Spector Greatness

[krispn]

I’d saw on a video review the Spector basses came with (maybe historically) 43-122. I’ll see if I can find the source 

[WHUFC BASS]

For anyone interested in the Crimson Guitars Fretboard Restorative and Cleaner, there's some blurb about it on here from the manufacturers:

 

[mangotango]

14 minutes ago, krispn said:

I’d saw on a video review the Spector basses came with (maybe historically) 43-122. I’ll see if I can find the source 

Looking on various dealers' websites, they advise 45-120 for the Legend 5's.

 

By the way - is that Bill Bailey in the Crimson Guitars video?

[WHUFC BASS]

15 minutes ago, mangotango said:

By the way - is that Bill Bailey in the Crimson Guitars video?

I must admit, when I first saw it I thought the same too. I thought he was going to start talking about Hobbits and stuff at any moment!

[krispn]

forward to 4:22 approx for string gauges.

[Paulhauser]

12 hours ago, WHUFC BASS said:

 

The Spectors I've seen (Euros only) come with D'addario Pro Steels which really are a great standard string for use on any bass. I'd recommend them for any bass. If you can afford it, the D'addario NYXL strings are even better. Superb strings with a great tone. The holy grail of bass strings for me are DR Hi-Beams which (when I can afford them) I always go for. They're just so bright and last a hell of a long time. They also compliment the Spector sound perfectly.

+1 on the DR Hi Beams. Those are my preferred strings to be used on my US and Euro Spectors. While their normal price is a bit on the high side there are deals to be found, I got my 0.45-.130 Hibeams for around £30 a set which is a quite ok.

They sound great, feels great and last good (but not great) I love how my Spectors sound with them

 

 

 

 

[Al Krow]

1 minute ago, Paulhauser said:

I got my 0.45-.130 Hibeams for around £30 a set

Do you remember where from?

Gave my SLC-5 a spin tonight with the band at rehearsal. Played with amp set clean and relatively flat with no pedals so I could hear how the unvarnished bass sounded in the mix. Used the studio cab which does not have the clarity of my BF or Fearless and consequently found that I was leaning to the bridge pup to cut through (which it did!). Be interesting to see how using a better cab and a fresher set of strings impacts on pup selection.

[Paulhauser]

16 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Do you remember where from?

Sure. It was from muziker.sk , a slovakian e-commerce site that grew big on instruments and related products and now they seem to branch out to other stuff. I think I bought about 6-8 sets of DR strings at that time. It seems currently they dont have those prices but worth to keep an eye as I must have been bought from them on good prices about three times in the last few years. (Probably my only purchases from them...)

[spectoremg]

On 12/08/2019 at 20:34, WHUFC BASS said:

I can only compare it to the Korean NS2000 (which was a neck through) which I had years ago. The construction on the NS2000 was very good, but it was really heavy (probably due to it being all maple construction). When I say it was heavy, I mean it was HEAVY ... must have been at least 12lbs.
The sound from such a heavy bass was pretty weak (even though it had passive EMG HZ pickups and an EMG BTS pre-amp). It did put me off Spectors for a while until I heard what the Euro sounded like. Chalk and cheese was the phrase that sprung to mind.

I still have the NS2000 I bought in '99 - great bass. I bought another one in '05 and the body was around 5mm deeper and subsequently heavier. 

[spectoremg]

On 12/08/2019 at 22:03, Al Krow said:

Yup I definitely don't have 'tone wood' religion, that's for sure. My view is that pups, strings and EQ are the main tone drivers and then type of woods next in line (and likely someway behind the first three). 

You forgot fingers; it's all in the fingers!😁😉

[spectoremg]

I have a Euro LX-TW. Defo gonna tweak that trim pot later. 

[TheGreek]

Hmmm...my NS4 is sitting in the stand...may need to plug it in later...

Thanks for the inspiration..

[Al Krow]

Query for you Spector experts (Specperts?) :

Other than the Legend Custom, are there any production or discontinued European models with a 3 band EQ? I've not found any to date. 

What does Spector have against bass players being able to control their mids? 

[WHUFC BASS]

5 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Query for you Spector experts (Specperts?) :

Other than the Legend Custom, are there any production or discontinued European models with a 3 band EQ? I've not found any to date.  

What does Spector have against bass players being able to control their mids? 

No, unfortunately there aren't any Euro models that allow you to control the mids and it's something I've wondered about too. Even the new Euro LT basses with the Darkglass pre-amp and Bartolini pickups don't have a mid control either. It's not too hard to change them out of an EMG BTQ pre amp  (which mine has and one of the reasons I snapped it up) which has low-mid and high-mid concentric controls and give a lot more tonal variety than the Tone Pump or EMG BTS pre-amps which come as standard

[Al Krow]

Ah ok thanks. That explains why it's taken me so long to find a 3 band EQ Spector and why my ears picked up when @mangotangomentioned that the Legend Custom model, he owned, indeed had a 3 band EQ (with a stacked bass and treble pot)! 

Not clear to me, however, from the 4 knob options which EQ model is on the Legend Custom? This has an independent volume control for both pups rather than volume / blend and then two knobs providing stacked bass and treble and a separate one for mids. I'm hoping Mangotango might know off the top of his head - there only seems to be a reference to the 'US' Legend models online which have Aggie OB-2 pre's in them, and it's clearly not that!

