cytania Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 (edited) This bass was actually delivered Tuesday but I've been so busy oiling the truss rod, setting up the action etc that I haven't been able to take photos until now. It's by a Korean manufacturer called Spear and the single-cut shape is an S2. I bought one of these in 2008 and it's my main player. So when I came across this one on the website of Bandwagon in Perth Scotland I ordered it. Recent Spear S2's have a reduced spec but this was clearly an early one with a lovely stripe to the maple half. Peter Caban at Bandwagon was a total gent, not only discounting this from £349 by £50 but knocking a further £20 off due to a tiny blemish on the neck. You can hardly spot the dink, my mind was more on playability. First I changed the strings. Spear guitars make a big thing of coming with D'Addario strings but they are so lively they buzzed. Switched to the dead set of Ernie Balls from my other Spear and I was getting somewhere. Still a bit buzzy and it was off with the bell cover and oiling the truss rod. Not much luck the first few tiny turns but eventually I oiled and tweaked each evening and voila, the same great action as my main player. Then it's a several rounds or playing, tuning, intonation and height adjustment. Had it playable just in time for rehearsals where it got on really well with the gig rig :-) Preamp appears the same but the active/passive switch is the reverse of my main bass (no mute either). Tone controls are slightly differently pitched, slightly less bass but that could be the different woods. Good news is it has the same great sound; subtle, humming, a touch of the P-bass singing snarl but not the klank. I am very happy with it. Ready for the anti-singlecut brigade Edited January 12, 2014 by cytania Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcus bell Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Loved my 5 string! Would buy another if one came up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlapbassSteve Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 I've been after a Spear S-1 for years, real shame they're like rocking horse sh*te over here because they're stunning(I love the hints of Carl Thompson in the cutaway)! Love the S-2's too, especially the exotic wood ones... I'm normally a shameless Fender fanboy(see the variety of basses in my sig haha) but there's something about these S-1 and S-2's that really do it for me. I'd be interested to play a Flextool too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I've seen that bass in Bandwagon & had it been a 5 string, I might have bought it (there was a 5 in a shop in Dundee a few years back). When I first moved to Perth, the 1st shop I found was Bandwagon, went in & had a blether with Tes & came out with a fridge. Not an 8x10, but something to keep things cool in my new house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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