Bass Review

[TheGreek]

I posted details of this Spear Flextool HPJ (3 pickup model) on this forum before jumping in and buying it since it was local-ish.

TBH I was partly motivated by curiosity - what tones can you get from a bass with a combination of HPJ pickups?

Think of this as a standard Jazz body/ neck which has been played with by someone with OCD who has access to a variety of pickups. 

Following my manic journey through scenic (sic) Harrow and dealing with local drivers using The Force to navigate the suburban roads I picked up the bass, which, TBH must have seen better days, no shortage of nicks, dings and dents on this baby!

Also one of the pots was wobbly (easily solved) and the tone knob a bit scratchy so this bass has lived a life.

Home, walk the dogs before plugging the bass in and checking out the tonal range.

The pickup set up is H in the classic Ray bridge position, where you would expect it, P in it's usual sweet spot (or there abouts) and the J in the neck position. 

Each pickup has its own volume with the last of the 4 knobs for the bass/ treble. So VVVT.

Individually each pickup gives an acceptable though not exceptional in any way, tone - remember this isn't a premium instrument - retail price was in the £500 range - but the pickups certainly don't let it down, especially in combination. 

My expectation is that the H will be the punchy pickup - not so - on its own there's your standard humbucker tones with a nod to your classic Ray but adding the P incrementally provides you with a deeper, throatier tone, the J adding cleaner mid tones. 

Lots of combinations, adding and subtracting each gives you plenty of range to play with and I'm pretty sure that there's something in there for most people. 

Obviously there are far more tones available than I extracted in the half an hour I played it but it certainly shows that there is a fair bit of versatility and range in these pickups.

It's actually surprising that you don't see more basses with this set up.

Needless to say I still have more experimenting with this - I'm going to suggest that there's much more to get from this. 

Stay tuned for further updates. 😉 😉

 

[Pea Turgh]

[TheGreek]

24 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

 

I agree...waiting for daylight before taking getting some done. 

[LowB_FTW]

Following this with interest.

 

Mark

[Lfalex v1.1]

Had a look at images of them...

That's a lot of pickups!

 

Interesting. 

Probably the only bass I might ever want a pickup selector switch added to!

Even then,  I'm not sure what combinations of pickups I'd wire it to select!

 

P & H

J & H

J,P & H

 

And in the frst two positions use the volume control to kill whatever pickup I didn't want ( giving J,P & H separately)

Not sure that J solo'ed would be a thing,  nor J & P, but without trying it, I couldn't say for sure. 

 

[Rayman]

Very interesting. Does the Humbucker split to produce a jazz bridge pickup tone? I guess then you’ve pretty much go all the basses in one?

[TheGreek]

@Rayman I don't think that the humbucker splits but I could be wrong having only played with it for about half an hour. 

 

@Lfalex v1.1 each pickup has its own volume control so you can feed in as much of each pickup as you want. You can isolate a pickup using the same process. 

Makes it so that even an idiot like me can figure it out. 

[TheGreek]

Some photos.  Note the "kill switch " on the lower front horn and some of the many "character" marks.

 

 

[GoodShowSir]

How interesting, thats a lot of pickups!

 

It's passive though? Sorry I am still pretty new, passive bass humbucker?

 

Edit - sorry ignore me, googled it and now englightened

 

You going to record any samples?

Edited October 26, 2023 by GoodShowSir

[TheGreek]

Spear Flextool Bass Details:

• Construction: Bolt-On
• Body: Alder
• Neck: Canadian Hard Maple
• Fretboard: Indian Rosewood
• Pickups: Spear Jazz, Precision And MM Pickups
• Tuners: Spear Vintage
• Hardware Color: Chrome
• Bridge: Spear Vintage
• Controls: Volume x3, Tone
• Colors: Jamaica Green, Black, Lake Placid Blue

[TheGreek]

Can’t decide between a P, J, or MM bass? Spear has you covered with the Flextool, a bass that’s loaded with all three pickup types.

The Flextool is built with an alder body, Canadian Hard Maple neck and Indian Rosewood fingerboard. Its pickups and hardware are all Spear’s own brand. The pickups include a single coil in the neck position, a split single coil in the middle, and a humbucker in the bridge position. Each pickup has its own volume knob. The Flextool also has a master tone control and a kill switch on the lower horn.

The Spear Flextool comes in Black, Lake Placid Blue, Orange, and Jamaica Green color schemes. For more info, check out the Spear Guitars website.

 

[Sparky Mark]

It needs a mudbucker tight against the neck to complete the Swiss Army concept.

[Waddycall]

Do all those magnets give the g string a chorus effect when played above 12th fret? My fretless jazz had a MM pickup between the jazz pickups but I had to take it out as all the magnets were affecting the intonation!

[Cliff Edge]

That hook at the top of the headstock would be useful for hanging on the wall. Just need big screw. (sorry matron)

Edited October 29, 2023 by Cliff Edge

[Paddy777]

Well it’s definitely interesting! I suppose the proof of the pudding is how it sounds (or something like that) altho I think a pair of those Sims pickups with red/blue/green lights that do P/J/MM tones might be an easier way but I still think this Spear bass is pretty cool 

[TheGreek]

I have the SimS pickups in a custom build and even though they are excellent you can buy two of these basses for the price of a pair of SimS pickups.

Worth thinking about how to spend the  £450.

[rwillett]

Is the bottom pickup something that powers most of the lights in North London or just local to you?

[Paddy777]

1 hour ago, TheGreek said:

I have the SimS pickups in a custom build and even though they are excellent you can buy two of these basses for the price of a pair of SimS pickups.

Worth thinking about how to spend the  £450.

Ah well then that does make a bit of a difference to the equation. It also means you’re in the unique position of being able to do a side by side comparison - I think a video might be interesting demoing the two (even if only to me 😂)

[TheGreek]

Didn't even occur to me to do that. Unfortunately the only way I could record the basses would be on a phone which TBH wouldn't be worthwhile. 

Looks like I'll be keeping it to myself. 

[BillyBass]

Three volume knobs would annoy me, I would much rather have a single volume and a Strat switch.

 

Nevertheless, I can see Norwich City fans warming to this bass.

[Linus27]

Those three pickups are like not being able to decide between having rice, chips or pasta with your main meal so you just have all three and be done with it 😂