Paulhauser

I don't seem to remember trying a 4 string Sadowsky but I owned and used a 5 string Metro and a NY5. 

The Metro was an early MV5, under  M1000 serial. It had some of the best feeling neck I ever tried on a 5 string bass, I could play for hours both thru gigs or practice. 

19mm spacing at the bridge. It sounded great with the Sadowksy hum cancelling pickups and was very light, too. 

I let it go because my other basses at the time were (and still are) Spector 5 string NS basses with a much tighter specing and they fit sound and playing -wise better to my preferences. Still think about getting a Japaneese Metro 5 string PJ from time to time though as they had a great impression on me. 

Does going from 5 to 4 but with BEAD tuning count? 🙂

Normally I use 5 string basses for practice, gigs and recording, too,  but in one of the originals band I play in I switched to this wonderful Spector 35" 4 string PJ.

The reason was partially so I could justify buying it. No, it was just I fancied a change, never used the G string in that gig and the 35" is great for drop A tuning, too.

35" Spector Euro 4 strings are very rare, having one in the classic 80's white is impossible almost (never seen a white apart from mine which was a custom order of Bass Direct )

Whenever I'm traveling around the fretboard I have always seem to use the B string as a reference point (and it makes a great thumb rest, too 🙂 )so it was a perfect switch without problems. It needs to be said however that I haven't made a permament switch to 4 string basses or even it wasn't a switch really at all as I keep using by 5 string basses for other gigs and mainly pratice and record with those still. 

Other than that I got to use a regular 4 string bass last year when I was subbing for an Iron Maiden tribute band. That was a good excuse to use one of my other Spector, a 1977 limited edition which otherwise sadly hasn't seen that much use for the reasons above. 

Mandatory pic:

14 hours ago, dub_junkie said:

That colour looks incredible with the gold hardware. What colour is it?

This bass orginially had a natural finish (see below) , the pink / magenta color is the result of a refinish that I had done. It is a pre-LX Euro5, made in the early 2000's with full maple wings.

2 hours ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

The NS-4 has the EMG 35P4 in the neck and the DC in the bridge position. Great combo.

Good to hear! As a funny coincidence I was placing an order for the EMG 40DCX to see / hear what difference it would bring by replacing the bridge J in this one:

Since the body is full maple I swapped the original DCs a good few years back for an X series 40P and 40J combination, so it's like the classic PJ Spector in 5 string version. 

The P has such a bigger output than the J that I had to lower the P quite a bit and make the J as close to the strings as possible to get an even balance. 

Sounds killer and have been using it for many years now like this but thought about trying a DC in the bridge position (the original DCs are gone) 

15 hours ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

So, I am finally down to two basses. Both Spectors, of course 😉

 

As all good things come in threes, does anyone have an Ian Hill (the PJ version) they want to part with?

 

Great pair I must say. And an admirable self-discipline....I could never get down to two Spectors... too much sentimental value to some of them in my collection.

Are those DCs in the NS-4? How is the neck compared to the Starr?

As others said some parts look out of place and if I had a bass with such a top I might just as well put a clear pickguard and bell on it 

I think these are some of the best production basses ever. I had a sixer a few years back and it was wonderful albeit the nech was quite substantial for me, both in width and thickness so I sold it in the end, much to my regret. 

Congratulations @nilorius!

5 minutes ago, cyril233 said:

I'm not a fan of the Korean Spector body shapes, Euro 5 seems great (but is 34" though?).

Of the Czech neck through models only the current Euro 5 Classic and the obsolete 25+ years old NS-5CR (the prececessor of the Euro, sometimes turn up on the used market, great basses ) have 34" scale lenghts, all other Euro 5s (pre LX Euro 5, Euro 5XL, Euro 5 LT) have 35" scale. 

@cyril233

I would add the following to your list:

- Spector Dimension 5 and Dimension 5 HP : 34"-37", both models sound great and are in the same price bracket as the DW NGs

- Ibanez BTB805MS : 35-37", priced closer to 1K than to 2K and based on clips it is a seriously good sounding instrument. Had a BTB before and was great but it wasn't the multiscale version

- Spector Euro 5LX : I have used them with drop A and standard A tunings and they sounded killer. Some of the best B strings in the business.

I have a Warwick Thumb 6NT which does have a great B string but dropping it to A doesn't sound as good as on the Spectors. 

I personally haven't tried a 36" scale bass but I did use a Dingwall AB5 for a while that had a 37" B string and it was a breeze. (All my other basses are / were at that time 34" or 35")

Can't help but that lower horn is an eyesore for me. Other than that I'm sure these will be good deals. 

27 minutes ago, SloppyChops said:

Been looking at this and trying to justify to my wife why its a necessary expense...

 

Will this one have the push/pull for split coil tones?

Yes it does. However, expect a substantial volume drop when using the coil tap (EMG fixed that with the X series TW pickups) 

22 hours ago, Bigwan said:

If only Forte 5's were still a thing...

They pop up used from time to time, sometimes for real bargain like @Eldon Tyrells old one. 

It has to be said though that however much US models are desired ( I'm guilty, too) the Czech basses are extremely close in sound and feel if not in fancy tops.... 

53 minutes ago, Bigwan said:

I've recently bought this lovely Euro 5 from Lee. I don't know why it's taken me so long to won a Spector, but it wasn't for the want of trying!

 

Really impressed with it. Ergonomically it's my most comfortable bass by quite some distance. There's a BIG downsizing of equipment coming one of these days, but this Spector is certainly safe!

