Spector Basses: are tattoos and/or long hair prerequisites for playing them?

[Mastodon2]

Hmmm, what is this that has just arrived in the post?

 

[Old Horse Murphy]

Very nice. Glad it went to a good home 

[krispn]

Was this the one that was in guitar guitar? I was gonna go have a play on it after the new year 

[Mastodon2]

23 minutes ago, krispn said:

Was this the one that was in guitar guitar? I was gonna go have a play on it after the new year 

Yes, the very same. It's got the volume, volume, bass, treble controls for the Tonepump circuit, often incorrectly identified as a "boost only" preamp, which isn't actually true. It's a decent enough preamp but I like to have a mids knob. You can still control your mids by cutting or boosting bass and treble but ultimately it doesn't have the flexibility of a 3 band or greater preamp.

My plans for the new year are to get an EMG preamp for it and have it with a volume, blend, bass, mids and treble control. As I've only got four knobs I'll need a stacked one, but I'm sure EMG will have something to suit.

 

Edit: Confused you with another poster. 

Edited December 31, 2019 by Mastodon2

[Paulhauser]

1 hour ago, Mastodon2 said:

Hmmm, what is this that has just arrived in the post?

 

Ohh, congratulations! That is a nice score right there 🙂

[Paulhauser]

Be quick or be dead (Spectorless) right? 🙂 

[Mastodon2]

7 minutes ago, Paulhauser said:

Be quick or be dead (Spectorless) right? 🙂 

Indeed, my brother actually sent me a link to the page on the Guitar Guitar website a few days back and I'd been mulling it over. You were right, it was a very fair price and the condition overall is great. 

I'd wanted a Euro 4 string ever since selling my Euro 5 a while back. I know you can get the Euros with Aguilar and Bartolini pickups now but for me, the classic Spector sound is EMGs. As I say, I'll be upgrading the Tonepump in the new year to an EMG preamp but it sounds great as it is. I love it!

[Paulhauser]

1 minute ago, Mastodon2 said:

Indeed, my brother actually sent me a link to the page on the Guitar Guitar website a few days back and I'd been mulling it over. You were right, it was a very fair price and the condition overall is great. 

I'd wanted a Euro 4 string ever since selling my Euro 5 a while back. I know you can get the Euros with Aguilar and Bartolini pickups now but for me, the classic Spector sound is EMGs. As I say, I'll be upgrading the Tonepump in the new year to an EMG preamp but it sounds great as it is. I love it!

Great, I know how you feel. As I have said that is one of the best looking natural Euros I've ever seen.

The EMG preamp is a great choice especially for the mids and will be easy to drop in. 

As for the pickups, EMG is the way to go with the Spectors, I have EMG is all my 7 of them. One of my Euro435 came with Aguilar PJ but replaced with the X series EMG PJ and it sounds absouletely killer. 

What I also like is that with the EMG 40's housing that they have in the Euro5 / NS-5XLs is they offer a great variety within that housing, meaning you can get dual coils (DC) splitable coils (TW) or P or J. I have a 5 string pre- LX Euro5 with 40P and 40J and it sounds much like my 4 string PJ. In one of my NS-5XLs I have used a double P for a year or so and due to the quick connect pin they are very easy to replace / change.   

[ead]

That is a chuffin' lovely bass @Mastodon2

[bnt]

I've lusted after a Spector for a long time, and got to play one at the London Bass Show a few months ago. I like the story of how it was created: Stuart Spector happened to share workshop space with a young industrial designer named Ned Steinberger, who had zero experience with musical instruments but was willing to have a a go at designing one, and the result was the NS-2. Steinberger clearly picked up the bass bug, considering what he did next. 😎

[AndyTravis]

@Mastodon2

thats a beauty mate. Not helping me shake the idea I’d like one too 😂

[Defo]

Eddie Jackson and Rachel Bolan got stellar tones on million sellers from Spectors, listen to the Empire album from Quensryche. But NOTE - Doug Wimbish is a Spector afficcionado.... 

