Paulhauser

1 minute ago, mattbass6 said:

I’ve been very lucky to own some truly beautiful basses in my time, and the adventure never ends, just because it’s fun but these 2 have made me realise a few things as did my Vigier when I got it, hence why I still have it. Both these Spector’s offer something different but without being too far apart, and the Aguilar’s are a revelation. I was worried about the Tone Pump pre, as I heard not very positive feedback but I have to be honest, it is very controllable / versatile. The same can be said fir the OBP-2 pre. Anyway, loving your basses, appreciate the chat , and very nice to meet you here. Cheers, and take care ☺️

The TP is a great preamp and so is the Aggie obp, though the bass on the latter is somewhat too much even with a small turn of the knob. Anyway, thanks for the compliments and for the chat, take care , enjoy your Spectors and good luck for a US one down the road 🙂

19 minutes ago, mattbass6 said:

I’m with you, I do all my setups now except the bigger stuff. I was going to get my tech guy to sort out the nut, as I normally have the a little deeper, but on both basses, they are exactly the same even though they are different materials. They feel great so I’m going with them for now. 
 

I agree about “sometimes in hindsight one can't really understand why it hadn't happened earlier.......”. I’ve started recording with them and the consistency, sound, fit makes me smile so much. I’ve started looking at the US models already. This time next year, Rodney....... 😉

The Euros that the Czech workshop is making in recent years are some of the best basses I have ever laid my hands upon (big name custom shops included)  they really upped their game which is a lot to say as they have been doing fantastic job even before. The red Euro you got is one of the best looking Euro 4 that I have seen for a long time and I know for a fact that it must be sounding great so no wonder you are hooked big time. I understand oh so well. 🙂 And yes, a US one is the next logical step but mind you already have much of the greatness anyway 😉

2 hours ago, mattbass6 said:

I agree about the nut slots, they are definitely not deep enough, but I’ve kinda got used to that with my 2, and think I may live with them a little longer as I get used to them. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to get to Spector. Really happy I bit the bullet, and went down this path. 

Yeah, congratulations again, you did the right thing. Sometimes in hindsight one can't really understand why it hadn't happened earlier but at least you are now converted 🙂

The nut slots are not a biggie, more like an observation. They are cut perfectly on my US Spectors and on my other Euros, too, but on these two LEs (1977, 79) they are a bit shallow but I say it is ok, you can always file them deeper, but if they are cut too low filling up is really a "pita".  Normally I do all the setup on my basses expect for nut filing and fret dressing, which I prefer others taking their time with, not me 🙂

After setting up I put on Ernie Ball Slinky Cobalts on it, (45-105) and they work great, the bass sounds like thunder. 

The only thing that doesn't fit to my preferences is that the slots in the nut are not deep enough -for me- , so the strings are a bit further away from the 1st fret than my liking but my tech is gonna fix that. It's not a failure, it's just I prefer low and fast 🙂

The neck is a dream to play btw. 

Also, did I mention that it sounds great? 🙂

On 19/03/2021 at 08:34, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I had an LX briefly. I found it a little chunky. Lovely bass and sound though.

If you have a chance to try a Euro 4 LE 1977 do so! I played mine this evening and it has a somewhat thinner neck than the old euro 4 I had a decade ago or so. Actually I have a quite recent Euro 435 which also doesn’t have a chunky neck.

Mind you I play and own mostly 5 and 6 string basses so pretty much any 4 string neck feels “small” but still I think the recent euro 4s have thinner necks than before. Maybe @ead and @Eldon Tyrell can comment on this, too.

35 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Ooof! If only I got on with the neck profile....

 

I like that they do something different even if I personally wouldn't buy this. What's your issue with the neck? Is it that general Spector 4 string neck is not for your liking? Or this particular model has a custom one? 

25 minutes ago, Pow_22 said:

Wow, that is quite a difference. Maybe i could sell My old one as scrap to get melted down to cover the cost of a new gold one!

Or keep it in case of close-quarters combats 😄

1 minute ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

Could be but I don't know to be honest. 

Me neither. Never swapped a Spector bridge, always used what's on originally. 

24 minutes ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

Yeah, not cheap but I think it will look killer and maybe make the bass a bit lighter too (as it did for my 77):

 

Ohhhm, that is quite a difference. Is it that the gold coated is aluminium and the chrome is brass/zink or whatever the exact alloy is....

