Spector Club - Part 11

[ysand]

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.

Totally agree.

When i got my Zebop 4 years ago, and wanted to make adjustments I was like "whoa, how does this work? "
But after understanding how it works, i have absolutely no problem with it. As LimaGuy said above, when it was set, it was set.

I think that it really isn't such a big deal having to adjust a bridge differently than the ones that you're used to.

 

[PhatBasstard]

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.

While I agree (and after 20+ years I've learned to work with it) that once it's set, it's set.......
......EXCEPT, if your set screw unknowingly comes loose.
The intonation screws solve two issues here:
1. There's not much danger of all your saddles suddenly getting knocked out of position' and...
2. Without the set screw tight and the height screws being in kitty corner positions, your saddles are now in a sort of free floating balancing act.
In general, the intonation screws, besides making intonation easier and more precise, help make (along with puting both height screws up front) your saddles much more stable overall.

 

[mmbongo]

I have a question!

On the 'floating saddle' bridge, how do you adjust one saddle without the other three moving? If you lift out one saddle to clean underneath it, what happens to the other ones?


And have you guys (Spector) just considered working with Hipshot or somebody like that to handle the bridge retrofit issue? And you other guys (everybody else in this thread!) have to consider that Spector is very small and we cannot expect them to be able to function like a full on machine shop where they can just crank out metal parts all day long. They make basses, not metal parts....which brings me back to working with a company like Hipshot who specializes in such things.

 

[mmbongo]

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.

Not an attack here, but what's so difficult about a Warwick bridge? You got left, right, up, down, and intonation...just like any bass with adjustable spacing (including my NS-5!!). And if a repair shop doesn't have enough common sense to be able to look down the fretboard to set the string spacing then I'd be terrified to let them work on my instrument.

 

[KsPiNeSh]

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.

Sounds like a knucklehead repair shop to me, not a design flaw. I'm far from a professional tech, but I find the Warwick bridges and nuts to be user-friendly, intuitive, and easy to adjust. Their tailpiece slots for the B and E strings are a head-scratcher, but it's nothing a file can't handle.

I think I'm with Phat on this one... you're telling me that every other bass manufacturer can have intonation screws on their bridges, but it's just too drastic of a change to add one to Spector bridges? I can't agree with that, but I can understand if the guys at Spector are satisfied with the sales numbers of basses without the adjustment and don't see the need to invest in changing it. All that stuff about players feeling alienated and maintaining tradition and all that... c'mon now. They're not giving the basses superpowers or adding some super-expensive upgrade as a standard feature - they would be adding freakin' intonation screws. I don't gripe at Ford for making their new Explorers cooler than the one I bought back in 2000; would this really be any different?

That said, this whole discussion really is relatively minor in the grand scheme of things and no one is questioning the overall quality and greatness of Spector basses. I think the main burr in the saddle is that it just seems like such a big, complicated affair for something that most bassists just consider to be "standard".

 

[KsPiNeSh]

Not an attack here, but what's so difficult about a Warwick bridge? You got left, right, up, down, and intonation...just like any bass with adjustable spacing. And if a repair shop doesn't have enough common sense to be able to look down the fretboard to set the string spacing then I'd be terrified to let them work on my instrument.

+1000.

 

[iceboxbass]

Sounds like a knucklehead repair shop to me, not a design flaw. I'm far from a professional tech, but I find the Warwick bridges and nuts to be user-friendly, intuitive, and easy to adjust. Their tailpiece slots for the B and E strings are a head-scratcher, but it's nothing a file can't handle.

I think I'm with Phat on this one... you're telling me that every other bass manufacturer can have intonation screws on their bridges, but it's just too drastic of a change to add one to Spector bridges? I can't agree with that, but I can understand if the guys at Spector are satisfied with the sales numbers of basses without the adjustment and don't see the need to invest in changing it. All that stuff about players feeling alienated and maintaining tradition and all that... c'mon now. They're not giving the basses superpowers or adding some super-expensive upgrade as a standard feature - they would be adding freakin' intonation screws. I don't gripe at Ford for making their new Explorers cooler than the one I bought back in 2000; would this really be any different?

That said, this whole discussion really is relatively minor in the grand scheme of things and no one is questioning the overall quality and greatness of Spector basses. I think the main burr in the saddle is that it just seems like such a big, complicated affair for something that most bassists just consider to be "standard".

+100!!!
It'd be really nice to have intonation screws as a convenance...but as said by others which I agree with, once intonation is set it's set. I wouldn't want Spector to do it if it meant sacrificing quality of the bridge by any means. If Stuart thinks that the bridge he took time and research to come up with is the highest quality bridge for his highest quality basses, is what's on there now...I'm good with that. But if he can retain the high quality and modify the bridge with intonation screws...now that's a great thing!

 

[PhatBasstard]

Ask delucajohn. A repair shop had his Corvette setup completely wrong because they didnt know how to correctly set the bridge and nut.

