• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Spector Club - Part 11

Status
Not open for further replies.
#81
TimWilson said:
Dig, I do!

I still find the slap tone too spongy and broad for my personal taste (for funk, it's always gonna be the StingRay for me). But again, it's just my personal opinion.

I will confess though, that now that I've given her a proper setup, this old girl plays like a dream and weighs about HALF of what the StingRays do.

I an't leaving Pamela Anderson, but Natalie Portman keeps flirting with me...
Click to expand...

I actually sold my Stingray once I discovered the NS-4... I'm not really a slap guy, so I can't speak to that. I know that people like Doug Grigsby (Michael Jackson, Teena Marie) swear by this bass for funk, pop slapping.

I filmed Doug at the Grammy Museum earlier this year and his slap tone was awesome... but he was also on a 35" 5-string Spector. Perhaps the tension that you get from the 35" would help what you are experiencing.

In all, the NS-2/NS-4 are the ultimate basses for me. And I tap, do false harmonics, harmonics and melodic stuff. In these categories as much as I LOVE the Stingray. And believe me I do... it wasn't a comparison. But you're also talking a $2.5K -$3K bass compared to a $5K-$7K bass. So something special had better be there.

Regardless, glad you're enjoying your "Natalie" bass. And I may be strange in this regard but a refined beautiful woman with culture and intelligence will always win (my heart and mind) over the dirty - well travelled (wink wink) bimbos that cross my path each and every day.

Part of working in Hollywood... you get over the "eye candy" quickly. Give me a woman with a mind AND a great look. That also applies to basses for me. :D

Natalie would be my queen. No question.
 
#82
My new NS-2 came back from the gloss clear-coat finisher today. On Tuesday she'll get her insides installed and she'll get her setup. I'm hoping to have her in my hands by next Friday (ONE WEEK!!!).

She is a one-of-a-kind. I don't mind saying this now. Besides the AAAAA Tube Quilt Maple body with black on black gloss stain... she'll have the Premium Birdseye Maple Fingerboard... USA 9V NS-2 Circuit (Haz) and the regular appointments.

What makes her one-of-a-kind is that for the first time ever, Stuart installed BLACK PEARL crown inlays. Something special I came up with at NAMM.

Once I get her, you guys will be the first to see her. I'm calling her "The Black Pearl". How sweet is that?
 
#83
JPSBassist said:
My new NS-2 came back from the gloss clear-coat finisher today. On Tuesday she'll get her insides installed and she'll get her setup. I'm hoping to have her in my hands by next Friday (ONE WEEK!!!).

She is a one-of-a-kind. I don't mind saying this now. Besides the AAAAA Tube Quilt Maple body with black on black gloss stain... she'll have the Premium Birdseye Maple Fingerboard... USA 9V NS-2 Circuit (Haz) and the regular appointments.

What makes her one-of-a-kind is that for the first time ever, Stuart installed BLACK PEARL crown inlays. Something special I came up with at NAMM.

Once I get her, you guys will be the first to see her. I'm calling her "The Black Pearl". How sweet is that?
Click to expand...

Sweet name!!!!! Can't wait to see!!!!!!:hyper:
 
#84
JPSBassist said:
Regardless, glad you're enjoying your "Natalie" bass. And I may be strange in this regard but a refined beautiful woman with culture and intelligence will always win (my heart and mind) over the dirty - well travelled (wink wink) bimbos that cross my path each and every day.

Part of working in Hollywood... you get over the "eye candy" quickly. Give me a woman with a mind AND a great look. That also applies to basses for me. :D

Natalie would be my queen. No question.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know... I'm a bimbo junkie. (And probably lots of StingRay owners would say that the 'Ray is really the classy dame, and that the "Bimbo" tag belongs to Ritters).

But like Popeye said, "I yam what I yam". For me, culture and intelligence are for studio work. Maybe I'll keep the Spector for recording, (and, as a firm believer in naming your basses, I do think I'll keep the name "Natalie", if indeed, I do keep her) where subtle charm and refined nuance are more useful. But when I'm under the lights, I want bawdy and shocking, scandalous and prurient.

After all, how many excuses in life do you get to have a mistress? ;)
 
#85
So what's wrong here?

I WANT TO SEE SOME SEXY SPECTOR PHOTOS!!!

