Spector fans!?!

[scrumpymike]

Posted earlier about my new Bantam.  Haven't managed to 'bond' with it yet and not quite sure why.  Apart from changing over to it once for a second set, I've carried on gigging my other basses.  Anyway, finally got round to having a proper look at what could be amiss.  Started by sorting the binding stacked pot.  Problem was that when you turned the top knob more than a short distance in either direction it picked up the bottom knob and held on to it for the rest of its travel. (To be fair, Bass Direct offered to fix it after I'd mentioned it in the shop but I said I'd rather get on the road and do it myself when I got home.)  Anyway, on removing the top knob, I saw that the it had been fitted with the (extremely tight) grub screw not on the flat of the spindle but on the opposite side.  I re-fitted it in what I consider to be the correct position but, having only just managed to get it off without damaging the screw head, decided against trying to remove/rotate the bottom knob to make the marker dots align again. 

I then had a closer look at the set-up.  It's pretty much as I would do it myself with two exceptions: the nut slotting is strange with unstopped string clearances at F1 of E = 031", A = 027", D = 025" and G = 012".  While a bit high for me, the first three are reasonable but the 011" on the G string just seems plain wrong.  Also, the G-string is a bit difficult for my tired old hands to fret cleanly above F12 - which is one of the reasons I've only gigged the bass once. The G string is high relative to the others but the bridge saddle is already virtually sitting on the deck.

Seems perverse that my most expensive solid-bodied bass is the one I least want to play!  Any thoughts from experienced Spector fans?

[Woodinblack]

9 hours ago, scrumpymike said:

Seems perverse that my most expensive solid-bodied bass is the one I least want to play!  Any thoughts from experienced Spector fans?

I am not experienced, but I don't play mine. Just don't like the neck much and it is just never the one I want to play. I don't even know what I don't like about the neck, and I have no problem when playing it, I just never pick it up.

[peety]

9 hours ago, Mudpup said:

I had a Euro 4 LX for a few years and currently play a 50's Lacquer Precision and also a Sandberg PM4 (which is may be fairly similar to your Maruszczyk??). I had always wanted one, loved the looks and the sound that i had heard on records and it was a 50th birthday indulgent gift from the missus so i really tried to love it but ultimately it wasn't for me.

The Spector could be from a different planet compared with the 2 P bass styles. I couldn't get a Precision tone from it - the Tonepump preamp and EMG pickups sound much more modern and it doesn't have the warm low mid punch that works so well in a band that the Fender P bass has. The Spector has oodles of big clean low end and sparkle but is much more hifi sounding. It didn't have the fatness of a Precision and i found it a bit sterile. It may not do the Motown thing too well in my opinion.

I didn't find it as comfortable as a P bass to play either when stood up - it wasn't particularly heavy but it feels like the 1st fret is a few inches further out to your left due to the bridge being mounted inboard to the body. Everything feels a bit closer in on the P bass. And i think i prefer slightly bigger bodies too in general. Lovely quality though.

I think you would be better off grabbing a used one off here - if you don't gel with it when you've gigged it a bit you can flip it back with minimal loss. At £1700 you're taking a risk.

 

Thanks for that , I'm really torn at the moment however I think I need to at least try one , I've never been one for fiddling around with things I like the simplicity of the Precision although both my P basses have a jazz pick up which gives me a nice amount of flexibility

Ultimately I need to have something I'm going to use regularly so I'm sort of leaning towards another Maruzsczyk as I know the weight will be light and to be honest exactly what I'll get for the money 

 

decisions decisions 😂😂

 

 

[peety]

On 12/01/2019 at 09:24, ead said:

I'm in Chorley and have a number of P basses (only 2 of which are Fenders).  You would be most welcome to come and try my basses and A/B to yours if you wish.

Thanks for the kind offer ead I may well take you up on that in the future 

[ead]

Just about given up trying to find my old 1st gen Legend, but came across this beauty that has a serial number within 6 places of my old one.  Assuming these are sequential they must surely be related

p.s. Posted a few vids in the "Show Us Your Playing Vids" thread using the Euro 4LE.

Edited March 11, 2019 by ead

[whatawaste]

Finally got myself an NS2! Too bad it is blue, but I can live with that until I find my ultimate NS2X... 

Edited March 23, 2019 by whatawaste

[Billy Apple]

3 hours ago, whatawaste said:

Finally got myself an NS2! Too bad it is blue, but I can live with that until I find my ultimate NS2X... 