Mr. delucajohn clearly needs to find a new repair shop as the one he's currently using is full of idiots. :scowl:

 

[delucajohn2000]

Sounds like a knucklehead repair shop to me, not a design flaw. I'm far from a professional tech, but I find the Warwick bridges and nuts to be user-friendly, intuitive, and easy to adjust. Their tailpiece slots for the B and E strings are a head-scratcher, but it's nothing a file can't handle.

Mr. delucajohn clearly needs to find a new repair shop as the one he's currently using is full of idiots. :scowl:

The sad thing is, this is a very highly respected place in my area that has been open for over 50 years. I don't know if the guy was new or what but I brought the bass back to them 4 times after paying for a setup due to buzzing each time. They like to throw around that their techs graduated from some Luthier school in Detroit but they had no idea what they were doing and it took Limaguy literally 2 minutes to fix what they couldn't obviously do. The thing that gets me is, they are a Warwick dealer so you would think they would know how to fix them.

I'll just pay Limaguy from now on since he sure as hell knows what he is doing I had planned on selling this Warwick but once he fixed it, I decided to keep it. The problem is, when I go over Limaguy's place, I get major GAS for another Spector so now I am saving for either a Rebop or a Euro 4LX.

 

[JAUQO III-X]

Hey. Where did you come from?!

 

[iceboxbass]

The problem is, when I go over Limaguy's place, I get major GAS for another Spector so now I am saving for either a Rebop or a Euro 4LX.

That's the problem when you have friends who have Spectors!

 

[Deni B]

The black nuts on the Euro Models are carbon/composite (which is like a plastic) material.

I actually put one back on my Euro4LX-TW-35 recently. I just liked it better on that bass for some reason. Can't say why.

Thanks for reply although you didn't tell me much . So if anyone can tell me if there is some noticeble sound difference between black and gold hardware on Euro lx models....

 

[jarrod cunningham]

Not sure if this will help , but I ordered black bridge and tuners for an old euro that I had . I couldn't tell any difference in the bridges sound wise ... I left the brass nut alone .

 

[staindbass]

yes, the black hardware has a thicker coating and adds to the neck dive lol.

 

[LimaGuy]

Not an attack here, but what's so difficult about a Warwick bridge? You got left, right, up, down, and intonation...just like any bass with adjustable spacing (including my NS-5!!). And if a repair shop doesn't have enough common sense to be able to look down the fretboard to set the string spacing then I'd be terrified to let them work on my instrument.

Wow I thought my comment was almost like a closing statement but it brought up even more chat about this.

Just to clarify a few things about my comment on the Warwick bridge.
Delucajohn (sorry to drag your Nut in on this )
The shop had his adjust a nut set all the way down thus the saddles were set all the way up to the highest point.
and there was a nasty "rattle" coming from the bass.

Took me a few minutes to correct the problem. Which does agree with “but what's so difficult about a Warwick bridge? You got left, right, up, down, and intonation”

But get it into the wrong hands and it could cause a problem.
To be honest I really do like the ability to adjust the height of the nut on Warwicks. (but that is a whole different discussion oh no. that dosent belong in this forum)

 

[KsPiNeSh]

But get it into the wrong hands and it could cause a problem.

Is it a death-ray now? Letting an idiot work on any bass, from an SX to a Fodera, will cause problems.

 

[mmbongo]

Took me a few minutes to correct the problem. Which does agree with “but what's so difficult about a Warwick bridge? You got left, right, up, down, and intonation”

But get it into the wrong hands and it could cause a problem.

That could be said for any bridge, though. Sounds like these guys don't need to be working on guitars.

Plus, my Spector has the same adjustments as my Warwick....up and down, side to side, forward and back. One is no more complicated than the other.

 

[delucajohn2000]

Is it a death-ray now? Letting an idiot work on any bass, from an SX to a Fodera, will cause problems.

Unfortunately, it comes down to a trial and error situation and I sure learned my lesson on this one. I went to the most reputable place in the area and they turned out to be the worst. The guy didn't even put the right strings on it that I wanted. I figured that I would get the strings changed while they were working on it so I told them to use Medium DR Hi-Beams and the guy put on Light DR Lo-Riders.

I know everyone is probably thinking I should be doing this myself but I had stopped playing bass for 8 years and just picked it back up again in March so I am very hesitant to start adjusting truss rods and things. You try and go to a place that you think will be good and it sure backfires on you.

John

 

[PhatBasstard]

Plus, my Spector has the same adjustments as my Warwick....up and down, side to side, forward and back. One is no more complicated than the other.

What "Spector" bridge has side to side adjustments?
The Warwick bridge isn't more "complicated". It's has more options.

 

[KsPiNeSh]

I know everyone is probably thinking I should be doing this myself but I had stopped playing bass for 8 years and just picked it back up again in March so I am very hesitant to start adjusting truss rods and things. You try and go to a place that you think will be good and it sure backfires on you.

John

The only thing you're guilty of here, if anything, is taking it back to that "repair shop" for the second, third, and fourth times I know enough to do my own setups, but it's still worth it to me to take my main players to the local pro on occasion for a fine tuning - nothing to be ashamed of there.