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Spector Club Pt. 3 (Insert Clever Title Here)

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#781
Just had to post my USA Spectors! My All maple Spector Euro 5 is also the cat's meow, just no pictures yet.

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I keep thinking about parting with the neck through since the Euro sounds almost as good and I don't mind carting the Euro around. I know I'd regret it.
 
#782
NKUSigEp said:
Should have a Rebop 5-DLX coming in soon which I plan on refinishing the body white and adding Nordstrand big singles and an Aggie OBP-1 w/a push-pull for active/passive. :D
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Hey, that's my plan!! I've had the idea to retrofit Big Singles and OBP-3s in my 4, 5 fretted & 5 fretless ReBops as I was purchasing them over two years ago - it took a while to get the money together as every time I was there one of my "Dream Basses" popped up at an unbeatable price, but in September I ordered the Big Singles (custom in EMG-sized shells and a 5% underwind for slightly more aggressive mids and a slightly less "thick" tone) and received them a few weeks ago. Now it's just a matter of having them installed, but that should be done as well within a few weeks as well. Now I have motivation: to be the first TBer to post a report/sound clips of a Spector/Nordstrand/Aguilar setup. :D Drop me a PM if you're interested about ordering, pricing, time-frame, etc...

NKUSigEp said:
In regards to the NS stuff above, wraithwrider, NS simply indicated the Ned Steinberger body design. Next is the number which indicates how many strings are on it, and then CR which means Czech Republic, and if it is labelled "FM" that means it has a figured maple body...
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Slight correct as Mr. Basstard alluded to: NS-2s are 4-strings with EMG P/J setups, NS-4s are 4-strings but with various types of EMG soapbar pickups over the years (for years it was DCs, but it looks like Spector's switched over to TW Single/Dual-Coil model) and then it moves up by number of strings, and least current US-built models. The Euro neck-thru basses are designated Euro4LX-Classic, which have the EMG-P/J setup and the Euro4LX TW which have the TW single/dual coils. The Euro5LXs and 6LXs have EMG-TW pups.
 
#783
Maybe this will solve the last piece of the puzzle. Is that what a TonePump looks like?

The seller told me he had switched out to all Bart stuff then restored the original guts (such as they are). That would account for the splice in the battery wire. It looks like it was pulled and replaced all at once.

The serial no appears under the yellow paper, nowhere else.

Thanks everyone, for all your help in identifying my new addition.
 
#784
If I remember right, that's what my Tonepump looks like. If you can A/B it next to a Spector without a Tonepump, you'll be able to hear the difference immediately.

My suggestion is to use your ears to decide if you like the Tonepump or not, not your eyes reading message boards.:hiding:

bassclef112 said:
Maybe this will solve the last piece of the puzzle. Is that what a TonePump looks like?

The seller told me he had switched out to all Bart stuff then restored the original guts (such as they are). That would account for the splice in the battery wire. It looks like it was pulled and replaced all at once.

The serial no appears under the yellow paper, nowhere else.

Thanks everyone, for all your help in identifying my new addition.
Click to expand...
 
#785
bassclef112 said:
Maybe this will solve the last piece of the puzzle. Is that what a TonePump looks like?

The seller told me he had switched out to all Bart stuff then restored the original guts (such as they are). That would account for the splice in the battery wire. It looks like it was pulled and replaced all at once.

The serial no appears under the yellow paper, nowhere else.

Thanks everyone, for all your help in identifying my new addition.
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OBP-1
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Tone Pump
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Aguilar is a longer (and clearly stamped "Aguilar") box. Although this is the one they made for Spector at the time. The current market version is more cubed and 18vt. I've heard this Spector version has an internal voltage doubler to work with a single 9vt.

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His sure looks like the Tone Pump to me. But given the bass' age (1998) it certainly can't be original equipment.
 
#786
It looks exactly like the TonePump in your pic PhatBasstard and it is definitely boost only, hence no detents. It is clearly not original based on the timeline. The seller says he bought the bass in '98 - quite frankly I'm not going to get into it with him. He was a pleasure to deal with in all respects. It is what it is and I don't really care one way or the other. I'm a player not a collector.