Phwoor! Nowt wrong with blue. I can’t get moved for red. Love a bit of blue of green 

[ead]

Just put down a deposit on one of these bad boys to keep my 4LE 1977 company..

Edited April 19, 2019 by ead

[scrumpymike]

On 15/01/2019 at 22:03, scrumpymike said:

Posted earlier about my new Bantam.  Haven't managed to 'bond' with it yet and not quite sure why.  Apart from changing over to it once for a second set, I've carried on gigging my other basses.  Anyway, finally got round to having a proper look at what could be amiss.  Started by sorting the binding stacked pot.  Problem was that when you turned the top knob more than a short distance in either direction it picked up the bottom knob and held on to it for the rest of its travel. (To be fair, Bass Direct offered to fix it after I'd mentioned it in the shop but I said I'd rather get on the road and do it myself when I got home.)  Anyway, on removing the top knob, I saw that the it had been fitted with the (extremely tight) grub screw not on the flat of the spindle but on the opposite side.  I re-fitted it in what I consider to be the correct position but, having only just managed to get it off without damaging the screw head, decided against trying to remove/rotate the bottom knob to make the marker dots align again. 

I then had a closer look at the set-up.  It's pretty much as I would do it myself with two exceptions: the nut slotting is strange with unstopped string clearances at F1 of E = 031", A = 027", D = 025" and G = 012".  While a bit high for me, the first three are reasonable but the 011" on the G string just seems plain wrong.  Also, the G-string is a bit difficult for my tired old hands to fret cleanly above F12 - which is one of the reasons I've only gigged the bass once. The G string is high relative to the others but the bridge saddle is already virtually sitting on the deck.

Seems perverse that my most expensive solid-bodied bass is the one I least want to play!  Any thoughts from experienced Spector fans?

Fyi, turned out that a few top-end frets needed levelling - now done and much improved.

[ahpook]

I acquired my first Spector last week (courtesy of our own Psycoandy) - a very fine NS200/4.

I'm very impressed, especially with the lovely narrow string spacing at the bridge which is very much my bag.

Very comfortable to play, if a tad weightier than I'm used to, but a wider strap is helping that somewhat.

 

[ead]

NBD  the Euro 4LE 1979 has landed.  Here are the happy couple.

[Clarky72]

On 05/10/2018 at 15:24, whatawaste said:

Addicted...

Good lord that X is gorgeous... 

 

 

[Mastodon2]

As of the start of the year, I'm a Spector owner again. I straightened the neck out because I like my necks pretty much bang on straight and dropped the saddle heights down.

I wound the Tonepump down to 50%, which I think is a must for any bass with that preamp and it sweetens the tone up so much. On the 100% setting as they come from the factory the gain output is just ridiculous. Even putting the input gain on my Markbass Ninja 1000 way down, it would still clip even when not playing particularly hard.

 

The eventual plan is to swap the pickups out for EMG X series and add an EMG premap with volume, pan and 3 band EQ just to give me more on board flexibility with the mid control. The EMGs in this might go in my Yamaha Attitude. The thing is, while I find the Tonepump to be a little fiddly to use compared to a 3 band, it just sounds so damn good once it's set right that I don't feel in a hurry to start changing parts.

 

[cetera]

12 hours ago, Mastodon2 said:

The thing is, while I find the Tonepump to be a little fiddly to use compared to a 3 band, it just sounds so damn good once it's set right that I don't feel in a hurry to start changing parts.

 

Truth..... fantastic sounding preamp if you use it wisely/sparingly....!

[Al Krow]

16 hours ago, Mastodon2 said:

I wound the Tonepump down to 50%, which I think is a must for any bass with that preamp and it sweetens the tone up so much. On the 100% setting as they come from the factory the gain output is just ridiculous. Even putting the input gain on my Markbass Ninja 1000 way down, it would still clip even when not playing particularly hard.

This sounds like excellent advice! With my Tonepump on factory setting, I currently have the bass tone dial set to 1/10, although I make almost full use of the treble tone dial to go from vintage to zingy slap. But a couple of Qs if I may:

I presume that this advice is geared at the higher output EMG 40s rather than models sporting the lower output EMG Hz pups?

Again a bit of newbie Q but if the output from the bass is too high, any reason to not simply adjust the volume dials down?

For bassists who are less than proficient at electronics like me, is adjusting the Tonepump down from 100% to 50% a pretty straightforward exercise? Any tips / hints welcome! 