Here is my current "Harem" of mistresses, as the wife likes to refer to them (with the names she's given them):

Link Removed

Left to Right: 1988 NS-2A Fretless "Ebony" - NS-2JA-R "Ivory" - Euro4LX-Classic "Molasses" - USA ARC6-B Prototype (Serial #1) "Breathless" - Euro4LX-TW-35 (B,E,A,D) "Burtha" - USA NS-4 Water Cured Redwood "Red"

On the way: USA NS-2 BEM - "The Black Pearl" and USA NS-2 Gloss Black - Yet to be named. LOL.
 
#86
Hmmmm... Wow, y'know that gives me an idear... I really want a fretless.. I wonder what the local luthier would charge me to pull Natalie's teeth and give her a clean, unlined board? After all, the only reason I want frets is for slapping, and she doesn't like the rough stuff. Oh, this IS an intriguing notion...
 
#87
TimWilson said:
Hmmmm... Wow, y'know that gives me an idear... I really want a fretless.. I wonder what the local luthier would charge me to pull Natalie's teeth and give her a clean, unlined board? Oh, this IS an intriguing notion...
Click to expand...

Instead of a refret for my 23 year-old NS-2A... that's exactly what I did. Although I went with lines, it seemed easier to fill the former slots for the frets with maple instead of trying to match rosewood or use filler. Mine is top-coated in 7 hand-applied layers of epoxy (boat resin) so I can go with round-wounds if I choose (which I don't... I have Dogal Jaco System: Ultrapiatte carbon flats on it... best flats I've ever strung onto my bass, BTW).

I paid $500 for the neck/defret... which included a new tone circuit (I installed a new TonePump), buff and refinish. This bass is almost like new. And with active EMGs and the TonePump it's amazing sounding (BTW, I have the TP set to around 30-35% in this one. It's a beautiful playing and sounding bass.

This might be a great solution for Natalie. LOL.
 
#88
JPSBassist said:
Instead of a refret for my 23 year-old NS-2A... that's exactly what I did. Although I went with lines, it seemed easier to fill the former slots for the frets with maple instead of trying to match rosewood or use filler. Mine is top-coated in 7 hand-applied layers of epoxy (boat resin) so I can go with round-wounds if I choose (which I don't... I have Dogal Jaco System: Ultrapiatte carbon flats on it... best flats I've ever strung onto my bass, BTW).

I paid $500 for the neck/defret... which included a new tone circuit (I installed a new TonePump), buff and refinish. This bass is almost like new. And with active EMGs and the TonePump it's amazing sounding (BTW, I have the TP set to around 30-35% in this one. It's a beautiful playing and sounding bass.

This might be a great solution for Natalie. LOL.
Click to expand...

Yar... As soon as I can get the current owner nailed down to a price that works for me, I'll take her down to Rocket Music (the local fellers) and get a number.

I'm not a feared of pulling the frets myself —*I've done it before, and I know I can do a clean job of it — but I really want a totally clean board without even a hint of lines. I wonder if I could use a dark filler and then stain the whole board black to totally hide them? Man, I'm really thinkin' hard on this now...
 
#89
TimWilson said:
Yar... As soon as I can get the current owner nailed down to a price that works for me, I'll take her down to Rocket Music (the local fellers) and get a number.

I'm not a feared of pulling the frets myself —*I've done it before, and I know I can do a clean job of it — but I really want a totally clean board without even a hint of lines. I wonder if I could use a dark filler and then stain the whole board black to totally hide them? Man, I'm really thinkin' hard on this now...
Click to expand...

I'm sure that would work. What type of neck inlays does it have? Pearl dot or Crown?
 
#91
TimWilson said:
Crowns. But if I've understood the past few pages, aren't they really just stickers?

Scratch that. There's no way: They're perfectly flush with the board. Still wonder, then, how this could be an NS-2A...
Click to expand...

There were a dozen or so made towards the end of Kramer's run that were made with the crown inlays. Which the factory installed inlays are flush. But there are a number of NS-2A models that have been "aftermarket" installed with inlays.

The stickers are stickers... they peel right off. I never put a set on my NS-2A. I did have the pearl dots removed and my luthier did a great job matching the wood he put in to "fill" the holes. He then sanded and stained the entire fingerboard. This is why my NS-2A fretless doesn't have either.

I don't know... I think a fretless with the inlays would be nice looking. Definitely something different.
 
#92
JPSBassist said:
So what's wrong here?

I WANT TO SEE SOME SEXY SPECTOR PHOTOS!!!

