Spector Club Pt. 3 (Insert Clever Title Here)

[Ian Perge]

Well this must be the red headed stepchild. I'm thinking about coating the fingerboard like yours to send this one over the top.

Do you slap it around as the name would imply? Seriously, that's a beautiful bass, and it has the pickup setup that I described when listing what I would use if "limited" to active EMGs - a J/TW.

I'll save myself the time and simply let you know to do a search under my username and "Spector Epoxy" to get my opinions on epoxy coatings in general and HG Thor's work in specifics. Needless to say, it's really high. Quite possibly the best decision I've made in the realm of purchasing a bass or something major that would effect the tone.

If I may ask, how would you describe the difference between your USA Neck-Through and Bolt-On fretless Spectors? As you might be able to tell, I'm your atypical Spector player who prefers their bolt-on tone to the "Classic Spector" neck-through sound. I haven't gotten the opportunity to try a US B.O. yet, but the opinion of someone who owned and played both construction styles would help a great deal if I decide one day that I'd like to "move up" to a US B.O. with it's different woods, hardware (especially the change from the traditional Spector bridge to the custom Hipshot A) and "handmade" construction.

 

[mobis.fr]

any chance to get a soundsample of one of the spectors?
connected2aj? bobunit? ian?

 

[bobunit]

If I may ask, how would you describe the difference between your USA Neck-Through and Bolt-On fretless Spectors? As you might be able to tell, I'm your atypical Spector player who prefers their bolt-on tone to the "Classic Spector" neck-through sound. I haven't gotten the opportunity to try a US B.O. yet, but the opinion of someone who owned and played both construction styles would help a great deal if I decide one day that I'd like to "move up" to a US B.O. with it's different woods, hardware (especially the change from the traditional Spector bridge to the custom Hipshot A) and "handmade" construction.

Here are the specs for my two fretless Spectors

Spector NS5XL
Body: Quilted Maple wings
Neck: 3 pc Maple
Fingerboard: Ebony
Pickups: EMG DC 45
Preamp: EMG BTC
Tuners: Gotoh
Bridge: Spector
Finish: High Gloss
Currently strung with DR Black Beaties

Spector NS5JH
Body: 2 pc Quilted Maple
Neck: 3 pc Maple
Fingerboard: Rosewood
Pickups: Neck-EMG Jazz, Bridge-EMG CS-TW
Preamp: Aguilar OBP1
Tuners: Gotoh
Bridge: Hipshot B style
Finish: Satin Oil
Currently strung with DR Red Devils

First off, they both feel like a Spector. They balance pretty well when strapped on. The difference? The bolt on weighs, at least, a pound less than the neck though. My back certainly likes that.

I like both the Aguilar and the EMG pre, but prefer the control layout of the neck thru. I prefer Vol/Blend over Vol/Vol and shelving over boost only. Although the Aguilar is set up for 9v, it does seem to be a bit hotter than the EMG. It makes me wonder how it would be at 18v.

Tone. The bolt on with the Aggy, to my ears, is more agressive sounding with a more pronounced midrange. The single/dual option of the CS-TW pickup is very cool. It has a decent J sound in single mode, but pull up on the push/pull pot and it's all Spector. I like it so much, I am considering doing this mod to my other Spectors.
The Neck though seems to have a more refined sound with the typical sparkling highs and thumping lows that are associated with Spectors. Using the blend control brings out the mids. Live the neck though sits in the mix quite well, but certainly can get aggressive when you dig in. The bolt on definitely likes to be out front, but can be tamed depending on how the controls are set.

I dig the Spector bridge on the neck thru over the Hipshot B stlye. If the bolt on was a current model with the A, I would be much happier. I will say, I don't dig the weight of the Spector bridge and have looked into a Spector Brass/Zinc alloy replacement (PJ stated it is a bit lighter).

I like both the high gloss and the oil finishes. Both necks are comfortable and the gloss has never felt sticky. I do like the feel of satin though.

Does that help?

 

[bobunit]

any chance to get a soundsample of one of the spectors?
connected2aj? bobunit? ian?

I would love to, but I have been fighting with my Pro Tools setup. I am going to try out Garage Band tonight and see how that works.

 

[Breakerfall]

Breaker what preamp did you replace with the East?

It was the 18v Spector cut/boost treble and bass one not the TonePump.

 

[Breakerfall]

Absolutely stunning ! I've never wanted a USA Spector more, lol. I've only seen one other quilted Spector that I've wanted as much as this one and the black and gold combo is dead sexy. So tell us, exactly how awesome is the East pre?

The East U-Retro has turned this stunner into a truly brilliant bass. A guitarist friend of mine came to see me playing at a show last Friday and he doesn't really know anything about basses but he commented to me about how incredibly yummy my sound was. He said it cuts through the mix with a zing and a growl that never gets overbearing. I've never felt this way about an instrument before (I've owned about 30 high quality basses, Lakland, US Fender Custom Shop, Stingray, Roscoe, Spector Euros, etc etc) I've now been spoiled and everything else just dosn't come close. This is the first instrument I've owned that ticks all the boxes and a few more that I never even knew about.

