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SPECTOR® Owners Club

#75,241
sonojono said:
This is going to be a silly question as I'm still fairly new to Spector basses but.... Is there any way how to tame the aggressive nature of a Spector Euro 4 bass?

Last night I had it set up with a new set of GHS Roundcore Boomers while noticing my Euro4 was producing a growly yet crunchy register wherever I fret a note. It could honestly be the new strings as the ones before it was also giving off those characteristics I described but less crunchy (dont know exactly what strings were on the bass before when I bought it from the owner). Or the setup my local luthier did which I will be heading back to later today.

While I'm wanting a more warm/smooth tone out of my Euro4 I am damned well sure a Spector can produce just that but, I would like to know some ways on how you guys do it. I did fiddle around the bass and treble knobs having them previously both on at FULL 100% so I am fully aware of where that leads to in tone. Right now my settings for both bass/treble is about 20% Treble. 50% Bass. While on these current settings, I still get that growly register but now with some grunt.

Now for the specs of the Euro4:

PJ EMG active pickups
Korean HAZLab electronics

Vol/Blend/Bass/Treble

Excuse the lame picture angle.

EDIT: And yes I am fully aware of EMG's and what they do before anyone flames me for it. I own a couple basses with EMG HB's and X's and they give me that warm tone no problem.

View attachment 3550590
View attachment 3550592
Click to expand...
Don't try to fight the inherent nature of a bass. You will always lose.
Lower the pickups a hair, maybe raise your action, and check your neck relief. Any of those will alter your articulation.
DO NOT USE FLATS. They will come take your bass away from you.
 
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#75,242
sonojono said:
This is going to be a silly question as I'm still fairly new to Spector basses but.... Is there any way how to tame the aggressive nature of a Spector Euro 4 bass?

Last night I had it set up with a new set of GHS Roundcore Boomers while noticing my Euro4 was producing a growly yet crunchy register wherever I fret a note. It could honestly be the new strings as the ones before it was also giving off those characteristics I described but less crunchy (dont know exactly what strings were on the bass before when I bought it from the owner). Or the setup my local luthier did which I will be heading back to later today.

While I'm wanting a more warm/smooth tone out of my Euro4 I am damned well sure a Spector can produce just that but, I would like to know some ways on how you guys do it. I did fiddle around the bass and treble knobs having them previously both on at FULL 100% so I am fully aware of where that leads to in tone. Right now my settings for both bass/treble is about 20% Treble. 50% Bass. While on these current settings, I still get that growly register but now with some grunt.

Now for the specs of the Euro4:

PJ EMG active pickups
Korean HAZLab electronics

Vol/Blend/Bass/Treble

Excuse the lame picture angle.

EDIT: And yes I am fully aware of EMG's and what they do before anyone flames me for it. I own a couple basses with EMG HB's and X's and they give me that warm tone no problem.

View attachment 3550590
View attachment 3550592
Click to expand...
I know how you feel. In my situation, I didnt buy a Spector because I was seeking a Spector tone. I just knew I didnt want a run of the mill bass that everyone had, I heard of the Spector brand and I found an NS-4 for about a quarter of retail price.

It was great for many years but as my music playing changed I need something more mellow. Iniitially I ran more on the neck pickup, bass in the middle, and cut the treble. After that I switched to nickle strings (DR Pure Blues). That gave a little more flexibility for the EQ.
Eventually I bought a Forte with passive Aguilar pickups.
I will probably get Barts in my next bass.
 
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#75,243
Ok, I'm thoroughly perplexed so I've been using my Euro Lx with a Hazlab pre and Bartoloni pickups in my band. And this band tunes to drop C bring
CGCF, and my low C always sounds well flat and dead. No life no punch. I've used steel and nickel strings. I've had the bass set up. But still that damned string sounds dead. I'm considering putting the EMG Geezer pups in it. The reason being that I've heard they have a great mid range punch. Am I wastifn money going this route or am I just missing something all together ?
 
