Spector basses

[cetera]

It sounds like you need to try some of these basses and make the decision for youself.... Don't buy without trying if you can help it

 

[Johnny BoomBoom]

They could list that bass 20 times in a row and it will never sell- I saw those selling for $500 new 2 years ago in local stores. DO NOT pay more than $400 for a Q series, or you will be getting burned. The real market value is $300-$400 for a Q5 in nice shape.

Johnny- What pre-amp is in your Czech? I really like the aggie pre, and the emerald flamed top is gorgeous. It would be hard to give up.

My Czech has the EMG BTS pre in it. The changes from my model NS5CR and the model after it NS5CRFM - crown inlays as opposed to dots, Agular pre instead of the EMG, 35" scale, Figured Maple top.

I guess if you want a fiver with a 34" scale ,you may have to swap out ther pre amps to your liking! The 34" scale basses aren't as good looking either (maple tops aren't as figured, and I do like th elook of crowns over dots!)

 

[Dviper]

One more question about the Rebop 5....I know its got a EMG-HZ's which are passive but it also says that its got a "Deluxe Spector 9 volt TonePumpTM EQ circuit" does that mean spector turned them into active/passive or what. im confused about this

 

[RicPlaya]

One more question about the Rebop 5....I know its got a EMG-HZ's which are passive but it also says that its got a "Deluxe Spector 9 volt TonePumpTM EQ circuit" does that mean spector turned them into active/passive or what. im confused about this

No it's an active bass. The tone pumps are an oddity in themselves. Maybe they can be passive I have no idea but the tonepump can work anywhere from 9-27volts and can even be phomtom powered. Spector designed them that way and this is according to literature I read here and on EMG's website. I have no idea why and by no means I am an expert. I never tried them passive or would I want to. I did add a second battery to my Rebops which made them 18v and it did improve my tone, but it sounded great running on 9v. I had an older passive Spector but gutted it and put EMG's and a BQC pre amp in faster than you can say tonepump, it had nothing on the active tone when it was passive.

 

[Dviper]

So, i did a search int he forum for the 18v mod but couldnt exactly find what it was and how to do it. anywayz...yesterday i won my bid for my new (4 month used) spector Rebop 5!!! and it will be here in like 2 weeks. and when i get it i want to do this 9v to 18v mod cuz everyone says it sounds so much better and theres much more headroom for tone. but how do i do it?

 

[mburd]

It seems the Spector Tone Pump has not been favorably experienced on this forum, but I did an extensive week-long A/B demo of two virtually identical NS-JH5's; one a 9/02 model with the Aggie; the other a 1/03 with the TP. I concluded that the Tone Pump was the more musical of the two, although soloed at the music store and at home the Aggie was somewhat "prettier". At several gigs ranging from a drummer-less folky acoustic trio to a somewhat raucous GB-partyband quintet there was no comparison to me. The TP sat cleanly in the mix in a way no other bass I own has to date for this application. I have a few decades and several dozen basses worth of experience to support my experience. I've had to re-think how I use the onboard electronics a bit with the boost-only bass/treble, and I may end up adding a passive-cut to the treble-boost ala some Pedullas.
I'm not "pumped" about the vol/vol setup, (I much prefer Vol/Bal) as well as the sheer magnitude of avail gain the TP has, but to look at it's merit over it's shortcomings I'd encourage you give it a real shot if at all possible in a live setting. FWIW I use TI flats. Jim Eppard over at Spector frequents several of the newsgroups (Google him/Spector on the Newsgroup search) and is a great resource.

 

[mburd]

Jim @ Spector sez:
--TP has an internal 9-18v voltage doubler, where the Aggie-equipped bass has an external Fishman Voltage-Doubler.
--Compared to the Agulair OBP 1, the Spector Tone Pump has a bit more gain in it's preamp. They're both 2 band "all boost" style circuits centered around similar frequencies. The bandwidth ("Q") widens as the pot is rotated clockwise in a different way than the Agulair.
--In one of our initial blind listening tests of the tone pump prototype, 3 of us picked it over the aggie every time.

Hope this info is useful..

 

[adam on bass]

I have a few decades and several dozen basses worth of experience to support my experience. I've had to re-think how I use the onboard electronics a bit with the boost-only bass/treble, and I may end up adding a passive-cut to the treble-boost ala some Pedullas.
I'm not "pumped" about the vol/vol setup, (I much prefer Vol/Bal) as well as the sheer magnitude of avail gain the TP has, but to look at it's merit over it's shortcomings I'd encourage you give it a real shot if at all possible in a live setting.

That is a great opinion. Thanx for the A/B info. I have done extensive Spector testing and beating in the past 5 years as well and can say that I rip that out as soon as I get a new Spector and put in an EMG BQC circuit. If you have not heard a Spector with this preamp, try it. It's setup is Volume, Blend, and B/T cut/boost M/F on concentric pots. Just the fact that it is cut/boost and has mid shaping is the kicker. The only reason I am not into the Tone Pump is the boost only thing, and it is to hot. I use D'Addario 170xl's and Eden amplification set pretty much flat. All of my Spector's have the BQC in them. On my Spalted JH-5 that is being made I am going to go with the BQC with a mini-switch for the humbucker tap so I can have the one volume, blend option.

I have a NS2J that has the tone pump in it now(BQC on backorder) and I like it don't get me wrong, it's just not what I am looking for. Spector makes one of the best basses out there and I don't let the electronics get in the way of my purchase decision, just ask PJ, or TB'er BassWhore.

 

[mburd]

Spector makes one of the best basses out there and I don't let the electronics get in the way of my purchase decision...

That is good advice to put out there to all; regardless of instrument brand,vintage, price etc, as there are so many great and readily available options for electronics, but without something musical happening in the wooden parts, it will always be an uphill battle to make an instrument really sing.