Are Spectors great basses?

[greghagger]

Here is a review of my Spector Euro 5 with Bartolini Pickups. 

Spector basses are interesting instruments, that have a lot of players divided. Some absolutely love them, others not so much. The stock EMG pickups, because of their distinctive sound, particularly seem to divide people. 

I upgraded my Spector with Bartolini’s because I found the EMG’s too hard sounding, and one dimensional. This is a direction that Spector seem to be going in, as they now offer Bartolini and Aguilar pickups as well, in their new basses. 

Have a listen and see what you think. I play various bass lines with different tone controls and settings. 

The full video can be viewed by following the link below. 

Enjoy

https://youtu.be/Q8eH6--2ltU

 

[hooky_lowdown]

You ask the question, then answer it yourself?

[greghagger]

4 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said:

You ask the question, then answer it yourself?

Sorry not entirely sure that I understand your reply? 

Do you personally like Spectors, and if so, do you have a preference for pickups? 

[hooky_lowdown]

The thread title asks the question. Your post and inclusion of a youtube link answers it.

[greghagger]

6 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said:

The thread title asks the question. Your post and inclusion of a youtube link answers it.

Oh I see what you mean now. 

But that’s ok, as what I’m actually interested in, is other people’s opinions, to see if we can get an interesting debate going. 

People can hear from my video, different sounds that my own Spector (with Bartolini pickups) makes. Then maybe compare it with their own. A lot of Spectors come stock with EMGs, so that makes for an interesting comparison. Or some might not have heard a Spector before  the video nicely (IMO 😊), demonstrates how they sound.

So the aim of my question is to find out what everyone else thinks. 

Hope that makes more sense to you now. What’s your opinion of Spectors, if you have tried them? 

[mangotango]

I have 2 Spectors, Korean-built (Legend Custom 5 fretted and Spectorcore 5 Fretless) both of which have the EMG SSD pickups. They're fine instruments and I'm actually very pleased with them; I play in a funk-jazz band and so I like the clarity that I get from them. I find that they provide a wide range of tones for the music I play, be it funk slapping, warm plummy latin sounds or clear fusion oomph, and I certainly wouldn't use the expression "one-dimensional" to describe them. But, unlike many Spector users I don't play rock or metal, so my expectations are very different from someone playing in either of those genres.

Hope that helps.

[greghagger]

21 minutes ago, mangotango said:

I have 2 Spectors, Korean-built (Legend Custom 5 fretted and Spectorcore 5 Fretless) both of which have the EMG SSD pickups. They're fine instruments and I'm actually very pleased with them; I play in a funk-jazz band and so I like the clarity that I get from them. I find that they provide a wide range of tones for the music I play, be it funk slapping, warm plummy latin sounds or clear fusion oomph, and I certainly wouldn't use the expression "one-dimensional" to describe them. But, unlike many Spector users I don't play rock or metal, so my expectations are very different from someone playing in either of those genres.

Hope that helps.

That’s great thank. Good to hear you are pleased with them. I agree, that you do get great clarity from the majority of Spectors. 

I guess that pickups and basses do divide players. It’s interesting hearing other player’s take on them. 

[TheGreek]

I currently have three - a Spectorcore fretless four string, an NS94 and an NS 2000/4 - all very well built, reasonably priced and with their own character.

I disagree with the "one dimensional" comment - I think the variety in the tonal palette is as good as anything else out there. You state that you prefer Barts over the EMGs - I had a set of Barts in my Roscoe which I felt let the bass down so I moved it on. Horses for courses I suppose.

If I only had one bass I wouldn't be disappointed if it was a Spector.

[greghagger]

13 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

I currently have three - a Spectorcore fretless four string, an NS94 and an NS 2000/4 - all very well built, reasonably priced and with their own character.

I disagree with the "one dimensional" comment - I think the variety in the tonal palette is as good as anything else out there. You state that you prefer Barts over the EMGs - I had a set of Barts in my Roscoe which I felt let the bass down so I moved it on. Horses for courses I suppose.

If I only had one bass I wouldn't be disappointed if it was a Spector.

