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Are his nutsready to drop in or are they blanks?
He takes the blanks and customizes them to order.
Here is a photo of the my Nut
as he was making it to order to 1-11/16"L x 3/16"T x 5/16"H
thanks!!!
and here are some (hopefully) better pics. you can kind of see it, the finish formed a little 'hump' on the G string side of the neck. I'm sorry if these come out blurry again, the best i could do was a few iphone camera shots.
basstones said:PM sent with possible solution
Brian
Mind sharing the info of the solution ??? There once was a company who made a copy of the haz copy .... Not sure of name brand , it was Chinese and on eBay . Never bought one , but the pre looked like a haz ... And looking means nothing
Not at all, picked up a sweet NS-2A from Icebox and it will soon be all active. take it from there
Brian
Hmmm...Not at all, picked up a sweet NS-2A from Icebox and it will soon be all active. take it from there
Brian
The Haz copy in the NS2A's is active. Only the pickups were passive. All you had to do was update the pickups for "all active". Still vague.
The mysterious, criptic stuff is best left to Jauqo III-X.
bobunit said:
I think this one is way better quality than tho one I seen on eBay . Cool that you found this link . If anyone has tried this bad boy tell us about it !! I'm interested in knowing if it's any good ....
The issue with the Czech shop as to do with manpower and does Stuart and PJ want to add a labor intensive additional task to the build-out and if so, the cost is obviously going to drive the base price of the guitars up. And is this the time to be increasing the cost of your products?
The cost of creating new dies, redesigning the bridge, testing it, making sure the new changes work, all within the parameters of creating something that can be backwards compatible (the easiest fix would be to move to a copy of the USA Bridge but we know that won't work with older Euro models). And the Euro line is SPECTOR's best seller currently.
So it has to do with a number of variables, the last of which being, the sad state of the world's economy.
I don't know. I own one of the first USA bridges with intonation screws... mine have the offset saddle screws (not both at the pickup side as the later ones have) and honestly it doesn't affect anything because my bridge saddles are nearly flat to give me the low-string height I like.
Do hear what you are saying.
If I was Mr. Merrill, I'd be scrapping that bridge, getting a USA replacement ("Righty" if need be. Swap the saddles around. Spector nor anybody needs to produce a "left handed" bridge. Who cares what side of the saddle the intonation screw is on. This was totally unneeded. :scowland telling my tech to get the dremel tool out.
It was Mr. Merrill who asked for the larger bridge. Stuart doesn't have the ability, for lack of time and having the serious issue of having to reset every machine in the workshop from their current settings, to do lefty basses. It's just understood that when less than 1 of every 250 or so instruments sold is a lefty, the Euro line is the highest-end Lefty that's going to get made.
And Robbie likes the heavier, larger USA Bridge. Which is what this new bridge is sized as. It's basically a Euro USA bridge.
So because Robbie is one of SPECTOR's highly recognizable artists, one of a very small handful of Lefty players, and has been a great supporter and friend of the company's, they went through the time and trouble because as a Lefty player, this is as close to a USA Spector as you'll ever get. It's just that simple. And since there are so few lefty Spectors made anyway, they're always a special order. They don't make "stock" lefties. So This change is BECAUSE of Robbie Merrill. And he's thrilled with it.
And think about it like this... we all love "Special". So why would he want to replace a bridge on a guitar that was made to please his needs with something else? This bridge is made "Special" for left-handed players. I'm proud Spector did that.
I bet you didn't know that PJ Rubal, who is a technically masterful bassist learned to play right handed (because he is left handed) because there was a complete lack of good left handed basses in the 70's when he was learning to play.
Left-handed kids who are really getting into bass now have this custom-made option so they don't have to try and retrain their brain to "fit the more common mold". Here is a very nice European Hand-made bass specifically for left-handed players.
Seriously, I say good for SPECTOR for looking at it this way.
This is all silliness. The saddles can be switched. A "lefty" bridge was never needed, much less a larger one. There just seems to be a lot of design logic that falls through the cracks over at Spector.
Or you're looking at things from a myopic self-centered (and I mean no offense) viewpoint and you simply don't have the full big-picture.