 

[cetera]

5 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

This sounds like excellent advice! With my Tonepump on factory setting, I currently have the bass tone dial set to 1/10, although I make almost full use of the treble tone dial to go from vintage to zingy slap. But a couple of Qs if I may:

I presume that this advice is geared at the higher output EMG 40s rather than models sporting the lower output EMG Hz pups?

Again a bit of newbie Q but if the output from the bass is too high, any reason to not simply adjust the volume dials down?

For bassists who are less than proficient at electronics like me, is adjusting the Tonepump down from 100% to 50% a pretty straightforward exercise? Any tips / hints welcome! 

 

 

Yes, the Tonepump with EMG PJ or DC is VERY hot. There is a trimpot on the side of the Tonepump where the output gain can be reduced. People seem to like to reduce to between 40% & 60%.

The Tonepump Jr isn't as hot and the EMG Hz pickups are passive so this is less of an issue on the Far-East models...

[Al Krow]

Thanks for that @cetera

I've got the EMG 40TW (or '40CS-TW') pups on my Euro 5LX which has both a single coil and a ceramic steel (‘CS’) dual-coil humbucker . A push/pull volume pot allows me to change from the clarity of the J pickup sound to the fatness of the CS humbucker, which is a nice set of options, although I tend to default to the single coil settings.

Are TWs also considered particularly hot? I've not found them to be overly so (other than small point of the bass tone dial needing to be rolled right back to avoid blowing my windows out!)

[cetera]

15 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Thanks for that @cetera

I've got the EMG 40TW (or '40CS-TW') pups on my Euro 5LX which has both a single coil and a ceramic steel (‘CS’) dual-coil humbucker . A push/pull volume pot allows me to change from the clarity of the J pickup sound to the fatness of the CS humbucker, which is a nice set of options, although I tend to default to the single coil settings.

Are TWs also considered particularly hot? I've not found them to be overly so (other than small point of the bass tone dial needing to be rolled right back to avoid blowing my windows out!)

 

They're only as hot as the pre-amp they're linked with.

If you have a Tonepump you can reduce the output gain. However, early Tonepump models don't have a trimpot on the side of them.... you'd need to check yours.

[Al Krow]

15 minutes ago, cetera said:

They're only as hot as the pre-amp they're linked with.

If you have a Tonepump you can reduce the output gain. However, early Tonepump models don't have a trimpot on the side of them.... you'd need to check yours.

Mine's a late 2016 build so hopefully one of the more recent Tonepump models? I'll go have a rummage in it's bowels ...  

[Mastodon2]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

This sounds like excellent advice! With my Tonepump on factory setting, I currently have the bass tone dial set to 1/10, although I make almost full use of the treble tone dial to go from vintage to zingy slap. But a couple of Qs if I may:

I presume that this advice is geared at the higher output EMG 40s rather than models sporting the lower output EMG Hz pups?

Again a bit of newbie Q but if the output from the bass is too high, any reason to not simply adjust the volume dials down?

For bassists who are less than proficient at electronics like me, is adjusting the Tonepump down from 100% to 50% a pretty straightforward exercise? Any tips / hints welcome! 

 

Hey Al,

I know there's been a few replies but I'll quickly address a few points here:

 

EMG HZs are passive, but if you can adjust the output on your preamp, you can still try it, it's very easy to do and you can test it on the fly, so if you don't like it you can put it back how it was. I haven't played a Spector with HZs and the Tonepump Jr, but if you play another active bass, then plug your Spector in and play without adjusting the volume and think your Spector makes your rig way louder than the other bass, then the Spector could likely do with a gain reduction.

The problem with the super-high output of the Tonepump is that it hits the input stage of your amp really hard and causes clipping, particularly if you have the Tonepump on maximum output. If you have a clip light on your amp if might flash to indicate that your input signal is clipping. Basically this will not help your tone and will also risk damaging the tweeters in your amp if it has them. You can just lower the input gain on your amp to prevent clipping, but your amp will work best if the input gain is turned up but still set below the point where your playing causes it to clip. In effect, you're just hurting the quality of your tone if you run the input gain turned right down. I tend to pop and slap a few notes (as this generates pretty much the highest amplitude in your signal that you'll get in normal playing) and if my clip light flashes, roll back until it doesn't and then roll back a tiny bit more for some safety margin.

