NSD (New Spectorbird Day) x 4!

[cetera]

21 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

That’s knocked the edge off my GAS for buying the tobacco burst. I think I might invest in an NS Pulse II instead.

The tobaccoburst we got made looks nicer than this new run. But the Pulse II is an awesome bass.... I'd venture to even say it's the best value for money Spector out there...

[n0isyxx]

Cheers, here's mine too

 

What you guys think about the neck dive?

For me, that's the only thing I don't like regarding this masterpiece.

Edited March 18, 2023 by n0isyxx

[prowla]

Those are nice.

(And it's good to see they're doing other than the Warwick shapes!) 🙂

[mario_buoninfante]

1 hour ago, prowla said:

Those are nice.

(And it's good to see they're doing other than the Warwick shapes!) 🙂

Well, that is the Spector shape though

That Warwick started using afterwards

Edited March 19, 2023 by mario_buoninfante

[Lw.]

5 minutes ago, mario_buoninfante said:

Well, that is the Spector shape though

That Warwick started using afterwards

 

In all seriousness though - you're always going to get neck dive on thunderbird bass type shapes. I guess your choices are use a grippy strap or don't take your hand off the neck when playing open notes! 

[mario_buoninfante]

6 hours ago, Lw. said:

 

In all seriousness though - you're always going to get neck dive on thunderbird bass type shapes. I guess your choices are use a grippy strap or don't take your hand off the neck when playing open notes! 

Well, you never know

[cetera]

On 18/03/2023 at 18:34, n0isyxx said:

What you guys think about the neck dive?

For me, that's the only thing I don't like regarding this masterpiece.

 

Yep, there's a bit of neck dive but a good grippy strap takes care of the worst of it. Usual issue with an Tbird shape.

[n0isyxx]

Of course, we all know it, TB is an offset body instrument, that's why the right strap button positioning is so important for that shape.

I don't think it's a coincidence that Nikki had the back strap button that high on his Spectorbird in the 80s...
I've also fixed it on my Schecter Sixx by repositioning the bad positioned strap button. Spector could've done that imo...

There are categories in neck dive imo, when you let the neck go, it can dive, but it shouldn't crash it's head on the ground. That's the serious one, and it also fu*ks up your playing.
If it's not that serious, the leather strap / adding weight / etc. can solve it. I think these Euro X Spectors have serious neck dive issues out of the factory. That's my honest opinion.

But the good news is, it can be solved, but it needs a drill at least.

Edited March 20, 2023 by n0isyxx

[NancyJohnson]

1 hour ago, n0isyxx said:

Of course, we all know it, TB is an offset body instrument, that's why the right strap button positioning is so important for that shape.

I don't think it's a coincidence that Nikki had the back strap button that high on his Spectorbird in the 80s...
I've also fixed it on my Schecter Sixx by repositioning the bad positioned strap button. Spector could've done that imo...

There are categories in neck dive imo, when you let the neck go, it can dive, but it shouldn't crash it's head on the ground. That's the serious one, and it also fu*ks up your playing.
If it's not that serious, the leather strap / adding weight / etc. can solve it. I think these Euro X Spectors have serious neck dive issues out of the factory. That's my honest opinion.

But the good news is, it can be solved, but it needs a drill at least.

 

Let's edit this.

 

Over the last 20+ years, I've had an assortment of Thunderbirds pass through Chez Johnson, some still resident.  About a dozen Gibsons, a Hamer FBIV, a Hamer Scarab, a Lull, one of the current Spector run, two Epiphones (junk).  Despite my indifference to neck dive, the point here is so what?  With the centre of gravity and the weight there's an inevitability the headstock will dip.

 

It's a small cross to bear considering what you have in your possession.  It shouldn't realistically mess up your playing; if you play close to the bridge, it's easy to keep the instrument aligned correctly.

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2023 by NancyJohnson

[NancyJohnson]

It's been an interesting few weeks living with the Euro-X.

 

For starters, I honestly haven't touched any of my other basses since it arrived.  Due to the nature of my band stuff (we rehearse in a regular recording studio; all on headphones), it's fairly simple to dial in my desired tone through a BDDI/GED2112.

 

I ran it through my Darkglass set up at Silent Hill in Guildford a couple of weeks ago and (the sum of the parts) sounded just amazing.  Over the last couple of days I've been in two separate rehearsal rooms and I've gigged, both times having to use house backline.  If nothing, the experience demonstrated how much I deplore Trace Eliot and Peavey kit.  I stuck it cleanish through an SWR head and an 8x10 and the place shook.

 

Post-gig it was shocking how much interest there was in the bass (so it turns heads too) and how much better it sounded compared to the other bands Fenders!

 

Belter!

 

 

[Paulhauser]

@hiram.k.hackenbacker's for sale post bought me back here. (Unfortunately I'm no game for it me being outside of GB)

I loved seeing this project being realized by @cetera and eventhough the NS shape is what does it for me in the Spector world I know the X shape is one of the Holy Grails for some of the hard core Spector players.

How's everybody likes their Euro X now after a few months?

 

 

 

[cetera]

13 hours ago, Paulhauser said:

@hiram.k.hackenbacker's for sale post bought me back here. (Unfortunately I'm no game for it me being outside of GB)

I loved seeing this project being realized by @cetera and eventhough the NS shape is what does it for me in the Spector world I know the X shape is one of the Holy Grails for some of the hard core Spector players.

How's everybody likes their Euro X now after a few months?

I'm still loving mine! Only thing I will do is move the strap buttons for a better balance on the strap. I notice that Nikki had his rear button nearer the top rear corner so I may try that first...

