• 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 freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

spector question

What about your basses do you not like or is not working for you? Music Man basses are quality sounding instruments. Is there something about it you don't like that you want the Spector? Or are you trying to get into playing 5 string maybe?
 
Should I get a spector legend? I play rock to alternative and don't know much except they discontinued these. Also go with 4 or 5 string?

Disclaimer: I am a consultant for SPECTOR® and manage their official website and own the unofficial SPECTOR® news website.

OK. First, the Legends have not been discontinued. Just the Set-Neck version of the Legend known as the Legend Custom. The bolt-on neck version of the Legend, called the Legend Classic is very much alive and in production.

I am a 4 string player. I rarely need to dive down into Low-B territory, but when I do I have a 4-string SPECTOR® that has the 35" scale (which is needed to get tension on that fat B cable) and it is tuned B,E,A,D....

So 4-string vs. 5-string is a very personal thing based on your preference. I was a guitarist before I was a bassist and I have to tell you that I don't like the width of 5-String necks. So I'd rather stick with a 4-string and use alternative tunings if needed.

What I love about SPECTOR® basses... and I started playing them which is how I got involved as a consultant with them... I fell in love with their basses and said, "I really want to work with these guys" and I contacted them and luckily for me my timing was perfect. I've worked with them 2 years now and love every minute of it. They're really cool guys and they are all musicians. So they always come at the design of their instruments from the following things:

1) Does it sound good?
2) Does it feel good when you play it?
3) Is it built to last and can it handle the rigors of daily touring?
4) Does it look good?

And those things sort of drive everything they do.

The Legends are great basses. They sound good and I love the necks on them. I say that Stuart has a knack for designing great feeling necks that are fast and feel great when you pick the bass up.

The neck and the overall feel is more important to me than the sound. But that's my personal thing because I can plug almost any bass or guitar into my computer and adjust the tone into almost anything I want with the engineering/sound/studio software out there.

In a live setting they do sound great. I film and shoot photos of a lot of live acts and SPECTOR basses cut through the mix in a way that gives the bassist some latitude for making their performance either known (as in the case of Doug Wimbish) or more traditional and less in-your-face, such as John Montagna who travels with a bunch of 1960's pop groups such as "The Association", "Mitch Ryder", and "The Turtles".

So there's a large range of tonal possibilities.

They're made great and they last. Doug Wimbish's main bass is still his 1987 SPECTOR NS-2. And that bass has travelled more than a million miles on world tours around the globe in the past 20+ years.

The most important thing I like to recommend to anyone who wants a particular brand of bass... doesn't matter if it's a SPECTOR® or MusicMan (which BTW, is my second-favorite bass... I love the old classic Stingrays)... Try and find a music store in driving distance of your location and go and PLAY ONE in person.

I'm never an advocate of buying an expensive bass... or any guitar for that matter, without you trying it out first. SPECTORs aren't for everyone. And that's cool. You need to get the bass that best speaks to you as a musician. I don't care about the brand so long as it makes you glad that you get to play it. That's the most important thing. If you love your instrument, you're going to become a better musician.

So seriously try and see if you can get your hands on one before buying it blind off the internet.

You can always PM me if you have any specific questions. I'd be glad to answer them!
 
I love the sound Robbie Merrill has and I know he uses the euro but I have heard nothing but good things about spector. Which it may not be the bass for me. More just wanting peoples take on the. I am also looking at a fender p bass deluxe special

Robbie's sound (I know Robbie) is a mix of a few things. He plays the neck-thru Euro4LX models (he's a lefty but that doesn't change the tone).

He has Active EMG P/J pups and the SPECTOR® 9volt Active Tone Circuit called a "TonePump" which is standard in the Europe Series basses.

Then he pumps everything through GK heads and cabs. I also like his tone and almost got a GK setup... but I ended up going with Ampeg... which is that classic combination of SPECTOR and amp that most of the famous tone for SPECTOR from the 1980's came from.

I actually use Genz-Benz now. It's just really clean and I like clean signal that I can color with other technology... I do studio stuff mainly.

There is a tonal difference between the passive pickup, active tone-circuit bolt-on SPECTOR Legend Classic and the Neck-thru active pup, active circuit Euro Series.

You might want to see if you can find a good deal on a Euro4LX if you really want to get something like Robbie's tone.
 
...I bought my first Spector blind. As well as my second. :ninja:

And like you my friend I'm sure if he did he'd love it. But I'm trying to be fair and not "push product"... so to speak.

I'm my opinion there's no other bass for me. And I live by that... I have 4 Spectors and nothing else. But in all honesty it's not a cheap (meaning price-wise) thing to just throw money at.

I'd rather someone try one out and be sure they really love it before buying one blind off the web and for some reason not 100% being thrilled with it.