Spector Rudy Sarzo...oooh.

[NancyJohnson]

I've been thinking about getting a Spector for a long time now and in the absence of availability of a Forte 4X (or a series one Hamer Cruisebass), a Sweetwater video of the Rudy Sarzo Signature model dropped into my YT feed yesterday and it seems to be the one.

The SIMS pickups and switching, along with the Tonepump, seems to make for a fantastic level of on board configuration.  

No UK stockists yet.

 

Edited August 10, 2019 by NancyJohnson

[bartelby]

lots of noise in that signal...

[fretmeister]

Looks lovely - but that bridge is now very far forward.

I'm a bit worried about balance.

[kyuuga]

27 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

Looks lovely - but that bridge is now very far forward.

I'm a bit worried about balance.

Agreed...what's up with the bridge being so forward? They could just move the bridge & the pickups back. Will the strings even have the same tension/length with the bridge being that far forward?

[fretmeister]

4 minutes ago, kyuuga said:

Agreed...what's up with the bridge being so forward? They could just move the bridge & the pickups back. Will the strings even have the same tension/length with the bridge being that far forward?

He wanted better upper fret access.

 

So instead of deepening the cut out (like they did on the prototype) it seems they didn't want to change the shape of the bass so moved the bridge and neck forward.

 

I get the design has an iconic shape, but that's a terrible design decision.

[NancyJohnson]

I did think the bridge looked quite forward, but didnt make the connection with the geometry, especially as the spec gives a 34" scale.

[Drax]

Cool. Not seen SIMs pickups make it to another manufacturer’s production bass before, is this a first for them?  

[Defo]

1 hour ago, Meddle said:

No idea why such a crap bassist gets so many endorsements.

That's well out of order. Rudy is one of the pre-eminent rock bassists of the last 30 years, you don't get the gigs he has without being seriously capable - look at his CV maybe? What is it that made you think he was crap?

[visog]

50 minutes ago, Defo said:

What is it that made you think he was crap?

I've no memory of a single note or line he's ever played. 

[Defo]

2 minutes ago, visog said:

I've no memory of a single note or line he's ever played. 

Him and Paul McCartney I guess

Edited August 10, 2019 by Defo

[visog]

Just now, Defo said:

Him and Paul McCartny I guess

Eh? I can sing ten McCartney lines of the top of my head right now - each has a form, melody and shape. You stick to this:

 

[Drax]

It’s a moot point isn’t it - endorsements are given for profile,  not talent. 

[NancyJohnson]

1 hour ago, visog said:

I've no memory of a single note or line he's ever played. 

To be honest, me neither!

[AndyTravis]

3 hours ago, Meddle said:

No idea why such a crap bassist gets so many endorsements.

*cough* Adam Clayton *cough* (just a joke before that can of worms opens up - I rate AC)

1 hour ago, Drax said:

It’s a moot point isn’t it - endorsements are given for profile,  not talent. 

Ah. Yes.

I thought Mr Sarzo had played in Whitesnake and Ozzy just of the top of my head. 

More than I’ve done, fair play.

Also led to believe he’s a nice bloke.

[bartelby]

11 hours ago, visog said:

Eh? I can sing ten McCartney lines of the top of my head right now 

 

I can’t.

Not sure how this metric determines how good a bassist is, to be honest.

[HazBeen]

May I suggest the discussion turns to the bass not the bassist. The bassist can then be discussed in another thread if required, keeps confusion to a minimum.

[bartelby]

16 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

That’s very odd because the one shown on the Sweetwater site does not look the same as the one he’s playing in the video.

Pre-production model?

[DoubleOhStephan]

Is it unusual for a signature series model not to be exactly the same as the artists' actual bass?

[fretmeister]

The Video says that the exact one he is playing the vid can be purchased from Sweetwater.

 

I'll bet that the photo is of a prototype only.

[MGB]

I had one for a few weeks to try out.

Great bass, lots of sounds available thanks to the Sims pickups (enjoyed them a lot) but also always retained the Spector signature sound (also a good thing I find).

But........... had to send it back because of the reach, it was just way too much and not comfortable for me at all. I wish they would put the bridge at the edge of the body and make a deeper cutaway on the lower horn. That would make a fantastic bass.

Edited August 11, 2019 by MGB

[Mastodon2]

I do feel that the upper fret access on Spectors is terrible, it's one of the reasons I sold my Euro 5LX, which in most other aspects was a fantastic instrument. I found the bass to be very well balanced and, I think moving the bridge so far forward to affect that quite badly. 

What I don't understand is why Rudy wanted upper fret access so badly that they moved the bridge. No comment on his ability but I've never heard anything from him where he's really been in the upper register to the point where the normal Spector access would hinder him. 

I like the look of his old Peavey signature, I'd love to have a go on one some day. 

Also that's a very noisy signal in that video. I've never heard thet with Sims pickups in other videos - sounds like the earth wire is loose. 

Edited August 12, 2019 by Mastodon2

[thodrik]

4 minutes ago, Mastodon2 said:

I do feel that the upper fret access on Spectors is terrible, it's one of the reasons I sold my Euro 5LX, which in most other aspects was a fantastic instrument. I found the bass to be very well balanced and, I think moving the bridge so far forward to affect that quite badly. 