1 hour ago, Pow_22 said:

Mark at Bass Direct has managed to find a gold bridge for me!  At £130 they aren't cheap are they!  Hope I can offset the cost by flogging my chrome one

Definitely not cheap. I guess there isn't a big market for aftermarket Spector bridges so no wonder they cost steep.

4 hours ago, Al Krow said:

EURO 5LX PJ RAS-LAYER

Not sure about the Nord pups vs trad EMGs and those plastic knobs are meh. But the reverse-PJ format in a 5er is lush.

Only available in Japan?

Yes, as far as I know these are only available in Japan, this is a kind of signature model from what I have gathered. Traditionally the Japaneese market always had some extra Euro specimens  especially with unique finishes so this can be another special run / sig model for local market.

looks killer anyway 😍

28 minutes ago, horrorshowbass said:

The Spector GAS is real

Interesting how they went with aguilar for their p/js.

Yes, it is real 🙂

My Euro 435 came with aguilars but I have swapped them for X series EMG PJ. Sounds awesome. Still kept the Aggie OBP.

8 hours ago, Pow_22 said:

So as of this morning I have purchased my first Spector.  Should be with me soon.  In the meantime, lets have some Friday bass porn....  Now to go on the hunt for gold hardware!

 

These are simply beautiful, I keep an eye on a black Euro 435. I was foolish miss one that was for sale, it was an Ian Hill on the top of being a 435 (35" Euro 4) Still kick myself whenever it comes to my mind, would have been a perfect match for my white gloss Euro 435. 

6 hours ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

I like what I am seeing, especially the red LX. Believe it or not, a few years back I was very close to buying that bass at BD. It was between this one, a LX with an amber finish and the 77. I eventually went for the 77 but it was a close call.  Enjoy 🙂 

Nahhh, you should have bought all three of 'em. One ends up more than one Spector in the end anyway 🙂

Congratulations! It is a very nice pair, have lots of fun with them! 

22 minutes ago, JD1 said:

Paulhauser - red lettering so TW’s. Not sure what the difference is? They have coil taps on them and I quite often run them single coil and switch to twin for a solo boost.

TWs are a lot more round sounding to me than DC's. I love both, by the way and in my experience they both work well with Spectors, bringing out different traits. 

DCs are the quintessential EMG dual coils with more of everything, more bass, more treble. The TW is also a dual coil pickup but coil-tappable as you have said and the magnets are different. In full-on mode it is has more prononced mids which I like and it is a bit more tamed on the low and high register and when coil tapped it sound more clean and laid back (to my ears anyway) 

2 hours ago, JD1 said:

I’ve got a NS5H2 - USA bolt on with EMG’s and an OBP3. And I’ve had a couple of Euros pass through. The tone is completely different to the Euros. Probably a combination of the build and the circuit. Less aggressive (but still a hot output), tighter / more compressed and a more focussed mid range and a more polite top end. Little bit of neck dive due to the lighter body (and chunky neck) but not too bad and a wide leather strap sorts it. And on the chunky neck, PJ was telling me when I took delivery that Stuart paid great attention to neck stability. And I have to say he was right. In 9 years I’ve never had to tweak it - in all temperatures.

(NB - one of my Euros was an early green 5 with gold hardware and solid maple wings and a chip above the bridge pickup where my screwdriver slipped! I’d love to know what happened to that. I believe Guitar Guitar in Edinburgh sold it. Definitely one I wish I had kept).

Which EMG's are in it? DCs or TWs? (red lettering)

As for the green one, I'm in the same position as I had one too, the early one with the maple wings and Aguilar obp which I have sold....fortunately I know the person still has it and from time to time I ask him if I could buy back. No luck so far...

4 hours ago, Chopthebass said:

It’s a shame it has the incorrect number of strings 😆

Get a Atelier Z Jino5 or 6 🙂

Nice! I always liked his Atelier Z Jino signature models, especially the 6 string version. 

There is a German workshop called Bassculture (www.bassculture.de ) that are making pickups and they can put them into wooden housing carved to exact size. At least they did that 10+ years ago for my Ibanez SR3006 which also had a pu sizing that limited options. 

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

Brilliant - thank you. 

However, my 5LX is also 5 string 35" scale so I guess to complete the picture:

NS2 = Euro 4LX but maple/alder wings and Tone Pump

NS5 = 5 string but 34" scale?

