Oh I remember the B.O.B. very well...and wanted one so badly, but alas I was in college, and broke most of the time, and even if I could have afforded one there was nowhere in my neck of the woods to get one, and even fewer stores that had the slightest idea what a Spector was....LOL.
I realize the Coda is the new Bolt-On-Bass...but to be honest, and you can hate me for saying this...to me, it is very uninspired, and just seems to be Spector's attempt to capitalize on what everyone else is doing. I'm sure its a wonderful jazz bass, and I'm very glad that Mike Kroeger got the the first one, and that Spector can't make them fast enough...but I'm just not ever gonna shell out that kinda dough for a Jazz bass copy...but then again, I'm not a jazz bass guy.
No I totally understand what you are saying and I feel the exact same way... in regards to the Coda is not something I'd purchase or want to own. I'm not a J-bass player either.
But I have a good friend who is a great jazz bassist and all he plays are old Fender J's and his 1967 Mustang bass. And he's seen and played my NS-4 and other NS-Body Spectors and they don't do a thing for him. He doesn't care for them.
And he's dying to get his hands on a Coda. He was touring when I had one here and missed the chance.
What I can say is that yes, it seems uninspired, but to someone who lives, eats, sleeps Jazz, that 1962 Fender J is the end-all-be-all. And you can buy a lot of very expensive... let's call them tributes. Because they are way too nice to be "knock-offs" It's that formula of shape, materials, electronics that makes that bass sound and play the way it does.
So if that's what you are into, you're very picky about anything that's not the original deal. And builders can't stray too far from the original formula before they have something that isn't going to sound or play the way these dedicated bassists expect it to play. So the designs are all going to be similar in a way. They have to be.
What Stuart does and does better than anyone I know, is add his own spin to whatever he does. And his ability to construct necks that you want to slap someone over (because they are so good) is mind-blowing. So he's put his signature flair for sound, tone, playability and impeccible contruction quality into this well-known formula and come up with something just different enough that it's a breath of fresh air.
And I watched two dozen hard-core, well known J players all sit down and have that look of... "OK here's another one..." and not be excited... only to watch their faces light up and them get excited playing it.
Think about what makes the NS so special to you... the Coda is doing that for the "J" players. And it's just further proof to me that Stuart has a rare gift when it comes to building instruments.
So I'm a believer. I have no doubt the Coda is to the J world what the NS is to us neck-thru active/active junkies.
And just as those J guys are totally unimpressed with the NS... it's natural for us to be "ho-hum" about the Coda.
My thing is that looking at pricing... you're getting a hand-made top quality J for thousands less than some of the other big names in that market. And it's hand-made by Stuart. So you can't go wrong with it in my book.