 

[connected2aj]

I totally understand the jealousy Ian. If I do decide to unload it, you'll be the first to know.

I'm a little jealous of your fretless though, it looks pretty bad ass with the Thor epoxy.

As for audio clips of the fretless, I don't have any up yet, but I may have one that I might be posting. I'll keep you posted Mobis.fr

 

[mobis.fr]

thanks guys. looking forward to it


btw. my second spector (nscr4) arrived today - pics later today

 

[aikakone]

Between bobunit, connected2aj and myself, one would think that Spector only produced fretless basses in blue...

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Hey! My fretless Spector is blue, too. It just hasn't been given the HGThor treatment. It was a conversion, though, from a previous owner. Still, no complaints at all. It's beautiferous, as all Spectors are.

Link Removed

 

[RHCP250]

It was the 18v Spector cut/boost treble and bass one not the TonePump.

How would you describe the differences in sound between the pre's?

 

[mobis.fr]

here it is:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

NSCR4 - all maple - 18V aguilar OBP 1 with blending.
cleaned and strung with some chromes - sounds amazing.
looks more yellowish than in real. its a satin clear finish.


just played along with the ac/dc - bonfire record. fits perfect for that kind of music

 

[bobunit]

here it is:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

NSCR4 - all maple - 18V aguilar OBP 1 with blending.
cleaned and strung with some chromes - sounds amazing.
looks more yellowish than in real. its a satin clear finish.


just played along with the ac/dc - bonfire record. fits perfect for that kind of music

Sweet bass. (You might want to water your plant )

 

[mobis.fr]

that plant was already dead when i moved in... a year ago ^^


i just played over some headphones and garageband. the growl is even with flats enormous!! but i'm not satisfied with the blending option. each pickup soloed is louder then both together if it is possible i'm going to change that. my volume/volume spector hasn't that problem.

 

[Kwesi]

that plant was already dead when i moved in... a year ago ^^


i just played over some headphones and garageband. the growl is even with flats enormous!! but i'm not satisfied with the blending option. each pickup soloed is louder then both together if it is possible i'm going to change that. my volume/volume spector hasn't that problem.

I'm not exactly experienced in the way of preamps but that sounds like a preamp problem. Post it in the Electronics forum and I'm sure you'll get someone who can help you out to chime in.

 

[sparkyness]

My Spector Euro 4LX....

Link Removed

 

[Breakerfall]

How would you describe the differences in sound between the pre's?

There's no comparison between the two preamps, they are as different to each other as a Porsche 911 is to a Toyota Corolla.

The East has Bass boost and cut, treble boost and cut and mid boost and cut with a sweep for a start compared to just treble and bass boost/cut on the Spector unit. The East has huge versatility and massive headroom and really brings out the characteristics of the instrument that you know are there and that the original just can't do justice to. This bass gurgles and growls, screams and thumps, it does everything very well.

The East also has a passive selector which bypasses the preamp but I've tucked that switch away inside as it's redundant with EMGs IMO.

 

[dnarock]

I hate being broke there are soo many Spector's on the classifieds I want one so bad

 

[RHCP250]

There's no comparison between the two preamps, they are as different to each other as a Porsche 911 is to a Toyota Corolla.

The East has Bass boost and cut, treble boost and cut and mid boost and cut with a sweep for a start compared to just treble and bass boost/cut on the Spector unit. The East has huge versatility and massive headroom and really brings out the characteristics of the instrument that you know are there and that the original just can't do justice to. This bass gurgles and growls, screams and thumps, it does everything very well.

The East also has a passive selector which bypasses the preamp but I've tucked that switch away inside as it's redundant with EMGs IMO.

Thanks for the info man. I tend to leave my pre-amps flat 99% of the time, would you say the set flat, the East is more or less snarly than the Spector 9v?

 

[Kwesi]

Man, I just played on an SSD that was much like Breakerfall's NS5-XL and it was easily the best Spector I've ever played on! I never heard EMG DCs sound so good. It was pretty heavy but not enough to stop me from wanting it bad! With any luck I may be able to snag it within the month . I haven't had the best of luck lately but I hope this works out.

 

[shuu]

Actually I believe Mike's signature basses are all passive. I think there is a clip on youtube where he explains his choice for the passive electronics. If I remember right, I think he just didn't want to worry about changing the batteries on the road.

Yes everything in Mike's basses are passive. It didn't have anything to do with changing batteries. The decision was all about tone. He was playing another bass that was passive and wanted to convert one of his US models to passive to see how it sounded, loved it and converted all of them to passive, which led to his decision for passive in his model.