NS5-XL = Euro 5LX but maple/alder wings and Tone Pump

The way I see the neck through NS models

NS1 was the original design. NS shape, one pickup. Closest Euro model is the Euro4 LE1977

NS2 is a NS1 with two pickups, originally PJ but also as JJ sometimes. Closest Euro product is the Euro 4 or Euro4LE1979 or the Classic 4

NS4 is the 2x dualcoil pickup version of the NS2. All other features are the same (sort of) There is a version of the Euro 4 with dual coils, either EMG35DC or 35TW

NS5 is a five string version of either the NS2 (PJ) or the NS4 (dual coils). It IS 34". Sometimes comes with a double J. Or whatever you want as pickup arrangements. Still it has to be 34". Closest Euro counterpart is the NS-5CR or the current Classic 5 (with JJ pickups)

NS-5XL 35" version of the NS-5. Comes mostly with 2 dual coils (EMG40DC) but can be PJ, JJ or there was a couple of instances of a single P. Again, customize as you want. Euro counterpart is the Euro5, Euro 5XL, or 5LT

Also worth noting the Euro435 which is a 35" Czech version of either the NS2 (PJ) or the NS4 (dual coils) Quite rare I have to say. 

In general US models will have EMG and HAZ or anything you order that fits to the scheme (Aguilar, Bartolini, EMG)

Euros will have Tonepump or sometimes Aguilar electronics, mostly EMG, Bart or Aguilar pickups. 

You will have great basses either way.

27 minutes ago, thodrik said:

I think that the pricing of the Masterbuilt line is made in accordance with the general Warwick custom shop pricing rather than with any regard to Sadowsky NYC pricing. So if the same Warwick master craftsmen and women who make £6k Streamers/Thumbs are spending similar hours when making a Sadowsky Masterbuilt, then this will result in prices which are a similar to, or exceed the prices of Sadowskys made by Roger Sadowsky. 

Even if all of it is true it still makes no sense for me from the market point of view except if the Sadowsky  US operations would go so narrow that they (the brand)  in fact need someting else in that price bracket to serve the demand. As I have gathered the info Roger was looking for a solution to solve the distribution / process issues he had with the Metro line made by Yoshi and the MetroExpress made some other Japaneese factory / workshop but in the same time he had cut back on the US operations, too. If that is because he no longer needs to take care all the work related to overseas basses plus accesories, strings, preamp etc distribution or he is gonna be cutting back on the number of US made instruments (basses, guitars, archtops) as well I don't know but I guess time will tell. I have a huge respect for him and I honestly hope that this would turn out well for him in the end. 

7 minutes ago, thodrik said:

However, I can’t say I am likely to pay the Masterbuilt prices when Roger Sadowsky himself is making basses. However, in ten years time it might be that the only way to get a custom Sadowsky bass is via Warwick, so it might be the only option, so for that reason alone I hope that the arrangement works out long term.

I’ve always fancied a six string Thumb though, so that might win out if I happened  to have £6-8k of spending money available, which is admittedly highly unlikely short term.

I wonder how much of this Ww Masterbuilt 7K pricing is a similar marketing plot that Ibanez does sometimes with their Prestige and some artist models (Willis, Nitti, Weasley) that they do a limited run of high end isntruments with prices to match to make the perception of the normal line of the instruments elevate to a higher price bracket, a kind of justification for their pricing. Because nobody in their right mind would pay more for a licensed product than a bass built by the man himself, regardless the features and the quality. It is like a Czech made Spector Euro with full blown extra-hyper-out of this world specs would cost more than a US made on made by Stuart and crew (I know he is retired, but just for an example. I have a couple of Euro and US Spectors and they had quite a bit of the same thing going on like Sadowsky and his Metro line, even if Yoshi's operation was on a different scale than New Bohemia in the CzRepublic) 

On 25/02/2021 at 19:30, Eldon Tyrell said:

Yeah, I always refer to my 77 as a P bass on steroids!

It took me a long time to begin appreciating the tone of the P bass and my 1977 helped a lot in the process, even if it is not exactly the classic P sound as discussed above. The other thing is the ergonomics, while I hade Fender-like P basses in the past, I vastly prefer the sleek NS-design. The design itself has very little effect (if any, apart from being a neck trough instrument) on the tone but it has a lot on me wanting to play the bass because it is more comfortable for me. 

6 hours ago, Noisyjon said:

Great thread everyone.

My Spector NS-2 GAS is off the chart at the moment. Thank goodness they're so expensive 😂

On that note was it someone from BC who bought this beauty from BD? 

 

Two things I know.

This is a beauty.

And no, it wasn't me.