And honestly Stuart, PJ and Petr (who manages the Czech shop) work really hard to be as logical as possible. But design changes are never simply about logic. They are about logistics, materials, labor costs, import/export taxes, ergonomics and lastly (but not least) market need.
They never just, rush in and arbitrarily make a change. They have been looking at this bridge/intonation screw issue for ALL of their models, all series for long before I got involved as a consultant with them. And they know what they are doing.
What seems like a "what the fudge?" moment in releasing a larger, not backwards compatible lefty bridge BEFORE releasing the right handed - standard bridge with intonation screws has had to do with making a very important left artist happy. Who is getting ramped up to tour again. And doing the best thing for all parties involved, the main focus being on YOU and I... people who are not "professional musicians" who play their guitars.
And the solution that they've come up with, while it may seem like an odd one, is what at this time is the best (and quickest) way to accomplish the goal of getting Euro Bridges out there with intonation screws. And if the market (meaning us) responds with an overwhelmingly positive response, then it may be the indicator that is needed to go through the huge expense (and it's much larger than you think) to design a new bridge.
I'd say this is a "dipping of the toe".
I know. Dude. I've been on this board going on two years. I think I know you well enough to know that seemingly illogical things really get you fired up. I've always known you to be a fair and relatively objective person and I have nothing but respect for your knowledge and love of these bass guitars. I've learned a lot from you. So I'm not at all offended.
The fact you're passionate about things is a sign that you care about their outcome. So that's good.
And yes, I've become the "unofficial" mouthpiece in a way because I know what's really going on.
And NO... they don't ask me about this stuff. I'm a marketing/web/multimedia guy. I don't design or build guitars. The only time I'll be asked to get involved in the design/build process is like with the Alex Webster bass. I designed that blood paint job 8 months before the bass was introduced. Likewise I've designed the headstock logos for every new SPECTOR in the works... from the new Performer By SPECTOR to the Webcaster and the RX-GT. So I'm asked the things that I can bring something to the table on.
Where to put an intonation screw is much better left to guys like Stuart and Petr and Jimmy and PJ. Who KNOW how to correctly design and build guitars.
I usually learn about this when they're getting ready to let the public know so I can help design the marketing materials to support it.
Until two weeks ago I had no idea that this was coming down the pipe, although I know that intonation screws have been a big topic of discussion for years. And I learned this when one of the first things as a consultant I did for them was help them announce the newly designed USA Bridge last year.
I totally understand. Which is why I love my position with them. I have the time to write this stuff out... to take the time to explain their thinking and process to the 200 or so die-hard SPECTOR fans on this board.
They simply don't have the time. And trust me, not that they don't care. They really do. I hear Stuart ask all the time, "How will this make the experience better for the player?" No joke... this is his first concern. And that's what makes them so special.
Not ONE other manufacturer I've ever worked with approached the design of their products with this as the first thing they asked themselves.
Hopefully I've articulated some reasons why it's never that simple. There are 4 other guys besides Stuart that work and assist in building guitars in the NY Workshop. So any change which will affect that workflow is very serious. We may think it's a simple thing. But it's not. The first WebCasters will be rolling off the workbenches there soon. And the first prototype was ready for NAMM... and Stuart wasn't happy with it. So he decided not to show it. I thought it was great. But it's not my name on the headstock.
Changes take time if you want to do them right.
Dude. Understatement about plagiaristic. But I've been very open about my thoughts on WW. And I'd have no trouble or issue saying these things to Han P. Wilfer person-to-person.
He is very good at tweaking other people's designs and creating something slightly different that works really, really well. I know if anyone reading this has been here long enough, you've seen me write that WW's are very nice guitars. Nothing at all wrong with them. Built well, balanced, and they have their own sound.
A Streamer may be "GREATLY" inspired... for lack of a better term, by the NS, but it plays and sounds totally different.
Wilfer is a GREAT guitar builder. He is NOT a guitar designer. Ned Steinberger (Brilliant), Stuart Spector, Mike Tobias (the Master), Mike Pedulla (a great guy), Vinny Fodera (a great guy)... These guys are innovators. They are unique in that they are original thinkers.
