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SPECTOR® Owners Club

#90,802
songwriter21 said:
I've had both...EMG/TP (adjustable trimpot version) blows the Bart/DG combo out of the water. Granted, the TP isn't the U.S. Haz pre, but a pretty close, affordable imitation (why it was made). The Bart/DG setup sounds thin, um...glassy/shrill, and wimpy, compared to the EMG/TP setup. The latter has balls like a Spector should, but the former does not. I sent back a beautiful blue-fade LT5, because I thought it sounded like utter crap. It did not sound like a growly Spector, but my white Euro 5lx with the EMG/TP setup was appropriately gnarly.
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Interesting. I actually really dig the barra ans dg in my euro because its very clean and thick sounding. I actually tried multiple LTs with the same pickups at the store when I got mine and the one I got was the best sounding to my ears, so I'm not sure what to chalk it up to.

But yeah, my experience with the dg and barts has been really good and so far its been the best sounding bass I've owned. Now I run it thru 3 pedals and it sounds super nice.
 
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#90,803
songwriter21 said:
I've had both...EMG/TP (adjustable trimpot version) blows the Bart/DG combo out of the water. Granted, the TP isn't the U.S. Haz pre, but a pretty close, affordable imitation (why it was made). The Bart/DG setup sounds thin, um...glassy/shrill, and wimpy, compared to the EMG/TP setup. The latter has balls like a Spector should, but the former does not. I sent back a beautiful blue-fade LT5, because I thought it sounded like utter crap. It did not sound like a growly Spector, but my white Euro 5lx with the EMG/TP setup was appropriately gnarly.
Click to expand...

Nice! Thanks for the response! I think I'm just old school and I think I would probably prefer the EMG\TP combo. I just going on my gut. I'm pulling the trigger on a Euro 5 possibly today :)
I'll post pics when I get it! Audio clips as well!!!

In the meantime I've been testing out some new drum samples. Love these and they sound incredible straight out of the box!



 
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#90,804
bassgiant15 said:
Nice! Thanks for the response! I think I'm just old school and I think I would probably prefer the EMG\TP combo. I just going on my gut. I'm pulling the trigger on a Euro 5 possibly today :)
I'll post pics when I get it! Audio clips as well!!!

In the meantime I've been testing out some new drum samples. Love these and they sound incredible straight out of the box!



Click to expand...

Your recordings always sound great!
 
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#90,805
Been playing on my new euro 5 a lot this week, used it live this morning. Overall, very pleased. Learning this boost-only obp-1 preamp has been a trip but I think I have it now. It makes a pleasing tone, can have some growl when digging in. The bass center at 40hz can get out of control, so I only give it the slightest of bumps. The treble is more in the range of a high mid at 4khz, and I get a great presence and clarity with it up about 40%. Light touch is fat, articulate, and punchy. When you dig in, it growls and spanks well. I'm pleased with this so far. However, once I pay it off, I still might be ordering an SNC-HAZ. It's not light but it's comfy and sits great on a strap.
 
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#90,808
rockdoc11 said:
(Please excuse the post duplication, as I also posted this question earlier on the general TB "Basses" forum.)

For a while I've been playing with the idea of picking up a Spector Euro 4. Recently a used one in excellent condition (serial number NB 13621) showed up on Musician's Friend Used Gear page. Their 45 day return policy (where I'd only pay the shipping of about $25 to return it) made it impossible for me to resist.

Anyway, I don't know a lot about Spector Euro 4 models. But everything I've seen recently shows them with gold tuners and bridge, and EMG pickups. But this one I bought has chrome hardware, and Bartolini pickups.

So I'm wondering what the specific version of this Spector Euro 4 this one might be, and when it might have been built. Any additional information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

View attachment 4657201 View attachment 4657202 View attachment 4657203 View attachment 4657204 View attachment 4657206 View attachment 4657207 View attachment 4657208 View attachment 4657209 View attachment 4657210
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Thanks for all the help and info, folks. It apparently was indeed a Sweetwater Special Edition Spector from about five or six years ago.
upload_2022-4-24_20-23-33.png


I played it for a week, and even took it to a gig. It sounded great!

But the neck never did feel comfortable to me. I found it to be a bit too deep overall, especially around the nut. So after sleeping on the question for a night or two, I returned it.

For all the grief Guitar Center/Musician's Friend gets on TalkBass forums, the return could not have been easier. I brought the bass to my local Guitar Center with associated paperwork, and they were as friendly and cool as possible. Within 48 hours I had the purchase credit (minus $23 shipping) returned to my credit card.

I really wanted to like it. Sigh. Now I know that this dream bass was not the one for me.
 
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#90,809
rockdoc11 said:
Thanks for all the help and info, folks. It apparently was indeed a Sweetwater Special Edition Spector from about five or six years ago.
View attachment 4670073

I played it for a week, and even took it to a gig. It sounded great!

But the neck never did feel comfortable to me. I found it to be a bit too deep overall, especially around the nut. So after sleeping on the question for a night or two, I returned it.

For all the grief Guitar Center/Musician's Friend gets on TalkBass forums, the return could not have been easier. I brought the bass to my local Guitar Center with associated paperwork, and they were as friendly and cool as possible. Within 48 hours I had the purchase credit (minus $23 shipping) returned to my credit card.

I really wanted to like it. Sigh. Now I know that this dream bass was not the one for me.
Click to expand...
The Tobacco Sunburst wasn't a Sweetwater Special Edition, it was part of Spector's standard line for a couple of years.

