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Spector Club Part 6

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#822
Kwesi said:
Spector needs to hurry up and finish the Coda-5 :(
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Coda-5 #001 is sitting in a case behind me to be loaded in my car and driven to the show this morning.

:-)

5 more will be finished in the next 2-3 weeks.

The Coda is a VERY nice J. It's the nicest J I've ever played. Everything you'd expect from Stuart.

This particular one will be displayed but not touched... it's already found a home.
 
#823
bunkaroo said:
Any tips on just how much I should adjust the trim on my Euro 5LX? The link for the Tonepump on the Spector site is dead and I haven't found too much info Googling.
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Can you send me the dead link please?
That's something that needs to be fixed and I'm the guy who does that.

And Phat is correct. I have set all of my Euro Spectors with the TonePump to a little over 1/2 way... say 60%. and it brings the bass into "the sweet spot" as far as my ears are concerned.

I've done this with the Euro models at BPL this weekend. We'll see how the crowd reacts to that.
 
#824
JPSBassist said:
Can you send me the dead link please?
That's something that needs to be fixed and I'm the guy who does that.

And Phat is correct. I have set all of my Euro Spectors with the TonePump to a little over 1/2 way... say 60%. and it brings the bass into "the sweet spot" as far as my ears are concerned.

I've done this with the Euro models at BPL this weekend. We'll see how the crowd reacts to that.
Click to expand...

Here ya go:

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On the pot, is there anything special I need to adjust it? It's just that white dial inside the blue square, correct? I'm assuming it's 100% open right now.
 
#826
JPSBassist said:
Just a quick note for Marchone...

Played the USA NS-2 for about 20 minutes. And man... Beautiful playing and sounding instrument. Different sounding than my NS-4... which I expected. Played the same. So that's a good thing.

Then I played the Forte-4. Wow. It's actually a little heavier than either the NS-2 or NS-4. The action, neck, playability, everything was the same. The tone was significantly different. Much more powerful. Much deeper. The NS-2... with the 9v USA (Haz)... I could turn the treble all the way down, bass all the way up and the tone was still not flat... not bassy-muted like you'd expect.

Do that with the Forte-4 and the Aguilar circuit just bottoms everything out into a deep, somewhat muted sounding roar.

I can't say this is bad either. It's definately a deeper version of the traditional NS-2. Metal guys should LOVE the Forte-4.

Both are really, really nice. I actually like the black hardware on the Forte. And the neck side dots are very bright. A nice contrast that the NS-2 and NS-4 don't have. Their side dots are a little more blended. ....

Scratch that. I see why. It looks as if the side dots on the Forte are a little larger. Which makes sense.

Anyway. My first, gut reaction to these basses are:

NS-2, Forte-4... feel the same, play the same, sound very different. The Forte coming out more powerful, especially on the low end, the NS-2 a little better balanced but with less tonal range.

It's nice you can order the Forte with the USA 9v (Haz) circuit. IMHO, put one of those in the Forte and you have an NS-2 without neck inlays at $2,000 less.

Both are excellent instruments.
Click to expand...

Thanks, JP. I appreciate it.
 
#827
OK since there really aren't any markings to tell where the trim was set initially, by finding the endpoints it seemed like it might have been somewhere between 80-90% open. Does that seem consistent with how they normally come from the factory? I did put it a little up from where I thought the centerpoint was. Gotta wait to hear it through my full rig but it seems better through my practice pod.
 
#828
bunkaroo said:
OK since there really aren't any markings to tell where the trim was set initially, by finding the endpoints it seemed like it might have been somewhere between 80-90% open. Does that seem consistent with how they normally come from the factory? I did put it a little up from where I thought the centerpoint was. Gotta wait to hear it through my full rig but it seems better through my practice pod.
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Yes... that sounds about right.

And I do the same thing, find the two end points and then guess the 50-60% range.

You should see a big difference. I adjusted the only Spector EuroLX model with the TonePump at BPL yesterday when I set it up and did the same... about 50-60% and it sounded amazing coming through a huge Ampeg rig at the Ampeg booth.

Spector Artist Nicki Tedesco ran that bass through its paces and made an awesome amount of noise... in a good way. She formed a little crowd of people watching her. She liked the bass so much she's decided to get one just like it: Euro4LX-35-TW with BEAD tuning.
 
#830
Here are some highlights from day one:

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Spector VP PJ Rubal (who is an incredibly talented bassist) tests the new BIRDSEYE MAPLE FINGERBOARD NS-2 as we are setting up for the day. Starting in Jan 2011, all usa NS-Body basses (neck-thru and bolt-on) will have a birdseye maple fingerboard option. And they are beautiful.
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Spector Artist Christian Waiau of Kill the Masses (Talkbass DieChris) tries out the USA NS-5XL Birdseye Maple Fingerboard model for a test run. I fear I did a grave disservice to my good friend Chris... He's got NS-5XL GAS really, really bad now.

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Spector Artist and all around nice guy Andy Irvine also plays the NS-5XL Birdseye Maple Fingerboard model. It was one of the most popular models for demos during the day.

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Spector Artist Nicky Tedesco screds at the Ampeg Booth on a massive double stack of Quad 8" cab on top of a 12" cab on a Euro4LX-TW-35 with BEAD tuning. I set this bass up the night before, dropping the action and adjusting the truss... I also set the TonePump to about 50-60%. This was another very popular demo models during the day. This bass sounds and plays awesome!

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Look at that stack she's rockin' through. It was an attention getter and that bass sounded awesome.