The Japanese electronics market was born from making cheaper, reliable black and white TVs in the 1960's. There are all sorts of examples of someone figuring out a quicker or easier way to doing something that someone else started and make good money from it. So be it. So long as you are honest about it, I don't care.
My beef with WW isn't a "borrowed" design... it's a promise broken. It's a signed agreement, signed in bad-faith, which was never honored and probably never intended to... so why sign it in the first place? I'd have more respect for you if you just said, "$#@! you, I'm going to make this anyway."
An initial expense to change up the dies, but you could begin to produce just the bridges that would solve all this to a big sweeping improvement. The USA and Euro intonation screw bridges only. I can't imagine anyone in their right mind still wanting the non-intonation screw version, so why continue to produce it. Plus, a lefty bridge is totally redundant as the saddles are interchangable.
I don't know of anybody (other than vibrato arm versions) that makes an actual left handed bridge as most all bridges have universal/interchangable saddles for any configuration you want.
Good. But the more stable saddles have both height screws upfront. It's an improvement. That's why they changed it on the USA bridges. Lets stay with it.
So...
1. They wasted a lot of time and resources into producing an unneeded "left handed"
scowl, special shaped/sized bridge, that....2. ..could have been remedied with a stock USA intonation screw bridge?!? That will only be available on new lefty Euros, rather than puting those resources into improving it for every Spector owner. Just Robbie.
The revelation that this bridge is the same size as a USA and could have been remedied with as much ("left handed" still irrelevantly redundant) makes this even more head scratching. Sorry, but nothing to be "proud of" here.
Nothing special here. Tons of lefties have done this and are greatful they did. Jazz guitarist George Vann Epps, a lefty who plays "righty", has always said this is a better way for lefties to play as your dominant, most dexteritous hand is on the fingerboard. Maybe us righties are all wrong.
The soldiers in the battles often have a much better viewpoint than the Generals in the bunkers.
Spector history has proved that debatable at times.
Not to pat myself on the back, but I envisioned this exact alteration (intonation screws, moving the height screws to the front) to improving the Spector bridge nearly 20 years ago because I was bothered by the difficulties in working with the Spector bridge that many other Spector owners have complained about. This is not a new problem for someone who KNOWS how to correctly design and build guitars. Why did it take them 20+ years to get to it?
Certain players have expressed that they went with Warwick because of the Spector bridge. Yet, at the same time, love their Spectors with other bridges (Badass, Hipshot).
I'm well aware of the problems between Stuart and Warwick. It's what's (barely) kept me out of the Warwick camp over the years. However, there's a lot to be said for Hans' improvements on the design.
Maybe Stuart should return the favor and employ some of the improvements like the Just-a nut.
I've messed with friend's Warwicks and it really is a cool, innovative tool.
I'm also thinking a Spector "Thumb" bass would be cool.
We'll call it the "Middle Finger".
I didn't ask too many questions to clarify. But there was some reason why they (as in SPECTOR and the Czech shop) didn't want to do this.
I know that intonation screws are a priority and eventually a solution that will work and meet the needs of players will be in place.
I don't know of anybody (other than vibrato arm versions) that makes an actual left handed bridge as most all bridges have universal/interchangable saddles for any configuration you want.
This may sound stupid, but the SPECTOR bridge has one element that has to be changed in such a lefty-righty- situation. The placement of the name "SPECTOR" on the bridge. It and the hex nut for "locking" the bridge have always been on the "bottom" of the bridge (if you think of the bass when in playing position and string #1 being closest to the ground). And in the "flip it" scenario, this would be reversed. Which until now is what has been the case.
The redesign of this bridge gave the needed space to comfortably put the screws in, plus fix this little irksome nuance.
Because there are so few Lefty models out there, the not backwards compatible thing didn't seem to be as big a deal as if it had been done with the standard Euro bridge.
You guys would go berserk if it was announced that a new Euro (standard) bridge was being introduced with intonation screws but it wouldn't fit your older basses. That IS the sort of thing companies do that alienates people. And Stuart and PJ decided NOT to do that at this time.
