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Spector Slap



This one sounds great, but that buckeye burl looks like random dirt.

I am one of the biggest Spector fans here, but I 100% agree with you. The buckeye burl on a lot of these CST's reminds me less of a fancy top and more of the plastic wood grain dashboard on my late grandmother's 1990 Buick LeSabre.
 
A bunch of related questions;

If I were to put together a P/J parts-bass Projekt and wanted to get close to that sound, could one get the separate components, pickups and preamp, without having to gut a perfectly good Spector? And if so, what would go into such a build? I'm seeing EMG X-series pickups¹, but the Spector Legacy preamp doesn't seem to exist "in the wild". Would a Darkglass Tone Capsule do the trick?

I understand that it probably won't sound exactly like a real-deal Spector, but without being able to sample it's physical ergonomics (specs like that work heavily into my ability to play one bass over another), I'm not about to pay that kind of money just to try something out. But, getting one of my Projekts to land somewhere in that neighborhood would be pretty cool, ja?

¹: Kinda vague and not very helpful, since there are several different "X" variations...doubly so with soapbars.
 
A bunch of related questions;

If I were to put together a P/J parts-bass Projekt and wanted to get close to that sound, could one get the separate components, pickups and preamp, without having to gut a perfectly good Spector? And if so, what would go into such a build? I'm seeing EMG X-series pickups¹, but the Spector Legacy preamp doesn't seem to exist "in the wild". Would a Darkglass Tone Capsule do the trick?

I understand that it probably won't sound exactly like a real-deal Spector, but without being able to sample it's physical ergonomics (specs like that work heavily into my ability to play one bass over another), I'm not about to pay that kind of money just to try something out. But, getting one of my Projekts to land somewhere in that neighborhood would be pretty cool, ja?

¹: Kinda vague and not very helpful, since there are several different "X" variations...doubly so with soapbars.


The EMG P/J pickups are a good call. Although the X-series tout a slightly less compressed output & great dynamic range, I've seen some review comments that they might be slightly darker in tone than the non-X pickups. There are a few sound samples on YT between the two. So, something to consider there maybe, I suppose. X-Series might be a better for matching more recent & current Spectors. The non-X pickups might lend itself better to older Spector tones. Personally, I don't have any experience with the X-series, so...grain of salt, and all that.

As far as preamps go, Dark Glass gets a lot of love around here from what I've seen, with everything they make. The Tone Capsule preamp seems to be highly spoken of as well.

I would say also have a look at an LHZ preamp - it's cloned specifically after a Spector HAZ Lab preamp.

I think this any of these combo/setups would be extremely Spector-sounding. Best of luck! :thumbsup:
 
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