This one, which looks close to it (Copper Burst), is a Sweetwater special edition:

Spector Euro 4 LT Bass Guitar - Copper Burst Gloss - Sweetwater Exclusive

I had a Tobacco one (actually bought it from Sweetwater, hehe), loved the neck on it. But it seems there's a little variation with neck thicknesses as I have two other Euros, both limited editions where one (77 LE) has a slightly fatter neck and the other (Spalted Maple LE) has a skinnier neck, compared to the Tobacco one.
 
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#90,810
Question. I recently picked up a Billy Sheehan Yamaha attitude and I'm loving the dual output woofer and P configuration as well as the passive dimarzio setup. I still prefer some of the ergonomics of the Spector. I am thinking of modifying my Spector NS2A to have the same. It already has a PJ configuration, so I'd be getting a PJ with the woofer in the neck. I'm already planning on replacing the current pickups with Dimarzios that I had lying around. The two issues with adding a woofer pickup would be that 1, its very close to the P pickup, and 2, it overlaps the slope from the fretboard that I've circled in blue. Would the truss rod or anything else get in the way of this? I also don't know how much of a difference the sound would be, given that its close to the P pickup compared to the Yamaha attitude. The pickup in the picture below is a place holder, not the actual pickup I'd use. I'd be using the new Dimarzio Relentless pickups.

1513B6FC-1AA1-444D-BD1A-EF744B200D9F.jpeg 16A2D36C-A044-4FF4-8F05-3155379571F2.jpeg IHL073E-body-xlarge.jpg

Dimarzio relentless-middle
Dimarzio relentless-neck
 
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#90,811
Aweiss96 said:
Question. I recently picked up a Billy Sheehan Yamaha attitude and I'm loving the dual output woofer and P configuration as well as the passive dimarzio setup. I still prefer some of the ergonomics of the Spector. I am thinking of modifying my Spector NS2A to have the same. It already has a PJ configuration, so I'd be getting a PJ with the woofer in the neck. I'm already planning on replacing the current pickups with Dimarzios that I had lying around. The two issues with adding a woofer pickup would be that 1, its very close to the P pickup, and 2, it overlaps the slope from the fretboard that I've circled in blue. Would the truss rod or anything else get in the way of this? I also don't know how much of a difference the sound would be, given that its close to the P pickup compared to the Yamaha attitude. The pickup in the picture below is a place holder, not the actual pickup I'd use. I'd be using the new Dimarzio Relentless pickups.

View attachment 4670452 View attachment 4670455 View attachment 4670457

Dimarzio relentless-middle
Dimarzio relentless-neck
Click to expand...
Seems like doing the dimarzio swap first, then seeing if you're happy is the smart move. You could add a humbucker but it's a permanent alteration and one that really affects the value of that bass if you ever try to sell it. Maybe to test you could wire the humbucker without routing it in just to see what it sounds like. I'd want to be absolutely sure it gave me what I want before I went through with removing material to fit it...
 
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#90,812
Aweiss96 said:
Question. I recently picked up a Billy Sheehan Yamaha attitude and I'm loving the dual output woofer and P configuration as well as the passive dimarzio setup. I still prefer some of the ergonomics of the Spector. I am thinking of modifying my Spector NS2A to have the same. It already has a PJ configuration, so I'd be getting a PJ with the woofer in the neck. I'm already planning on replacing the current pickups with Dimarzios that I had lying around. The two issues with adding a woofer pickup would be that 1, its very close to the P pickup, and 2, it overlaps the slope from the fretboard that I've circled in blue. Would the truss rod or anything else get in the way of this? I also don't know how much of a difference the sound would be, given that its close to the P pickup compared to the Yamaha attitude. The pickup in the picture below is a place holder, not the actual pickup I'd use. I'd be using the new Dimarzio Relentless pickups.

View attachment 4670452 View attachment 4670455 View attachment 4670457

Dimarzio relentless-middle
Dimarzio relentless-neck
Click to expand...

Only you can decide it you want to carve up and devalue what looks to be a 30 year old bass in good shape to make it sound like a bass you already have that has the sound you're looking for.

I know I sound like I disapprove because I do. It's your bass so of course you can do whatever you want, but doing this is similar to folks who decided to route a J pickup into their old 60s and 70s P basses and now their value is half what it was. The NS-2As are only going up in value and are increasing in rarity. If you really have to cut up a Spector to make it a Billy Sheehan copy, I'd recommend buying a cheap Legend to do it to.
 
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#90,815
Reedt2000 said:
Seems like doing the dimarzio swap first, then seeing if you're happy is the smart move. You could add a humbucker but it's a permanent alteration and one that really affects the value of that bass if you ever try to sell it. Maybe to test you could wire the humbucker without routing it in just to see what it sounds like. I'd want to be absolutely sure it gave me what I want before I went through with removing material to fit it...
Click to expand...
That's what I think the plan is to do. The hardest part with that I'd think is figuring out how to wire it up and be able to hear it before routing the hole out, especially since it wouldn't be playable to wire up and put under the strings.
 
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#90,816
Aweiss96 said:
That's what I think the plan is to do. The hardest part with that I'd think is figuring out how to wire it up and be able to hear it before routing the hole out, especially since it wouldn't be playable to wire up and put under the strings.
Click to expand...
Well, it should work much the same if held above the strings so maybe a bench-top rig? It would at least give you a little taste of what it would sound like.
 
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