Al Krow

Yeah - those Sad knobs are just the ticket!

Nice - and a very tasteful finish. Are those standard 'Berg knobs?

All true! Plus I love having the option of bridge pup grit, particularly for low B string work, so I've steered clear of solo P pup basses.

Well if you're anything like the rest of us, I would be incredibly foolish to bet against that! Don't worry, if you check the OP to this thread there's plenty of space to add additional BBs if your collection grows 😉 What is slightly intriguing is the preponderance of BB owners with names / avatars beginning with M, which you're definitely a mirror of...

Congrats! The PH is definitely proving to be a MASSIVE hit with BC'ers. I'll add you to the "wall of shame"

Hi Oliver - that's a really good question! It's actually one I had given a fair bit of thought to previously - I posted this on the Yamaha thread a while back. Unlikely twins Two of my very favourite basses! IMO the Yamaha BB NE2 has taken more design cues from Spector than from any other of my basses including any of my other Yammys. In particular, they both have in common: sculpted backs making them very comfortable to wear; neck through; laminated necks – offer more stability and stiffness, reduces the likelihood of dead notes, improves tone evenness and response and improves resistance to warpage and twists; 3+2 headstock; purely active; seriously meaty low end; and 24 very accessible frets - even more so on the Yammy with its cut-away lower horn. The "extra" that the Yammy delivers is a 3 band EQ vs 2 band on the Spector and a Nathan East mid scoop, which I believe is centred at 2kHz, and which adds to its capability as a versatile tone monster. On the other hand the ability to obtain tonal precision by being able to select single or dual coil for either pup on Spector is an excellent feature, and being able to blend single / dual as well as single / single and dual / dual combinations of pups arguable provides an even greater range of desirable and very usable tones. Differences: obvious key one of pups - the Spector has its iconic EMGs whereas the Yammy features two Jazz-style, hum-cancelling, stacked Alnico V pickups; single bridge piece Spector vs individual bridge pieces on the NE2; 35" scale on the Spector vs 34" scale on the NE2; 17mm string spacing on the Spector vs 18mm on the NE2, but with a shallower taper on the Spector (down to 9.5mm at the nut vs 8.8mm for the NE2). In theory the individual bridge pieces should provide better isolation from vibrations on other strings, but I know some folk prefer single bridge pieces, and whilst a 35" scale should provide a slightly tighter low end, I think it's relatively marginal and I’m more familiar with 34" which is a very comfortable scale length for me, although I’m very much getting used to the Spector’s 35” which, combined with its slightly narrower string spacing and gentler taper, provides for a very well thought through fretboard playing experience. I was kinda gratified to read in this excellent review: Yamaha BBNE2 Nathan East Signature Model – MusicPlayers.com that their "evaluation short list" for the NE2 were the following: Spector Euro5 LX 5-String Electric Bass Guitar Warwick German Pro Series Streamer CV 5-String Electric Bass Guitar Ernie Ball Music Man Stingray 5 HH Neck Through 5-String Electric Bass ...so it appears that I'm in good company in wanting to put these two superb basses side by side! Both have pretty eye watering new prices although the NE2 is typically another £750 to £1,000 on top of the Spector - I was fortunate to get my NE2 in great condition used and my Spector new in a "sale". If I had to save just one 'in a fire'? Hmmm...tricky question! I guess I'd just be happy to still have either! But I'd probably, on balance (this week anyway!), be reaching for the flamed one to rescue from the flames.

Thanks gents, that's helpful. Your post on the variety of 'Berg pup options a while back was definitely a good one but I won't be rushing back to Delano's any time soon, though!

yeah fair point do any Sandberg VM pup / EQ combos come close to any of the above classic Fender P sounds? If so please spill the beans

Which pups / preamp combo would you say come closest to the classic Fender P sound?

Speaking of which, how close does the reverse P config on the Sandberg come to a classic Fender P bass sound? Couldn't really find a decent YT clip (in English) review of the VM5, but if you've come across one or got a recording yourself please do post a link.

I guess if you only think you bought it, then proper 'congratulations' should wait until we have some pics from you as proof! 😁

A bit hard on landlords: they are getting absolutely caned by their retail tenants foreclosing (Debenhams, House of Fraser, Arcadia etc.) and a lot of other tenants are using 'Administration' to renege on their leases. The biggest investors / landlords, by a very long way, in UK property assets are actually UK pension funds, who pay the pensions of millions of pensioners. Agreed on business rates - need to have a rebalancing of the tax regime away from business rates to taxing online platforms such as Amazon (being looked at carefully by a lot of governments at the moment). But even more important it needs Joe Public to want to buy stuff in stores rather than online; as you mention the decline of our town shopping centres is a direct consequence of some massive changes in consumer behaviour and the direction of travel is clear - there is going to be more online shopping in future, not less. The key has gotta be making shopping an 'experience' and a fun day out to make the travel & parking etc worthwhile. Town centres can still be cultural and entertainment hubs and, once Covid is sorted, the music industry has got a key part to play in keeping our town and city centres vibrant. For example, Wembley Boxpark combines food and beverage with live music at the heart of their shopping arena and my band has loved playing there. It's a model we could do well to encourage other venues to follow.