When the time is right for them. They'll provide a solution that will hopefully best address the needs of the majority of people out there.
Agreed. My new NS-2 will have the new USA Bridge (we'll call it intonation v2.0) with the up front screws. I'll see how much different it is from version 1.0 on my NS-4.
1. They wasted a lot of time and resources into producing an unneeded "left handed"
Lesser of two evils? There is a reason the Czech shop isn't able to get the screws to work with the current size bridge.
I'm sure of this or else they'd be doing it.
It's all speculation, but they are in a formerly collapsed country (financially) that was once a Soviet Block country. Perhaps there is a larger investment in updated lathing or drill press technology that's needed so it's either make ALL of the Euro Bridges larger or just do the one that will affect the overall customer base the least first.
Seriously I don't know. But I do know that these guys aren't just randomly deciding to do this or that. It's not how they operate.
Cost of materials. The USA Bridge is a solid high-quality brass with real gold plating.
Cost to ship the bridges made here in the USA over to the Czech Republic.
Extra tariffs because you are shipping precious and semi-precious metals. Ever wonder why the Euro bridge is a brass-zinc alloy? There are some things that are insanely more expensive there.
And you'd still have the "upside down" logo and locking screw issue.
And this was a change for every future Lefty owner, not just Robbie. Since when does being different mean you have to be punished or left out of the majority of good things because you are not like the majority. I see this new bridge as a way that SPECTOR is being INCLUSIVE of lefty players and not EXCLUSIVE and having them pay the same for a guitar that wasn't made for their way of playing but "flipped".
Remember when lefty players had to take righty guitars and flip them upside down to be able to play an instrument? There was this dude named Jimi...
Let me ask you about the company that you run? And the decisions that you make that affect your factory, the employees of your factories, and the thousands of customers your company has? You have a lot of answers, assuming you have a grasp of the complexity of the problem.
The simple easy answer isn't always the case. And there are things going on that neither of us know about. They have done what they have done and it is my experience with them, first hand experience, that there are always good reasons for their actions.
That's enough for me.
Nothing special here. Tons of lefties have done this and are greatful they did. Jazz guitarist George Vann Epps, a lefty who plays "righty", has always said this is a better way for lefties to play as your dominant, most dexteritous hand is on the fingerboard. Maybe us righties are all wrong.
PJ says the same thing. I think it's one of the reasons why he is so technically adept. But still, there are some left-handed players that want a left-handed instrument. And Spector is one of the few that makes high-end lefty basses.
Don't be hatin' on lefties because you are a "righty".
The soldiers in the battles often have a much better viewpoint than the Generals in the bunkers.
In some historical military cases... my father, a decorated Vietnam Vet would agree with this sentiment. But then sometimes the generals have the BEST vantage-point for they can see all of the points of the battles at hand and they know better than the guys on the battlefield what the larger objective it.
I do what I am asked, because I trust and believe in these guys. I can sleep at night knowing that if my design work or marketing efforts sell a guitar or bass for SPECTOR, that the new owner is going to love the instrument (most do) and I didn't help sell someone something that was useless. So I don't mind doing what I do to help SPECTOR.
Spector history has proved that debatable at times.
Meaning?
Seriously, you can look at any given situation with a couple of slants. You can choose to pick something apart just for the sake of it. OK. So be it.
Or you can look at the positive aspects of the thing/situation in question and say, "OK, I know this isn't perfect, but what is?"
Ultimately, what does the creation of a Lefty specific bridge do to you? How does it affect you? How does it create a negative for you? It doesn't.
What other decisions has Stuart and PJ made in the development and running of their company that has affected you negatively?
You may not agree with a feature or new development of an instrument's design... but overall, does the creation of a lefty-specific bridge make the right handed version of the instrument something you don't want to play?
What I don't understand is you're really caught up in this as if you have some personal stake in it or something? Choose to see this as something positive for future lefty players and when something for the standard-right-hand basses comes along that affects you negatively, then be upset about it and complain.
But you're using this as some sort of an example of things in the past that didn't meet your approval... OK.