Yes I agree that they are very well built, and good value for money. 

In terms of pickups, yes a very subjective topic! I was quite interested when I noticed that Spector now give different pickup options on their new basses, as up to now, EMGs have been such an integral part of their sound.

I definitely wouldn’t want to be implying that one brand of pickup are better than the other, I just prefer Bartolini’s  

 

[Defo]

Spectors are most definitely great basses, incredible in fact. The only problem I have them is that they sound too much like Spectors!!!

[greghagger]

1 hour ago, Defo said:

Spectors are most definitely great basses, incredible in fact. The only problem I have them is that they sound too much like Spectors!!!

For me, you’ve just hit the nail on the head perfectly! That’s really my only issue with my Spector too. I don’t use it much, but occasionally there is a situation where it fits the job perfectly.

[Rollin Thunder]

I had a second hand spectre, it was ok, nothing wow, bit muddy sounding, and harsh at the same time, moved it on.  I have heard that neck thru models are better rounded warmer sound but still gave bite, my Gibson EB does that better than the spectre did. May try a NT model at some point in the future.

[cetera]

Interesting video, thanks and the answer is YES, they ARE great basses. I currently own 27 of them, from an original 1977 SB1, thru pre-Kramer, Kramer-era, SSD, Euro and custom Woodstock models. All superbly made and with characters of their own.

Your video states that you have 'upgraded' to Bartolini pickups? I'd argue that is not so much an upgrade as a change.... and Spector offering more options now is, imho, simply a way of widening their appeal (like different size engines in cars for different personal preferences) rather than heading in a certain sound direction.

Personally, I've never found any of my EMG loaded Spectors to lack in versatility. Rolling off the tone with EMGs or using month old strings can produce a very similar sound to your demo. My most recent purchase of the new EuroLT model, which actually has custom wound Bartolini PJ pickups and a Darkglass pre, again sounds very different to your bass.

Any preamp or pickup change is going to change the sound of any bass. Are your strings flatwound or just well played? I only ask because there's very little real crispness or punch coming from that bass.... unless of course that is the pickups or the pre-amp? You also don't state what preamp you have put in it....

If that sound suits you then that's great and enjoy this fabulous instrument! Personally, no offence, but I prefer a little more 'life' in my Spector sound :)

 

[DoubleOhStephan]

I've got a '99 NS2000 (Korean) and she's coming to the grave with me. Nuff said! 😁

She's a bit of a case queen these days as I want to keep her a close to mint as possible, but on the occasions when I do get her out, I fall in love all over again. Tone monster!

[DoubleOhStephan]

16 minutes ago, cetera said:

I currently own 27 of them

😮

[greghagger]

2 hours ago, cetera said:

Interesting video, thanks and the answer is YES, they ARE great basses. I currently own 27 of them, from an original 1977 SB1, thru pre-Kramer, Kramer-era, SSD, Euro and custom Woodstock models. All superbly made and with characters of their own.

Your video states that you have 'upgraded' to Bartolini pickups? I'd argue that is not so much an upgrade as a change.... and Spector offering more options now is, imho, simply a way of widening their appeal (like different size engines in cars for different personal preferences) rather than heading in a certain sound direction.

Personally, I've never found any of my EMG loaded Spectors to lack in versatility. Rolling off the tone with EMGs or using month old strings can produce a very similar sound to your demo. My most recent purchase of the new EuroLT model, which actually has custom wound Bartolini PJ pickups and a Darkglass pre, again sounds very different to your bass.

Any preamp or pickup change is going to change the sound of any bass. Are your strings flatwound or just well played? I only ask because there's very little real crispness or punch coming from that bass.... unless of course that is the pickups or the pre-amp? You also don't state what preamp you have put in it....

If that sound suits you then that's great and enjoy this fabulous instrument! Personally, no offence, but I prefer a little more 'life' in my Spector sound

 

You are the second person who owns 27 Spectors, the magic number?!

Thanks, really interesting reply of yours, and from someone who obviously knows their Spectors. 

Good point about whether or not the Bartolini’s are an upgrade or not. They definitely gave me a much more likeable sound, so I consider upgrade to be the perfect word here!