Here is my current "Harem" of mistresses, as the wife likes to refer to them (with the names she's given them):

Link Removed

Left to Right: 1988 NS-2A Fretless "Ebony" - NS-2JA-R "Ivory" - Euro4LX-Classic "Molasses" - USA ARC6-B Prototype (Serial #1) "Breathless" - Euro4LX-TW-35 (B,E,A,D) "Burtha" - USA NS-4 Water Cured Redwood "Red"

On the way: USA NS-2 BEM - "The Black Pearl" and USA NS-2 Gloss Black - Yet to be named. LOL.
Click to expand...

Wow!!! You must love those Fenders, huh?;)






Amazing collection Patrick!
Take Care,
Brent
 
#93
Patrick, did you have to have a different nut installed in that Euro 4LX-TW-35 to accommodate the BEAD tuning? Also, are you using 5 string bass strings and just not using the G string?

I have been listening to a bunch of Rex Brown's playing lately and he seems to tune his bass to C# for a good amount of the Down material as well as some of the Pantera stuff also. I have been playing it on my Euro 5LX is the standard BEADG tuning but I am curious of everyone's experiences with drop tuning. I have seen threads on this board about how drop tuning is bad and I don't want this to get to that but since Rex does it with his Spector's I was just curious.

In the Diary of a Mad Band DVD by Down, Rex uses all NS-4's(i think) and I am wondering if it is a 35" scale or the standard 34" scale. He supposedly uses Dean Markley strings .45-.105 and I would think those would be a bit "floppy" tuning that low.
 
#94
Rex is awesome!

I have the stock bridge on my Euro 4 LX 35" and I've tuned all down to drop A with no problem.
 
#97
bassgiant15 said:
Rex is awesome!

I have the stock bridge on my Euro 4 LX 35" and I've tuned all down to drop A with no problem.
Click to expand...

bassgiant15 said:
Oh and I use DM .45-.105 strings too.
Click to expand...

Damn! That is great to know bassgiant15, thanks for the info. Was your intonation all out of whack going that low or did you have to make any neck adjustments?

Reading the string forum, people seem to be recommending E strings at like .140 for low tunings but that would be almost like playing something as thick as a high tension cable :) I have never tried Dean Markley strings but it sounds like I should have similar luck with the DR Hi-Beams I have been using. This just makes me want a 35" scale Euro 4 even more.
 
#98
No neck adjustments for me. I will say that I play in drop C most of the time though and my bass is setup for that tuning.
 
#99
delucajohn2000 said:
Patrick, did you have to have a different nut installed in that Euro 4LX-TW-35 to accommodate the BEAD tuning? Also, are you using 5 string bass strings and just not using the G string?

I have been listening to a bunch of Rex Brown's playing lately and he seems to tune his bass to C# for a good amount of the Down material as well as some of the Pantera stuff also. I have been playing it on my Euro 5LX is the standard BEADG tuning but I am curious of everyone's experiences with drop tuning. I have seen threads on this board about how drop tuning is bad and I don't want this to get to that but since Rex does it with his Spector's I was just curious.

In the Diary of a Mad Band DVD by Down, Rex uses all NS-4's(i think) and I am wondering if it is a 35" scale or the standard 34" scale. He supposedly uses Dean Markley strings .45-.105 and I would think those would be a bit "floppy" tuning that low.
Click to expand...

John... if you special order your bass and specify you want BEAD it'll come from the factory that way. My bass was a BPL demo bass.

Yes. I use the 5-string Spector string set... dropping the G-string.

I haven't noticed any issues with drop tuning on any of my 34" models. Some of the stuff I play calls for drop-D. And I've gone down to C#... No issues. Stuart, to my knowledge, hasn't done any 35"4-strings from the NY Shop. The Czech shop does the 35" 4-strings... so unless Rex was playing a Euro... which he does mostly these days... the bass he was playing a 34"

Sorry. Sent from my phone.
 
#100
JPSBassist said:
John... if you special order your bass and specify you want BEAD it'll come from the factory that way. My bass was a BPL demo bass.

Yes. I use the 5-string Spector string set... dropping the G-string.

I haven't noticed any issues with drop tuning on any of my 34" models. Some of the stuff I play calls for drop-D. And I've gone down to C#... No issues. Stuart, to my knowledge, hasn't done any 35"4-strings from the NY Shop. The Czech shop does the 35" 4-strings... so unless Rex was playing a Euro... which he does mostly these days... the bass he was playing a 34"

Sorry. Sent from my phone.
Click to expand...

Excellent info! Thank you very much Patrick.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back