Do you like playing your SPECTOR basses? Are the they bass of choice for you?
Sure, everything could be improved... but if this development hasn't affected you one way or the other. What gives?
OK. So why do you still play them then if Stuart doesn't "know how to correctly design and build guitars?" That's what you are suggesting right? I don't know how else to read what you wrote above and I'm actually shocked and offended by it.
Seriously?
You envisioned this years ago. Fine. Build one then. Show me. When I can see a fully functional Euro-Series Spector bridge with intonation screws that you've build/modified yourself, that would look appropriate on a NEW instrument...
Do this and then you can make statements which to me are frankly disrespectful of Stuart... which is uncalled for, where you say this should be this way or that and I may actually listen.
Have you ever walked up to Stuart and ASKED him why he designed the SPECTOR bridge the way he did?
And all I can say is that the SPECTOR bridge in any of its forms, from Euro to USA... even my NS-2A has never irked me enough to want to jump ship to another maker. Are they the easiest bridge out there for setting intonation... no. But do they hold tune. Much better than the Hipshot A I installed on my Q4.
This is the bridge Stuart designed for HIS bass. So I don't get bent out of shape over it. I just deal with it. And now I've done it so much, it's not a pain anymore. I just do it.
And for decades famous bassists have been able to overlook the no intonation screws on the SPECTOR bridge.
Yeah but smear poo on your chest and then put on a silk shirt and you still smell like poo.
I don't care how well thought out Wilfer's "improvements" are... he lied. He broke an agreement.
Poo is smelly. I don't like the smell of poo.
I've messed with friend's Warwicks and it really is a cool, innovative tool.
And because it is a device and not a design element such as shape, it probably has a patent.
I'm also thinking a Spector "Thumb" bass would be cool. We'll call it the "Middle Finger".
I agree or like creating a SPECTOR Porpoise Bass. I like that idea. LOL.
I'm also thinking a Spector "Thumb" bass would be cool.
We'll call it the "Middle Finger".
Heh. I like it.
Also, I'm new here. Can I put in a request for a number and join the Spector Club?
Welcome Shmandy, Tracebassplayer is the digitmaster, Im sure he will get you a number as soon as he sees your post. Since you're new, what's your take on poo?
I don't really like the smell of it either. But my Spector is a bubinga top, so I do enjoy that aspect of the Warwicks that I've played.
The whole deal is shady and classless, but I understand why he would want to try and take an awesome design and make it "better:" to sell basses. Maybe it's a sin to say in this club, but there have been times when I actually wanted a Warwick. I played a Corvette double-buck (that "$$" business is just silly) and I loved it.
The whole deal is shady and classless, but I understand why he would want to try and take an awesome design and make it "better:" to sell basses. Maybe it's a sin to say in this club, but there have been times when I actually wanted a Warwick. I played a Corvette double-buck (that "$$" business is just silly) and I loved it.
JAUQO III-X
Inactive
The set screw is irrelavent. On most (if not all) USA and Legend bridges there is one on both sides which is somewhat redundant. However, considering the function it is performing it is next to meaningless what side it resides on.
The name thing is a point, but really, how important is that in the grand scheme of improving the instrument, both current and retroactively? It hasn't seemed to bother them up until now that most Euro bridges don't have "Spector" stamped on them.
But, you said they "already figured out how to do it"?!?
We were never talking about using the USA (V.2) bridge for everybody's Euros. That's the point. This was a bunch of ultimately wasted resources on a fix for Mr. Merril that a "flipped" USA (V.2) bridge would have solved.
If Stuart and PJ would have put the resources forward that got them to figure out how to add the screws to the current Euro bridges (as you've reported), the resources that went into this new "lefty" bridge could have been put into getting the new Euro V.2 bridge off the ground, that, if the "Spector" stamp is left off it, only has to have the base re-died for the intonation screws as I believe the actual saddles from the USA V.2 are the same size as the Euro saddles. So no re-die for both height screws forward. The set screw side is irrelevent, so now you'd have a intonation screw equiped Euro (V.2) bridge that is both flippable for left or right handed basses, fits current Euros and is backwards compatable for existing Euros.