Is the BTQ pre you refer to still available?

http://www.emgpickups.com/accessories/bass-accessories.html

If not, it seems that the 4 knob BQC pre would now be the one to go for with its 3 band EQ and semi para mids. Either that or go for a John East Uni-pre!

Edited August 21, 2019 by Al Krow

[WHUFC BASS]

16 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Ah ok thanks. That explains why it's taken me so long to find a 3 band EQ Spector and why my ears picked up when @mangotangomentioned that the Legend Custom model, he owned, indeed had a 3 band EQ (with a stacked bass and treble pot)! 

That particular model of the Custom was done for a limited run only and for some unknown reason, that included a mid-control and stacked bass/treble pot.

16 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Is the BTQ pre you refer to still available?

http://www.emgpickups.com/accessories/bass-accessories.html

If not, it seems that the 4 knob BQC pre would now be the one to go for with its 3 band EQ and semi para mids. Either that or go for a John East Uni-pre!

Apologies mine isn't a BTQ, it's a BQC pre-amp which has the concentric pots.

http://www.emgpickups.com/accessories/bass-accessories/bass-eq-active/bqcsystem.html

Looks to still be available and as it's all clip-together connections it should be a breeze to install.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/emg_bqc_system_3band_eq.htm

I've not tried the John East pre-amp but the BQC is fantastic. Really impressive and gives you so much more variety in tone. I'm really surprised Spector don't install these as standard.

Edited August 21, 2019 by WHUFC BASS

[BassApprentice]

8 minutes ago, WHUFC BASS said:

That particular model of the Custom was done for a limited run only and for some unknown reason, that included a mid-control and stacked bass/treble pot.

Apologies mine isn't a BTQ, it's a BQC pre-amp which has the concentric pots.

I've not tried the John East pre-amp but the BQC is fantastic. Really impressive and gives you so much more variety in tone. I'm really surprised Spector don't install these as standard.

@Al Krow I *might* have a BQC going unused - I'll have a look today and send you a message if I find it!

[Al Krow]

Ah ok cool, so BQC pre to bear in mind to round off a Euro model. 

Hmmm...sounds to me that me and mangotango may have stumbled on a bit of a collector's item with the limited run 3 band EQ Legend Custom then, but what the EQ model on it actually is I'd be keen to find out! 

[Cuzzie]

4 hours ago, WHUFC BASS said:

No, unfortunately there aren't any Euro models that allow you to control the mids and it's something I've wondered about too. Even the new Euro LT basses with the Darkglass pre-amp and Bartolini pickups don't have a mid control either. It's not too hard to change them out of an EMG BTQ pre amp  (which mine has and one of the reasons I snapped it up) which has low-mid and high-mid concentric controls and give a lot more tonal variety than the Tone Pump or EMG BTS pre-amps which come as standard

Is it not the DG tone capsule?

[krispn]

I was gonna say the DGTC has Bass LoMid HiMid

[WHUFC BASS]

6 minutes ago, Cuzzie said:

Is it not the DG tone capsule?

The DarkGlass Tone Capsule has a Bass/Mid/Mid setup (no Treble) so in the true sense of the phrase, it's not a three band eq. I'm intrigued as to what it sounds like - Darkglass have listed the frequencies as (Bass 70Hz, Mid 500Hz, High-mid 2.8kHz).

They say that the second control can be configured to operate at the higher end of the spectrum, offering all the benefits a standard Treble control (increased clarity and definition when boosting) but with a more natural, less-harsh and noiseless operation.

Edited August 21, 2019 by WHUFC BASS

[Cuzzie]

1 minute ago, WHUFC BASS said:

The DarkGlass Tone Capsule has a Bass/Mid/Mid setup (no Treble) so in the true sense of the phrase, it's not a three band eq. I'm intrigued as to what it sounds like - Darkglass have listed the frequencies as (Bass 70Hz, Mid 500Hz, High-mid 2.8kHz).

Yep, I know the tone capsule well, it was more in relation to the comment there is no control of the mids, whereas actually this seems to nicely control the mids more than a traditional bass/mid/treble would

[WHUFC BASS]

1 minute ago, Cuzzie said:

Yep, I know the tone capsule well, it was more in relation to the comment there is no control of the mids, whereas actually this seems to nicely control the mids more than a traditional bass/mid/treble would

Yes - you're correct. I assumed on the new LT basses were similar to previous models in that they had bass / treble and no mid control. That's a unique concept of two mid controls. I think I've just seen my next gear acquisition.

[Cuzzie]

If it’s the same (and I haven’t seen another DG pre amp on my travels) it’s a nice piece of kit

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, WHUFC BASS said:

Yes - you're correct. I assumed on the new LT basses were similar to previous models in that they had bass / treble and no mid control. That's a unique concept of two mid controls. I think I've just seen my next gear acquisition.

Be interesting to see how the Barts on the LTs compare to the more traditional EMGs and whether the LTs have moved away from a more familiar 'Spector' sound. Look forward to getting your thoughts following your next acquisition! Give me a shout if you decide, at that point, to move on the bass that started this thread off  

Two mids instead of mid / treble seems a bit gimmicky to me; not sure what's wrong with bass / mid / treble and the ability to roll treble off (which is great for a Motown vibe). Mid cut is very different to treble roll-off, right? 

The BQC pre with a semi-para mid seems to nail it and I agree with your earlier comment that it would make good sense for Spector to be fitting BQC pre's as standard, certainly on their higher-end models.

Edited August 21, 2019 by Al Krow