Adjusting the gain on the Tonepump is really easy. Just take the backplate off your bass, and find the main preamp module, which is a little box, which may be attached to the inside of the bass by velcro (like on my Spector). Pull the preamp out and find the the adustment screw, it's a tiny phillips head screw. All the way to the right is 100% gain, which is how it comes from the factory) and all the way to the left is 0%. If you plug your bass in and play a note, then adjust the preamp all the way to the left, you'll hear the bass go silent. Then wind the screw to the right until you find a sound you're happy with. I find about 50% open is best for me. 

I always find the secret recipe for good tone is a nice smooth signal from the source instrument. With a smooth, clean signal, you can add effects, shape the EQ etc very effectively. I find that when a signal is too hot and spiky, you spend more time and effort taming the hot signal and it tends not to play so nicely with pedals and amplifiers and can sound harsh. It's counter-intuitive, but a smooth output signal allows for a richer tone at the end of the signal chain when you're actually hearing the tone. Pickup companies for example, prey on this ignorance by selling super-hot pickups to guitarists who think that a hot signal will give them the ultimate metal or shred tone (because hotter must be better, right?!) , when in fact all they get is a harsh mess that is wearing on the ears. 

 

 

 

 

[scrumpymike]

Does this adjustable Tonepump stuff apply to my Bantam?  It has a couple of EMG 35DC pups and BTS EQ (allegedly 🙂).

[thodrik]

59 minutes ago, Mastodon2 said:

 With a smooth, clean signal, you can add effects, shape the EQ etc very effectively. I find that when a signal is too hot and spiky, you spend more time and effort taming the hot signal and it tends not to play so nicely with pedals and amplifiers and can sound harsh. It's counter-intuitive, but a smooth output signal allows for a richer tone at the end of the signal chain when you're actually hearing the tone. Pickup companies for example, prey on this ignorance by selling super-hot pickups to guitarists who think that a hot signal will give them the ultimate metal or shred tone (because hotter must be better, right?!) , when in fact all they get is a harsh mess that is wearing on the ears. 

 

Non-Spector owner here (at least until I get the funds together for a Forte 6 or Euro 6), however this is a statement that I 100% agree with. 

I 'fought' against the massive high output of my Vigier Excess for years. The massive output and huge amounts of low and high end on the onboard EQ has made it tricky to pair with certain amps. No trim pot. It wasn't so much 'tone sculpting' as it was 'fire fighting'. Luckily after 15 years I have finally got the hang of it... 

[Mastodon2]

37 minutes ago, scrumpymike said:

Does this adjustable Tonepump stuff apply to my Bantam?  It has a couple of EMG 35DC pups and BTS EQ (allegedly 🙂).

You could always check but if the bass came with the EMG BTS then I doubt it's been changed to a Tonepump. I don't know if the EMG preamp has a trim pot, but it probably doesn't need adjusting. 

The Tonepump is an unusual case, you don't often need to make these sort of changes to preamp from other brands. The Tonepump is the most over the top hot preamp I can think of. 

 

[Plux_the_Duck]

On 15/01/2020 at 21:53, Mastodon2 said:

As of the start of the year, I'm a Spector owner again. I straightened the neck out because I like my necks pretty much bang on straight and dropped the saddle heights down.

I wound the Tonepump down to 50%, which I think is a must for any bass with that preamp and it sweetens the tone up so much. On the 100% setting as they come from the factory the gain output is just ridiculous. Even putting the input gain on my Markbass Ninja 1000 way down, it would still clip even when not playing particularly hard.

 

The eventual plan is to swap the pickups out for EMG X series and add an EMG premap with volume, pan and 3 band EQ just to give me more on board flexibility with the mid control. The EMGs in this might go in my Yamaha Attitude. The thing is, while I find the Tonepump to be a little fiddly to use compared to a 3 band, it just sounds so damn good once it's set right that I don't feel in a hurry to start changing parts.

 

Good to see you back playing a Spector, I'm still loving your old one!

[White Cloud]

I recently bought a brand new Spector Euro LX (Poplar Burl): Its my first ever Spector and I'm so impressed with it. Possibly the most beautiful bass I've ever owned (from a very long list). So much so it makes my ACG and Vigier look plain!

I personally love 'that EMG sound' but, as others have said, the Tonepump is 'hot' on stock settings. I've just made the adjustment described elsewhere to turn it down (a nice feature). 

I was surprised at the reductionist control-cavity; very clean, precise and empty lol. To my ears, this bass sounds similar to the old Steinberger XL. Fat, burpy, well-rounded low-end.

All in all: A beautifully designed and built instrument. Flawless in fact. Looks sublime, plays like a dream, well-balanced, relatively lightweight and sounds incredible. What else is there?