only done for the 30 piece run of Sting LTDs. So unless I sneak into jnumme's house when he's at work and pull a covert swap, there will not be chrome in my future...

Talk to Mr Bassie aka Joe aka Ho he has a guy that can chrome it out...

 

[LagBox]

Hey Spector Club!

I've been playing ~8 months and for the last two of them I've had my white NS2A. When I got it, the pre had been removed and it was cheaply rewired with only volume and balance pots. (Yes, there were just two holes in it! Ebay, man!)

I was a little annoyed, but I'd bought it and now I had two thirds of a very solid and capable bass.

Now it has EMG pickups and an EMG BTS pre. That's 4 (Four! IV! Quatro!) WORKING pots! Try that with your Fender P! I'm really happy with the versatility, even though I'm still not able to play anything people would actually want to hear. I like to think that the NS2A is growing and improving with me (but I have more work to do!)

Now I'd love to say that my bass has 99 problems but a finish ain't one, but it is. The previous owner(s) had given it a nearly solid coat of stickers, which has left a really interesting inconsistency in the white. I'm not sure what kind of paint is used (nitro?), but it's yellowed everywhere but where the stickers were. I can make out 'N' and 'A' shapes in the finish.

Since my NS2A is the most enjoyable ongoing DIY thing I've ever done, I'd like to refinish it someday. What color do you guys think would look good? I could always just do white again, and I don't know what the grain looks like.

 

[iceboxbass]

I'm in with NBD.... Ice is an awesome guy to do a trade with... I plugged her in for a minute and it sounds great... no offense to Ice but I gotta get some new strings on it. But he sent some strings specifically to do that! awesome looking bass, its comfy and plays nice....
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never received a bass with my own band's sticker on the case... AWESOME
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Fantastic! I'm so relieved that you got it and in one piece. And you're enjoying her. I had to figure out some way to unload all of these round wounds...and I know you'd use them and thought you'd get a kick out of seeing your bands sticker on the HSC

 

[Joelc73]

Thought I'd pass along where we stand on the issue of what color hardware we all think looks best with the new color UltraViolet combined with an ebony fingerboard.
There have been 23 responses to the question...

Black - 10
Chrome - 8
Gold - 5

Those of you who gave more than one answer I only entered your #1 choice. I want to thank everyone who responded and let you know I really appreciate your input here. Looks like I need to make up my mind soon if I want a chance to get this bass before the end of the year.

For me it's a choice between black (which was my first inclination) and chrome. Not that gold isn't good too, but the vast majority of USA Spectors have gold hardware and I want this one to be different.

I've put together one last pic, this time showing the same bass in a more standard setting (Stuart's Office). The Photoshop work is not as good but you get the idea. I'm only showing the black and chrome. Feel free to give further opinions.

You guys ROCK!!

Add another vote for gold. The gold just works with the elegance of the quilt and purple.

 

[JPSBassist]

I am in no way "farming out" this decision. I already knew I wanted the ultraviolet stain, ebony FB, shaved neck, etc... The only choice I wavered on was the hardware. So I created some PS images to help me decide and in turn thought I'd throw them out just to see what the guys thought and have a little fun. I know you're just trying to help. It's cool.

No worries. Like I said, if this is just for fun, then let the games continue.

I'll always try to be the balanced voice of reason. It's in my nature.

 

[Fat240]

Confirmed w/PJ that the chrome Euro bridges were only done for the 30 piece run of Sting LTDs. So unless I sneak into jnumme's house when he's at work and pull a covert swap, there will not be chrome in my future...

When they were making the LE's I asked PJ about a Wimbish neck with the chrome hardware and he said the the bridges were limited runs and I could special order a solid maple Euro with Wimbish neck but couldn't do the chrome hardware or the 1.5 nut on the LE's.

 

[JPSBassist]

I am pretty sure Photoshop was not used in this photo.

Funny... this was just a crappy cell-phone photo... but it's real. The little lady (being a size 1) getting tired of even the "small" Spector T-Shirts swallowing her.

So we picked out a T-Shirt (made for girls) she liked and took it to the same local shop that did my NAMM Show T-Shirts from two years ago...

It just says Spector across the front. Nothing on the back.

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[iceboxbass]

ur gonna love ur ipad for doing music, I gig with it everyday, for reading lyrics, triggering samples or just playing the occasional rhodes chords thru an external controller, it's gonna change ur approach to music 100%! and of course, not to mention the countless practice tools you can have with it, i just dont plug my bass into an amp anymore to learn new songs for my band, just got the right cable, headphones, and I do everything on the go with my ipad...

hope i can see u playing that beauty on a video soon man!

Thank! Appreciate the awesome advice. I just sold a Generation 3 iPad that I bought Mar. 2012, had it loaded with GarageBand and all sorts of music apps and tools...bought an interface by Alesis that you slide your iPad into, keeps it charged and all but hadn't sat still long enough to mess with it. Plus I ran out of hard drive space with 32GB. I needed the 4G LTE model as there isn't any broadband Internet in our neighborhood. Any pointers will be much appreciated. Enlighten me!

 

[Clearwave]

Hey Spector Club!

I've been playing ~8 months and for the last two of them I've had my white NS2A. When I got it, the pre had been removed and it was cheaply rewired with only volume and balance pots. (Yes, there were just two holes in it! Ebay, man!)

I was a little annoyed, but I'd bought it and now I had two thirds of a very solid and capable bass.

Now it has EMG pickups and an EMG BTS pre. That's 4 (Four! IV! Quatro!) WORKING pots! Try that with your Fender P! I'm really happy with the versatility, even though I'm still not able to play anything people would actually want to hear. I like to think that the NS2A is growing and improving with me (but I have more work to do!)

Now I'd love to say that my bass has 99 problems but a finish ain't one, but it is. The previous owner(s) had given it a nearly solid coat of stickers, which has left a really interesting inconsistency in the white. I'm not sure what kind of paint is used (nitro?), but it's yellowed everywhere but where the stickers were. I can make out 'N' and 'A' shapes in the finish.

Since my NS2A is the most enjoyable ongoing DIY thing I've ever done, I'd like to refinish it someday. What color do you guys think would look good? I could always just do white again, and I don't know what the grain looks like.

This looks good.

 

[Clearwave]

Thought I'd pass along where we stand on the issue of what color hardware we all think looks best with the new color UltraViolet combined with an ebony fingerboard.
There have been 23 responses to the question...

Black - 10
Chrome - 8
Gold - 5

Those of you who gave more than one answer I only entered your #1 choice. I want to thank everyone who responded and let you know I really appreciate your input here. Looks like I need to make up my mind soon if I want a chance to get this bass before the end of the year.

For me it's a choice between black (which was my first inclination) and chrome. Not that gold isn't good too, but the vast majority of USA Spectors have gold hardware and I want this one to be different.

I've put together one last pic, this time showing the same bass in a more standard setting (Stuart's Office). The Photoshop work is not as good but you get the idea. I'm only showing the black and chrome. Feel free to give further opinions.

You guys ROCK!!

Remember to consider how the tuners will look. I think chrome tuners look great because they match the Spector Logo on the headstock. I vote chrome.

 

[marchone]

My assumption all along was that tuners would match the bridge. Is that not the case?

 

[Clearwave]

My assumption all along was that tuners would match the bridge. Is that not the case?

Yes, The tuners will match the bridge. My thinking is; a black bridge may look cool on the body but black tuners might make the headstock look a little dull.