#75,245
May I ask what gauge of strings do you use?I've had great success tuning down to drop C with D'Addario ProSteels 45-105. I find thicker makes the tone more round with less punch. I also set it up for just a little bit of string buzz when I dig in.

Also, how do you set your preamp on the bass? Turn all up or just flavouring?

kev451 said:
Ok, I'm thoroughly perplexed so I've been using my Euro Lx with a Hazlab pre and Bartoloni pickups in my band. And this band tunes to drop C bring
CGCF, and my low C always sounds well flat and dead. No life no punch. I've used steel and nickel strings. I've had the bass set up. But still that damned string sounds dead. I'm considering putting the EMG Geezer pups in it. The reason being that I've heard they have a great mid range punch. Am I wastifn money going this route or am I just missing something all together ?
Click to expand...
 
#75,246
If I could I would replace my PJ EMG's for bartolinis although if I do go that route I'm not sure if I'll still be satisfied given the true nature of my Euro 4. Thank you everyone for your suggestions though! I did go back to my luthier for him to lower the pickup height a bit and sounded a tad better than it did before.

I still get that growly definition but not as overly harsh (reaching crunch territory) as they were before. I will be trying some flats as I'm not opposed to the idea and am very open minded!!
 
#75,247
locisbrelm said:
May I ask what gauge of strings do you use?I've had great success tuning down to drop C with D'Addario ProSteels 45-105. I find thicker makes the tone more round with less punch. I also set it up for just a little bit of string buzz when I dig in.

Also, how do you set your preamp on the bass? Turn all up or just flavouring?
Click to expand...
I'm using 50s, 50% bass about the same for treble
 
#75,248
socialleper said:
Don't try to fight the inherent nature of a bass. You will always lose.
Lower the pickups a hair, maybe raise your action, and check your neck relief. Any of those will alter your articulation.
DO NOT USE FLATS. They will come take your bass away from you.
Click to expand...

^ This X 1000. Half rounds might be a good comprise though. We don't take away your Spector for that. Perhaps just a sideways glance in your direction! :D
 
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#75,253
Can't decide which one I want to get. More interested in passive pickups as I found the EMG's too clean. This would be for a Spector bass.

Wasn't sure if any Spector experts here would think it's worth the cost for a Spector with passive duncan basslines?
 
#75,254
Rnr..........4 said:
Can't decide which one I want to get. More interested in passive pickups as I found the EMG's too clean. This would be for a Spector bass.

Wasn't sure if any Spector experts here would think it's worth the cost for a Spector with passive duncan basslines?
Click to expand...

I haven't used basslines in a spector... I did do a spector where it was wired so passive was default, and active was pull.

You can do any configuration you want. That is the beauty of USA basses.
 
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#75,258
SLaPiNFuNK said:
Excellent! They were Aguilar Super doubles and sound best passive to me. Super Singles do as well. One of the reasons I like using something that allows for passive tone control like the OBP2.
Click to expand...
Same. All my recent Forte basses were ordered with passive Aguilar pickups and I tend to run the preamp bypassed so all passive. Sounds great and still lots of growl.
 
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#75,259
Rnr..........4 said:
Well I'm looking at a Spector NS2A with Basslines (passive) and no active EQ. Just curious if you can get that Spector growl still unless that's just the EQ thingy.
Click to expand...
If you're looking for the growl in passive, have a look at EMG GZR neck pickup plus Dimarzio Model J in the bridge. You'll never want anything else . I had this pickup combo in my Forte4 and it was the best sounding Spector I ever owned and I owned quite a lot...the best bass in a dense mix, always sits right in s mix. I only sold it cause I fully switched to 5ers.
 
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#75,260
SLaPiNFuNK said:
Excellent! They were Aguilar Super doubles and sound best passive to me. Super Singles do as well. One of the reasons I like using something that allows for passive tone control like the OBP2.
Click to expand...
This is great advice! Super Doubles in my Forte that I run passive a lot. Came with the OBP-2. If I had it over again I would probably get the OBP-3 instead. But I think I am going to go to the Darkglass.
 
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