What I don't understand is why Rudy wanted upper fret access so badly that they moved the bridge. No comment on his ability but I've never heard anything from him where he's really been in the upper register to the point where the normal Spector access would hinder him. 

I like the look of his old Peavey signature, I'd love to have a go on one some day. 

When playing the guitar in a band the best bassist I have every jammed with had a Euro 5LX, which through an Ampeg 8x10 rig produced one of the best bass tones I have ever heard. 

If you don't mind me asking, how limited was the upper fret access? Was basically everything past the fifteenth fret inaccessible? I haven't played one myself and there are barely (if any) Spector Euro dealers in Scotland so I am unlikely to try in the near future as well. 

I have been thinking about getting a Spector Euro 5 (or 6...) but I'm not really that keen on getting a bass where 5 or 6 frets are basically there for just decoration purposes. 

. Granted, I am used to Fender bass designs and a Les Paul guitar where upper fret access is limited, but not impossible with some shoulder and hip movement...

[Mastodon2]

6 minutes ago, thodrik said:

When playing the guitar in a band the best bassist I have every jammed with had a Euro 5LX, which through an Ampeg 8x10 rig produced one of the best bass tones I have ever heard. 

If you don't mind me asking, how limited was the upper fret access? Was basically everything past the fifteenth fret inaccessible? I haven't played one myself and there are barely (if any) Spector Euro dealers in Scotland so I am unlikely to try in the near future as well. 

I have been thinking about getting a Spector Euro 5 (or 6...) but I'm not really that keen on getting a bass where 5 or 6 frets are basically there for just decoration purposes. 

. Granted, I am used to Fender bass designs and a Les Paul guitar where upper fret access is limited, but not impossible with some shoulder and hip movement...

The 20th and 21st are usable, so no different to a traditional Fender range, but 22nd-24th require a bit of reaching. A bit of double bass-esque reaching which is fine if you're John Patitucci but otherwise it's not the most comfortable bass for uppper register soloing. 

I'd say perhaps another thing to consider is the way the bass hangs on a strap. They are big basses and I found the best postion for a overall ergonomics was not as high as I'd wear some of my basses. I could have worn it higher to bring the upper frets towards my optimum position but then it would have been a real stretch to the lower frets. I think the ergonomics and balance of the bass are perhaps an even bigger factor in why I didn't find the upper register so usable. 

I sold it because I was using my Warwick Thumb more so I thought I'd free up the money for something else. The Thumb, for my needs at the time, was the better bass. The B string on the Spector was obviously better though, that Euro had real thickness and authority in the bottom end. 

Ask yourself how much time you really need those last three frets, is it really that much of a deal breaker? I'd have another Spector, ideally a Doug Wimbish model if I saw one for a good price. I'm lucky to own a few basses now with completely uninhibited access to the 24th fret so that kind of access isn't such a "must have" for me now. 

[thodrik]

2 minutes ago, Mastodon2 said:

The 20th and 21st are usable, so no different to a traditional Fender range, but 22nd-24th require a bit of reaching. A bit of double bass-esque reaching which is fine if you're John Patitucci but otherwise it's not the most comfortable bass for uppper register soloing. 

I'd say perhaps another thing to consider is the way the bass hangs on a strap. They are big basses and I found the best postion for a overall ergonomics was not as high as I'd wear some of my basses. I could have worn it higher to bring the upper frets towards my optimum position but then it would have been a real stretch to the lower frets. I think the ergonomics and balance of the bass are perhaps an even bigger factor in why I didn't find the upper register so usable. 

I sold it because I was using my Warwick Thumb more so I thought I'd free up the money for something else. The Thumb, for my needs at the time, was the better bass. The B string on the Spector was obviously better though, that Euro had real thickness and authority in the bottom end. 

Ask yourself how much time you really need those last three frets, is it really that much of a deal breaker? I'd have another Spector, ideally a Doug Wimbish model if I saw one for a good price. I'm lucky to own a few basses now with completely uninhibited access to the 24th fret so that kind of access isn't such a "must have" for me now. 

I played double bass as well so I am used to a fair amount of challenges of getting to the upper notes.  

If I am spending £1800 on a 24 fret bass I would want all 24 frets to be reachable. Not so much for gigging, but certainly when it comes to practising technical playing I like to be able to get to all the frets. My old Vigier Excess for example, has great 24 fret access, though it now has a broken jack socket after about 15 years of wear and tear... 

I'm certainly not ruling a Spector out, but I think I would need to try one out to see if I could live with the ergonomics.  

Cheers!

[Bleat]

I am so disappointed in the way this site has gone downhill regards fret access.... 21? …. 24?  I remember when all everyone talked about were the first 5 frets, with ocaisional mention of the 7th.... proper bass playing. Now even aging "rock stars" who quite obviously dye their hair too, now want to move bridges , and extend necks even further to the left, trying to get in on this "cool" new "upper access" stuff.... .. I'm off to design my own signature bass which will be mostly body with a 5 fret neck.

😒