[NancyJohnson]

14 hours ago, Paulhauser said:

@hiram.k.hackenbacker's for sale post bought me back here. (Unfortunately I'm no game for it me being outside of GB)

I loved seeing this project being realized by @cetera and eventhough the NS shape is what does it for me in the Spector world I know the X shape is one of the Holy Grails for some of the hard core Spector players.

How's everybody likes their Euro X now after a few months?

 

 

 

 

I'm loving mine.  The Spector/Darkglass AO900 set up just seems to work very well with each other, so much so that I haven't used any of my Tech21 (DI-2112 and a dUg DP-3X) outboard kit for a while now.

 

Desired tone is an odd thing; when I got the dUg pedal I described it as a DI-2112 on steroids and it pretty much is - it'll do pretty much what the DI-2112 and then expand on that.  The AO900 is kind of like the DP-3X on steroids; never really bonded with it until the Euro-X arrived and I took a bit of time to actually dial in what I wanted tonally.  (With minimal tweakage my Lull has also come alive.)

[Paulhauser]

3 hours ago, cetera said:

I'm still loving mine! Only thing I will do is move the strap buttons for a better balance on the strap. I notice that Nikki had his rear button nearer the top rear corner so I may try that first...

 

2 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

I'm loving mine.  The Spector/Darkglass AO900 set up just seems to work very well with each other, so much so that I haven't used any of my Tech21 (DI-2112 and a dUg DP-3X) outboard kit for a while now.

 

Desired tone is an odd thing; when I got the dUg pedal I described it as a DI-2112 on steroids and it pretty much is - it'll do pretty much what the DI-2112 and then expand on that.  The AO900 is kind of like the DP-3X on steroids; never really bonded with it until the Euro-X arrived and I took a bit of time to actually dial in what I wanted tonally.  (With minimal tweakage my Lull has also come alive.)

 

Great! 

I have my reservations about the ergonomics but I understand that this is such a personal thing.

Turns out there is one white Euro X for sale in this side of the channel.... 

[NancyJohnson]

58 minutes ago, Paulhauser said:

Great! 

I have my reservations about the ergonomics but I understand that this is such a personal thing.

Turns out there is one white Euro X for sale in this side of the channel.... 

 

There's just too much focus on Thunderbird shaped instruments suffering from neck dive.  I've been playing 'birds for about 15 years (Gibson, Hamer, Lull and now the Spector) and while yes it's inevitable, I use both hands while I'm playing so it isn't really a problem per se.

[Paulhauser]

59 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

There's just too much focus on Thunderbird shaped instruments suffering from neck dive.  I've been playing 'birds for about 15 years (Gibson, Hamer, Lull and now the Spector) and while yes it's inevitable, I use both hands while I'm playing so it isn't really a problem per se.

 

Well, you are certainly right....its just the fact that the NS shape works so well for me, especially the undersized body and that the bass stays in position.

The closest thing to a TB shaped instrument was a Spector Rex 5 I had for a while. At that time I played exclusively fingerstyle and the fact that I needed to use either of my hands to keep it in place bothered me. 

Nowadays the gigs I do I play more with a pick than fingers and keeping it in position with the picking hand would not be an issue.

[Gully35]

 

Got mine at long last!

 

pure Alice in Chains tone. Unreal.

Edited April 11 by Gully35

[uk_lefty]

8 hours ago, Gully35 said:

 

Got mine at long last!

 

pure Alice in Chains tone. Unreal.

I really really like that look! Subtle, not gaudy, but that white body in that shape will definitely stand out!

[cetera]

12 hours ago, Gully35 said:

 

Got mine at long last!

 

pure Alice in Chains tone. Unreal.

Enjoy!!

[Gully35]

Anyone any suggestions for a decent hardcase? I can’t find a Spector one anywhere. Was looking at Gator…

[cetera]

The Gator fits great.

[bagsieblue]

2 hours ago, cetera said:

The Gator fits great.

As does a Mono M80.

[NancyJohnson]

The TourTech bass HSCs fit fine.  If you need a lighter alternative, Ritter make a lovely gigbag (Bern series).

 

It was a bit shameful of Spector shipping these in their one-size-fits-all gigbag; it was too tight.

 

 

 

 

[Gully35]

7 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

The TourTech bass HSCs fit fine.  If you need a lighter alternative, Ritter make a lovely gigbag (Bern series).

 

It was a bit shameful of Spector shipping these in their one-size-fits-all gigbag; it was too tight.

 

 

 

 

I agree completely. The tuners could get broken easily in the Spector gig bag as the headstock is kinda jammed in there. No protection on top of headstock either. 
I was worried about it getting damaged in shipping. Luckily was ok.

[NancyJohnson]

35 minutes ago, Gully35 said:

I agree completely. The tuners could get broken easily in the Spector gig bag as the headstock is kinda jammed in there. No protection on top of headstock either. 
I was worried about it getting damaged in shipping. Luckily was ok.

 

I think Bass Direct had one that suffered finish damage because the bag was too tight/wrong shape.  I owned an LT4 and I'm pretty certain this used the same gig bag as the Euro-X, which is mental, given they're wholly different shapes/lengths.  Lazy.

 

It's crazy that a manufacturer can put so much care and attention into making a custom £2.5k instrument and the route to customer potentially falls over with the gigbag not being fit for purpose.

 

Going back to the case/bag thing, when bass is at home, it lives in the Tourtech HSC (I have HSCs for everything), when it goes out, it's in the Ritter.  Beautifully padded, loads of pockets, very lightweight.