I agree about not having a lot of punch. That bass has always been lacking in mids. Although the video samples  don’t have that new string ‘zing’ (they are not yet dead, but have been played a bit), I hear a fair amount of bass, and also some top in the sound too. I actually prefer to not have too much crispness to my sound, but obviously that’s just a personal preference.

I did actually mention about the preamp in there (from 1:43).  It’s made by a guy called Michalik, who builds preamps for Spector. This is one of his own preamp models, but I’m guessing it’s fairly similar to the TonePump preamps.

I can imagine your new PJ bass, with Darkglass pickups sounds very different from mine. 

Appreciate your feedback, and as we all know, sound is very subjective, so what sounds great to someone might not sound great to another. I much prefer my Spector with Barts in it though. 

[greghagger]

2 hours ago, DoubleOhStephan said:

I've got a '99 NS2000 (Korean) and she's coming to the grave with me. Nuff said! 😁

She's a bit of a case queen these days as I want to keep her a close to mint as possible, but on the occasions when I do get her out, I fall in love all over again. Tone monster!

Lovely colour too!

[Ralf1e]

I have a euro lx 5 string that came with the barts as standard. I like it very much. The soft sound suits me as I play gospel in church.

[Misdee]

Spector's are indeed great basses. I wish I had bought one when they were more affordable, although they were never that affordable, thinking about it.  I've only tried the USA-made NS basses and they have consistently been epic and lived up to the hype. I would rate them amongst the best basses money can buy.

 

Spector basses have their own sound. I would venture that the EMG pickups, combined with the maple body and neck-thru construction, are a significant part of that tone. I know Spector offer other options nowadays, but EMGs are synonymous with that classic aggressive Spector character.

 

Edited October 31, 2022 by Misdee

[Woodinblack]

Cant imagine a Spector with barts, although I suspect they are the US barts rather than the bart licensed things that Ibanez use in their budget basses. I do have one with Agulars though and that is probably my favourite

[Ed_S]

I had two very nice Rebop 5s - one I bought second hand with Aguilar DCBs installed by the previous owner, and one I bought brand new with a pair of EMG 40CS from the factory. The Aguilars were nice pickups, but I came to realise that nice isn't really what I wanted from a Spector so that one moved on when I was having a thin-down, and the 40CS which has a more aggressive character to it is still here. I've never had anything with 'proper' Barts - just MK1 and BH2 types - so I don't really know whether I'd like them or not, but even so, if I was ever ordering another Spector it'd most likely be one with EMGs fitted.

[Woodinblack]

2 hours ago, Ed_S said:

The Aguilars were nice pickups, but I came to realise that nice isn't really what I wanted from a Spector so that one moved on when I was having a thin-down

 

Mine is factory fitted agulars, not sure if it makes the difference.

 

2 hours ago, Ed_S said:

, and the 40CS which has a more aggressive character to it is still here. I've never had anything with 'proper' Barts - just MK1 and BH2 types

 

Yep, the not proper barts

[Ed_S]

12 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Mine is factory fitted agulars, not sure if it makes the difference.

 

I imagine that the construction of each model of bass, the specific model of Aguilar pickup in use, the model of preamp fitted (mine were both the TonePump with the internal trim pot) and the player's preference in strings and setup probably all need to be factored in, along with player technique and amplification. For the same bass in all but colour, with the same preamp, strings, setup and same me, through the same onward signal chain, the DCBs sounded polite and grown-up, whereas the EMGs... just don't! 🙂

[Misdee]

I suppose a pertinent question is are Spector basses as great as they once were? Now that Stuart Spector has retired and Korg have taken over the company, I would be interested to hear from Spector afficionados if the basses are still made to the same standard 

[cetera]

Overall yes.

The Euros are still fantastic basses built to an excellent standard and are the 'standard' imho... 

The US ones are all custom shop now and if anything they have a greater attention to detail than some of the last models Stuart put out.... but you pay the price.

Asian ones are generally excellent too with just an occasional niggle reported, but a cheaper price point.