Thanks again everyone for your help.

NS2A wrote:
My suggestion is to use your ears to decide if you like the Tonepump or not, not your eyes reading message boards.
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I learned a long time ago that one man's ceiling is another man's floor. First gig with my regular rig tonight. I'll try it in a few venues and I'll go from there.

From what I gather here it looks as though quite a few have switched out their pre. Clearly the TonePump is not for everyone. I happen to like Aguilars myself and have them in several basses.:D
 
#793
PhatBasstard said:
Just today got this Rebop 5 DLX that I'm thinking about painting white and joining my NS4CRFM and.....hey?!?
WOULD YOU PLEASE GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!!

I don't remember my old NS2 having only two strings on it. :eyebrow:

:hiding::p;)
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You're old NS2 probably wasn't made in the Czech Republic too. I was referring to the NS-CR(FM) basses only. I guess I could have clarified but at least it made sense in my head LOL.

And that makes at least 3 of us wanting a white Rebop 5-DLX. Are you considering swapping out the pickups for Nordstrands too?
 
#794
NKUSigEp said:
Your old NS2 probably wasn't made in the Czech Republic too. I was referring to the NS-CR(FM) basses only. I guess I could have clarified but at least it made sense in my head LOL.

And that makes at least 3 of us wanting a white Rebop 5-DLX. Are you considering swapping out the pickups for Nordstrands too?
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Nope! It was a USA...:bawl:

I read an article somewhere (or maybe saw an interview video) where Stuart said something to the affect of the NS4CR(FM)'s being improperly named due to the PJ configuration being the NS2 in the USA's and the double soap bars being the NS4 configuration. This always bothered me too, so I've always been in the habit of calling the (on paper) NS4CR(FM)'s, actually NS2CR(FM)'s. Must bother others as I often see them listed or refered to this way also.

No doubt for the Euro-LX series they are absolutely doing it the way you stated.

As far as the pups, I'd probably switch the pre first. The Tone Pump doesn't sound bad, but the boost only kills me.
I'm still baffled why Spector (first with the OBP-1 that's in my NSCR, then with the Tone Pump) ever thought this configuration was a good idea. :eyebrow:
 
#797
I got to gig my '98 NS-CR this weekend and for my tastes the TonePump just isn't for me. It didn't sound bad by itself but I found myself having to apply more EQ than I'm used to using in the mix and I still didn't care for the results.

So, an OBP-3 SK/PP is on the way. I fully expect this to do the trick.

Being my first Spector what I did notice is the actual comfort of playing it. It sits perfectly and the neck and feel are excellent. I am looking forward to getting the sound where i want it.:D
 
#798
jbrew73 said:
hey guys with hazlab preamps i have a few questions for you.

where do you tend to set your tone controls? do you just tweak them as needed or max them out?

does your bass get noisy if you boost the treble? my bass has a noticeable amout of white noise???. sounds like shhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
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I run the Treble flat (b/c I get enough grind and bite when I use a pick) and the Bass just boosted like 1-2 ticks on my '85 NS2.

Sometimes I'll blend 100% to the P pickup and boost the Bass a tad more to get some real "oomph", but I really like the Haz pre on this. It's not overly aggressive and lets the Spector's natural sound really come through, IMO. Plus at 9V it doesn't fry your preamp!!! :hiding::bassist::p
 
#799
Since we're talking pre's...has anyone A/B'd the Hazlab pre against the copy of the Hazlab pre (with real EMG's) in the old NS2A's? I've had both, just not at the same time.
 
#800
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NKUSigEp said:
Why not though? How often do you find yourself cutting bass and treble?
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QUOTE=bobunit;8117611]I do quite often :hiding:[/QUOTE]
Me too. I'll give you a prime example:

When we do Beatles tunes that have that very obvious Hofner tone, I achieve that by rolling the balance almost all (if not all, depending on the room) the way to the bridge pickup and rolling the treble most if not all the way off and occasionally (again, depending on the room) the bass a little.

It works, but it ain't easy making a very high tech Spector sound like a very low tech Hofner. :smug:
 
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