Congratulations, great choice! I love my Euro5s.

Quite an entry to the worlsd of Spectors, you are in for a treat and if I didn't know from the ad about @lee650s wrist issues I would have said he made a mistake by selling it, but alas, no. 

(my first Spector was a NS-5CR which is the predecessor of the Euros and I'm hooked ever since)

@Sebabib cant comment on the difference as I have yet to own a Dimension but one thing to consider is the modularity of the EMG 40s that the newer HP model has. Even if one is not really into modding basses it is very easy to exchange EMG pickups and some of the configs do make a substantial difference compared to the stock DCs. Not to say for the better because I love the DC's, but I have Spector basses where I replaced the originaly DCs for a different sound and as such I had great results. The combinations 40P/J or 40P/DC or CS comes to mind as well as the 40TWX.  (And the 4 string screams for a PJ setup 🙂 )

It is always great when such things come in full circle. These 2nd gen TRBs are incredibly well made and great sounding instruments, I used to have a fretted amber 5er and a red 6er which I used quite extensively at a certain point. 

I tend to think that selling the red was a mistake but then again I was gravitating towards tighter spacing and more compact basses (Spector) so it made sense at the time but the sentimental me still thinks of that bass from time to time 🙂

Fair enough. 

Back to the original post - I've had a couple of US and Japan Sadowskys in the past and I generally follow the brand, on forums and Fb groups too but I can't recall ever seing anybody doing that particular mod to their S's. 

In my opinion - FWIW- it is you bass and do what brings you closer to the tone you wnna hear then it is all good.  I've certainly done mods and refins to my basses that were acquired taste for some but I was (still am) happy with them. 

I just commented on the Dingwalls as they are a bit different in this respect having been prepared for such mod already. 

12 hours ago, E sharp said:

But then again why do owners of Dingwall NG2s ruin them by fitting a third pickup, making them an NG3? 

The NG2's have the 3rd pickup placement already routed under the pickguard by default. If you want to turn them into a NG3 you need to have a 3rd pickup and a different (NG3) pickuguard and some soldering, that's it., no ruining needed. 

Ibanez released info on the new in 2024 models (scroll down for basses, some interesting additions there)

https://www.ibanez.com/eu/news/detail/20231124144232.html?fbclid=IwAR1FSRh0zffZsagwmI-rgLY8lnbN5uz-z4JArskLWTVKf8daifIWjf4f4tE

10 minutes ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

BTW, the photo only shows 4 strings. Where is the 5th? Or do they only put it on at the till? 🤪

The photo is of the IH I missed buying (still on reverb as sold)

The Classic I'm eyeing is this:

To match this (shameless plug of a live pic of mine instead of generic stock photo - at least shows I actually use the thing 🙂 )

4 hours ago, Paulhauser said:

And that on the pic is I believe a rare 35" version. They did some 435 IH sigs, I know as I almost bought one (proper 35" with the IH logo on the back of the headstock) Still kicking myself for missing that, ugh

Ps: now that I've looked at the listing I'm taking a mental note for future self to buy what I can if and when I can afford, the worst that can happen by doing so is that I might have to sell it later ..... 

So with that in mind I really have to consider buying that gloss black Classic Euro5 that matches my white Classic  5. Please talk me out of that. Please 🙂

4 hours ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

That's how his previous PJ version looked like. I guess I have to try and find one now!

4 hours ago, Eldon Tyrell said:

 

 

And that on the pic is I believe a rare 35" version. They did some 435 IH sigs, I know as I almost bought one (proper 35" with the IH logo on the back of the headstock) Still kicking myself for missing that, ugh

1 hour ago, Lord Summerisle said:

My thinking is that the bridge end doesn’t need to be angled at all, the way it is on this bass looks like it would add discomfort compared to a normal flat bridge. I get the thinking behind the nut end’s angle though.

I think that it depends on the right (plucking) hand techniques applied.

When I pluck with my fingers I use what is  sometimes called floating thumb technique when I rest my thumb on the lower (pitched) string next to the one I play and my wrist and arm is in a straight line moving back and forth over the strings as I skip them during plaing (hope it makes sense). So I don't see much benefit with the angled bridge for me but as I never tried a Torzal maybe I'd be in a surprise if I did.  

But for those players who -like double bass players - anchor their thumb on the edge of the pickup and stay there regardless which string they are playing and bending their wrist more as they move farther away (meaning playing higher strings) the angled bridge is reducing the need for said bend. It is purely a speculation on my side, nothing more. 

Also Torzal do make fanned fret basses so that might be the ultimate mindfuNk for some 😄

Congratulations!

Fortunately I have no wrist issues but ever since I saw the first Torzal I was intrigued about the design and the ergonomics of it.

One thing that got me thinking is the angle on the bridge end ie whether my right hand would need it as much the left where the 20 degree twist is definitely makes a difference on how much the wrist needs to be bent. 
To my understanding there are two options, a ‘flat’ bridge which is just like on any other basses and the 15 degrees angled one which is on the neck through models and on the OP’s new bass.

@patrikmarky flaking of the clear coating at the headstock is quite common with these, I once had a NS-5CR just like yours and had the same issue, albeit it was a lot worse tha yours really.

Elixir coated nickel strings work really well with my fretless Thumb and they are easy on the fingerboard,too.

I only ever used roundwounds on fretless basses and if you are careful not to bend sideways but use a cello / double bass-like vibrato then markings will be almost non-existent. 

Also as others mentioned above any markings can easily be repaired. Use the strings you like the sound and feel of and don't worry about wear.