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Jazz Great Oskar Cartaya gave the new Coda-5 a test run and was very impressed. Actually every bassist that sat down and played it or the Coda-4 were... "Blown away" by them. One bassist said, "It's hand's down the nicest Jazz I've ever touched."
I am a believer myself after playing both. As special as the NS is... Stuart has the magic touch with basses.
My solid impression is that the Coda took the day as the most popular, most positively commented bass at the show. And in all honesty, until I touched one I didn't get it. But I do now. This is seriously, one really nice sounding and playing bass.
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Bassists were drawn to the booth to hear for themselves what a maple fingerboard NS-2 and NS-5XL sounded like. It was a winner. People liked the brighter sound.

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Coda-4, Coda-5, NS-5XL - NS-2 - NS-5H2 (Birdseye Maple Fingerboard) and an NS-4H2-EX Burled Redwood top were just a few of the USA basses available for a demo.
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Our booth had other surprises, like a FORTE-5X (that's right SpectorBird lovers... the FORTE-5X... and of course the other Spectors that are a little more rare like the NS-5H2 Fretless...
An impressive amount of USA Spectors (only two Euros, one with an Aguilar OBP-2) and one Legend Classic (a six)... everything else was USA.
We're there again tomorrow from 10-4... it's not too late to stop in and play a USA Spector!

Going to take a hot shower and go to bed. I'm tired!
 
#831
Am I misremembering, or wasn't it stated semi-recently that Spector wasn't going to do Maple boards due to their basses being very bright already (or something along those lines)? :hmm:

I'm semi-dissappointed. I was really hoping to see wide 5 and 6 neck-throughs. :(
 
#834
That NS-5H2 in the dark red stain is giving me some serious GAS. Is there a huge difference between the maple and pau ferro fretboards? I'm only asking having never had any experience with a maple neck.

Otherwise, thank you so much JP for showing us this, you've definetely afflicted many with GAS now though!:p
 
#835
Callum_Carcass said:
That NS-5H2 in the dark red stain is giving me some serious GAS. Is there a huge difference between the maple and pau ferro fretboards?
Click to expand...

IME, harder fretboards like ebony or maple give a snappier, brighter, edgier sound than pau ferro. Although I'm not sure exactly how this will impact the already snappy Spectors, I'm thnking it will naturally bring out more of the upper mids.
 
#837
Kitsapbass said:
I know I'm gonna get hammered for asking but....

any chance that Coda 5 is a 34" scale?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about the scale lenght. Literally Stuart finished it, packaged it and shipped it overnight to us. We got it late Friday afternoon.

The Serial is #001.
It obviously has 20 frets. But I would imagine the scale would be longer than the Coda-4.

Great question. I'll find out today and report back this afternoon after the show ends.
 
#838
KsPiNeSh said:
IME, harder fretboards like ebony or maple give a snappier, brighter, edgier sound than pau ferro. Although I'm not sure exactly how this will impact the already snappy Spectors, I'm thnking it will naturally bring out more of the upper mids.
Click to expand...

It is much brighter. Adding that the two neck-through models are also gloss finished. Including the front of the fingerboard.

The mids are funny. They sort of get lost a little. So you need to boost them. That's what PJ and I have been doing with the Auggie amp we've got set up for the demo.

I'll be honest. I'm not a fan of the maple on the NS-2. It looses that special growl that the NS-2 is known for. But on the NS-5XL... that bass sounds really nice.

PJ and I both commented on the difference. It's a much better fit on the 18v dual humbucker NS-5XL. Same with the NS-5H2... sounds really nice.

That'd be my take. So a maple fingerboard NS-4 would probably sound good. Just the P/J and 9v loses something in my opinion.

I'm a purist. The NS-2 is perfect just the way it is. That's a formula that works. No need to change the ingredients.
 
#839
JPSBassist said:
I'm not sure about the scale lenght. Literally Stuart finished it, packaged it and shipped it overnight to us. We got it late Friday afternoon.

The Serial is #001.
It obviously has 20 frets. But I would imagine the scale would be longer than the Coda-4.

Great question. I'll find out today and report back this afternoon after the show ends.
Click to expand...

Thanks man for getting to this so quick. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a 35" scale...I've had them before, and I just can't hang switching between the two, and I love my J bass too much to quit that one...

On the other hand, those BEM fingerboards look incredible!!!! I'd love to get my hands on a NS-2 like that!
 
#840
PhatBasstard said:
Am I misremembering, or wasn't it stated semi-recently that Spector wasn't going to do Maple boards due to their basses being very bright already (or something along those lines)? :hmm:

I'm semi-dissappointed. I was really hoping to see wide 5 and 6 neck-throughs. :(
Click to expand...

I don't know about if that was ever "officially" said or not. I think Stuart sometimes likes to try new things to see if they are an improvement or offer a new tone or sound capability to the many artists who choose to play Spectors.
Honestly, the NS-2 plays incredible. It's a USA NS-2. And it's drop dead beautiful. As are the other two Maple Fingerboard models.
Like I stated above. Now that I've had a couple of days to play it, hear it through several different amps. It just doesn't have the NS-2 sound enough for me to ever personally want one.
Not saying there won't be lots of bassist who won't fall in love it with. We had several play it yesterday and say they'd been waiting for Spector to do a bass like this. So it's being well recieved.
I think the maple is a very nice addition to the NS-5.

And the NS-5H2 Maple Fingerboard model is a wide-spacing model. I don't know if there are or ever will be any plans for a wide-spacing neck-thru.

My guess would be that if attempted, it would come from the Euro shop first. It's easier to test neck/body changes there than at the USA workshop.
 
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