This would have been the easiest, most logical solution with the least expense (instead of doing several different things) and least amount of tool-up.
...who had several different left handed instruments at his disposal and said he prefered right handed instruments.
The above is "pie in the sky", not solutions oriented.
Who says I am a "righty"?
The problem here is that the simplest solution would have been good for all the Euro owners, regardless of left or right hand playing preference. Past, present or future. That is why this route makes no sense.
By your logic, now the small percentage of past/current lefty Euro owners, the same ones you're so proud Spector did something "special" for, will now be out in the cold to update their bridges to a Euro V.2. Unless...they can get a hold of a possible future "righty" Euro V.2 and (horrors
)...flip it. It unneccesarily puts resources into a non-existent problem rather than puting those resources into more quickly producing and getting out a product that all Euro owners can use and appreciate.
Just off the top of my head: Wide 5's and maybe 6's, 15 years ago would have been nice. Now, wide 5's and maybe 6's in neck-thru's would be good. Better upper fret access (like the old NS1's used to have
). I could go on. It's called "TalkBass". That's what we're doing. Why are you so defensive?
Nope. But the difference between Great and Really Great is in the details. I think that's where the Spector guys sometimes lose focus and why someone like a Hans Wilfer who has "Taken an idea and ran with it" may have passed by the originator.
Uh...I thought you said they figured it out already??!
My Grandfather, who was a semi-well known jazz trumpet/cornet player (w/ Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lawrence Welk among others) in his playing days, became an instrument repair man in his later years because he could play about anything and fix everything.
He always said "If makers and designers were users/players and repairmen...things would be built a lot differently".
I don't have to know how to build a bass from scratch to prove anything. But since I'm in my mid 40's, been playing fulltime professionally since 13 (seedy bars to international touring with a #1 artist or two), been doing my own setups since pretty much day one and currently do them professionally for others, I think I'm more than capable to see where a design "tweek" would be helpful. If Stuart were some kind of bass building God then nothing would have changed since day one. Stuart's a big boy and I'm sure he would enjoy this discussion himself. I don't think he needs you to be "offended" for him.
There was some kind of bridge issue that we had some email correspondence about many years ago, but I don't remember the particulars. But he does live on the opposite coast from me. Maybe a future NAMM show........
The Hipshot A and B has been nothing but solid when I've used them (Lakland retro fit and a Cirrus 6).
Most "famous" bassists have Techs to deal with it.
Most of the Techs would probably agree with me.(I'm a Tech. I agree with me.
) Patrick....this is not about your recreational activities.
Could be.
Works for me,
But even Warwick has discontinued the Dolphin.
Let's stick to stuff that works.
Hey. Where did you come from?!Hey cut that out
(Who installed the "My Own Username" search function?)
My 2 cents about Spector Bridge issue.
I admit that when I got my first Spector and I went to make some adjustments to the action/intonation.
I did think why is there no intonation screws? this is weird
It was a bit annoying loosening the strings and manually moving the saddle etc.
But once it was set, it was set. How often do we need to adjust the intonation?
Also, maybe it was my imagination but it did seem that the intonation was very easy to get "right on" with all of my Spectors compared to other basses I have had in the past.
Also, I had a Warwick and IMO there were just too many adjustments on the bridge. One slight adjustment and the spacing on the strings were all off. Ask delucajohn. A repair shop had his Corvette setup completely wrong because they didnt know how to correctly set the bridge and nut.
I admit that when I got my first Spector and I went to make some adjustments to the action/intonation.
I did think why is there no intonation screws? this is weird
It was a bit annoying loosening the strings and manually moving the saddle etc.
But once it was set, it was set. How often do we need to adjust the intonation?
Also, maybe it was my imagination but it did seem that the intonation was very easy to get "right on" with all of my Spectors compared to other basses I have had in the past.
Also, I had a Warwick and IMO there were just too many adjustments on the bridge. One slight adjustment and the spacing on the strings were all off. Ask delucajohn. A repair shop had his Corvette setup completely wrong because they didnt know how to correctly set the bridge and nut.
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