Particularly if live music is going to be happening again in out door pub venues by end of May Spring bank holiday! 😉

Good shout. I actually got my current Spector in an Anderton's sale but they've got very limited / non-existent stock of the Euro 5LX with EMGs / Classic and seem to only really be focussed on what they do have in stock from previous conversations with their team (fair enough I guess). But definitely might be worth me putting in a call to Mark at BD; he also has a fairly extensive stock of Spectors on his website including a Euro Classic 4 LH.

According to the Spector website, these guys are the official UK dealer. Anyone had any dealings with them? Barnes & Mullins Grays Inn House, Unit 14 Mile Oak Industrial Estate Oswestry, Shropshire, SY10 8GA +44 (0)1691 652449 https://www.bandm.co.uk/ [email protected] Their voicemail hasn't been updated since Christmas, which isn't particularly promising! I've also emailed them to see if they can shed any light on the reverse P+J pup config on the Euro 5 Classic.

It was probably exactly the same model and bass (or maybe a NS5) - my memory is sometimes like a sieve when it comes to BC posts! 😁 Might have been an issue for me once, but certainly no longer the case. Besides, the JJ aesthetic on that white Euro 5 Classic is pretty jaw droppingly good and something that I could very easily put up with!

I agree the 35" was a bit of a stretch initially if you're used to 34". Who would have guessed 1" made such a difference? 😁 But it seems to have been very well thought through as a package: the longer scale certainly delivers a phenomenonal low B particularly on the bridge pup, but combined with the 17mm string spacing with slightly shallower taper, the whole fretboard playing experience is good and I suspect something you would quickly and easily get used to. I'm going to drop Spector a line to confirm that the reverse PJ pup config is a typo on their website, as Paul has helpfully pointed out. If it's not then, like you and 34" scale, this could be 'terrible news'!

That sounds tough Len - but it seems to me you're being a real star and definitely deserve bigging-up and a big thank-you for what you're doing; and you're certainly garnering a lot of admiration from these quarters for way you are supporting your family and neighbours.

I'm just wondering whether the lack of motivation to pick up the bass, expressed on here by several of us, goes deeper than a lack of gigs and is tied into worries about the impact Covid is having on the economy, job security etc.? That would be totally understandable and definitely not something that folk need to beat themselves up about.

Since getting a decent broad Minotaur 4.1" strap, I've been playing my Spector EuroLX more and have to fess it's sounding and feeling very good! I've got a couple of regular work horse gigging basses and I'm a huge fan of both, but right now I'm more than a little smitten with the Spector which I'm finding is putting these others in the shade. The Euro5LX EMGs, TonePump and laminated neck-through give a real weight, fulness and clarity to its tone, and the ability to switch from single to dual coil humbucker on either pup and "blend" them only further adds to the ability to sculpt the tone. Speaking of pup blending, we had a little discussion on selector switches vs blend knobs over on the Yammy thread and @Ricky Rioli commented that he preferred "a straightforward selector switch - I've a blend knob on my TRBX and find it totally useless - finding something perceivably different between 100% neck and 50%/50% is like searching for a needle in a haystack." I think there's a lot of truth in that statement! The parallel with the Euro 5LX is that blending is done by adjusting the volume of the individual pups, but it's definitely not linear e.g. if I have the bridge pup fully engaged then the neck pup doesn't really noticeably impact the sound until the volume is around 7/10 and then the blend increases as you get to 10/10 on the neck pup. But that's more by way of an observation than a criticism. Given how much I'm loving the Euro 5LX, finding one with a P / humbucker pup config would be a real treat to complement my existing twin humbucker. @cetera would you mind just checking in the broom cupboard if one of your "40" Spectors has a P / humbucker config and is currently going spare? 😊. Cue gratuitous pic of my solitary, but much appreciated, Spector...

Ah ok thanks Paul. The specs are taken from Spector's own website, so that's a shame. I think you have just saved me a small fortune (again)!

I think we discussed the Euro 5 Classic briefly before, but for some reason I hadn't clocked that they were being made in PJ configuration. They look fantastic - I'm very tempted!

YT video recently out. + Serious DSP allowing parallel routing for 12 blocks, decent screen (touch enabled => able to 'draw' your desired EQ profile) - No balanced XLR output (but need to check whether the 1/4" outputs are already balanced, anyway?) Looks interesting / promising.

First impressions?

Did you do Tequila as good as this guy?