[cetera]

Nothing to add really..... except to say that the bloke from Crowded House also used them... as did many of the late 70's/early 80's US session aces (Chuck Rainey included)....!

Mid 80's-early 90's (Kramer-era) marketing targeted the rock fraternity and that has stuck. It could be said "for good reason" as nothing sounds better than a grinding Spector on those classic rock albums.... but those in the know recognise that they are much more than just 'one-trick' ponies, especially players in the US. Without the marketing reach in Europe, W*rw*ck cornered the market (& marketing)...

[Al Krow]

What are folks' thoughts on the difference between the Euro LX vs US NS models? Are these essentially the same? Any real differences?

Just seen this thread from a decade ago. Dunno if views have moved on since?

One of the posters commented "My NS quality wise IS worth twice the money to me. Sound wise there not that much in it though."

Given just how lovely I'm finding my Euro 5LX, must admit I'm struggling to work out how Spector improve on that to provide something worth twice the money!

[mangotango]

52 minutes ago, cetera said:

Nothing to add really..... except to say that the bloke from Crowded House also used them... as did many of the late 70's/early 80's US session aces (Chuck Rainey included)....!

Mid 80's-early 90's (Kramer-era) marketing targeted the rock fraternity and that has stuck. It could be said "for good reason" as nothing sounds better than a grinding Spector on those classic rock albums.... but those in the know recognise that they are much more than just 'one-trick' ponies, especially players in the US. Without the marketing reach in Europe, W*rw*ck cornered the market (& marketing)...

Certainly "nothing sounds better" in that vein, to my ears at least, than that Spectorbird!! Quite simply, it's one of the 5 best basses that I have ever played.

[cetera]

14 minutes ago, mangotango said:

Certainly "nothing sounds better" in that vein, to my ears at least, than that Spectorbird!! Quite simply, it's one of the 5 best basses that I have ever played.

Very kind, mate. It is, indeed, the 'dogs back wheels'

 

[Paulhauser]

@Al Krow I can only quote what I've written about it in another topic. Hope it helps. 

 

23 hours ago, Paulhauser said:

I have gone through many Spectors and I believe that personal preferences are very important and also the fact how they meet with a certain instrument.

I'm a 5 string player (or should I say, I need at least the BEAD strings)

What I have gathered so far:

- I liked my Euro 5 basses over the Korean ones had.

- I never really liked Euro 4s until I got my maple winged Euro 435 which is a 35" Euro 4 with X series PJs. 

- I had US made NS-5XL's that I  did not consider to be better (for me) as my Euro 5's

- One of my NS-5XL (pictured below)  is simply another level compared to any of the Spectors I have every had or heard. The richness of the tone, the depth of it, the nuances and the look / playability is second to none, all other basses considered. It is my main recording and practicing bass and I feel very privileged to have found 'my' instrument. I have other Spectors and other basses of very high quality (Atelier Z, Prestige Ibbys, MM SR5 etc) but this is always the one. 

I don't know if there is any takeaway for you from the above but my experience is that finding your great instrument is transcending sales categories, price points and places / means of manufacturing but there is one thing for sure for me, the best bass I have is the one I have paid the most for. And we are looong after the honeymoon period. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 2, 2020 by Paulhauser
fixed some editing issues

[Al Krow]

@Paulhauser - thanks for that.

Seems to me that your experience is the Euro 5LX stack up pretty well, in general, against the US NS models. But you've found a particular gem amongst them.

[Paulhauser]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

@Paulhauser - thanks for that.

Seems to me that your experience is the Euro 5LX stack up pretty well, in general, against the US NS models. But you've found a particular gem amongst them.

Well in short, yes. I have found a couple of them actually, my US made NS Forte 6 sounds and feels better than any of my previous 3 Euro 6s that I have owned and used before .

My two Euro5s are highly modified and have a history with me and the white Euro 435 is simply a killer bass that I use now for my main gig so I hold the Euro line in very high regard and came through enough of the to be able to pick up the best of them really. 

[Chopthebass]

I don't know why there aren't more of them out there. I just bought a Euro 5LT. Its friggin awesome!