My new Spector Euro 5er

[TDM]

And two pictures of me and the basses (Obviously no longer classifies as porn now that I'm in it ) Resist the urge to stare at the beach shorts and the leg hair, especially the latter.
Initial impressions:

"Awesome" was the word I used to describe it to Keir on the phone, except he misheard it as "Awful" and nearly had a heart attack. My friends all tell me I don't articulate my words enough.....

The bass is everything I expected, as I already own a Euro, and more. First of all, the colour is amazing, it's a lovely transparent emerald stain on solid quilted maple wings and 3 piece maple neck thru. This thing feels amazingly solid and you can really feel the whole bass resonating when you pluck a note, needless to say the sustain is fantastic.

Next up, playability. The action is on the deck - probably the lowest I've ever played on any bass. I dig in quite hard when I play so I will probably raise it a bit, but right how it's perfectly acceptable in terms of buzz and makes tapping really easy. The action seems to be much lower than I could get my other Euro to be, but I suspect that's because the nut is cut lower on the green one.

Tone: Needless to say I love the Spector tone, it may not be for everyone but I think it's perfect for the stuff I play with my band. It's aggressive and cuts through the mix with no problem whatsoever. I usually run it with both pickups full, bit of treble and bass boost and play with my fingers. With some light distortion it's sounds a bit like Alex Webster (Blotted Science/Cannibal Corpse), except without the crazy 3 finger playing. I must say though, it's not the perfect bass for everything. I tried playing some acoustic stuff (I'm not [u]just[/u] a metalhead you know) at a gig and the tone was way too aggressive, even with just the bass boosted, neck pickup and playing lightly with my thumb. I imagine it's like the equivalent of playing tech metal on a violin bass.

I've noticed that the neck seems a bit thinner on these old Euros compared to the my other LX one, although I can't be 100% about that. The body also seems a bit thinner but that could be an optical illusion of the alder/walnut/maple sandwich on the LX. Surprisingly, both basses are about the same weight, despite lots of people telling me the older models are heavier. The only other difference is knobs

My only gripe with the bass is that the inlays are a bit sloppy, I assume they're CNC'd but there's more filler around the pearl than I expected on a bass built as well as this. I examined my LX more closely and noticed the same thing actually. The only difference than it would appear that they've started using darker coloured filler so you you basically can't see it. I don't think it's something that you'd really notice unless you are really anal about these things like me, in fact I never noticed it on my LX after owning it for a year until I saw this one and went to look for it specifically. Having said that it's not something that bothers me at all, because everything else about the bass makes up for it. My other pet hate about Euros in general is the fact that the jack sockets aren't gold/black to match the other hardware. Again, that's just the perfectionist in me. Edited September 11, 2009 by thedonutman

[dub_junkie]

great pics Joe! they look wickedly good together.

as you now know,I like my action low and play with a fairly light touch. I set up all my basses like that.

I was pretty sure you'd love it. And I also knew I'd already be missing it but thats the way of things

was a pleasure speaking on the phone apart from my bad hearing at your initial comment on the bass.

all the best

Keir

[TDM]

Thanks again for getting the bass to me so quickly (under 24 hours?)

How's the car?

[Sean]

Stunning basses. The green one is just outrageous!

[Kiwi]

I really like how vividly they contrast with one another...in fact I'm kind of jealous I wouldn't mind another old NSCR5 myself.

[cetera]

Lovely Spector porn!

[Dan_Nailed]

These "inbetweener" Euro's are my favourites, as they're solid maple but 35" scale. Nothing wrong with the LX or NS5CR, but the green one of yours represents my personal choice.

I agree with you on the necks, the mark 1 Euro's have a slightly smaller neck profile ala the NS5CR(which was 34" scale so felt more compact anyway) but ONLY on the finished models. The current LX's in natural finishes have identical if not better necks to the earlier Euro's. My finished Euro 5LX has a great neck anyway, it's only a shade from the US series. My NS5JHCM has the best Spector neck ever, try one of those next!

I changed the jack out on my basses for black ones from China, weird 4 lug stereo jacks. Also changed the pickup screws to black to match my hardware. God I'm sad.

Edited July 14, 2009 by Dan_Nailed

[Kiwi]

[quote name='Dan_Nailed' post='539946' date='Jul 14 2009, 01:08 AM']These "inbetweener" Euro's are my favourites, as they're solid maple but 35" scale. Nothing wrong with the LX or NS5CR, but the green one of yours represents my personal choice.[/quote]
The NS5CR's were made from 94 to 98. What years are you referring to specifically?

[Dan_Nailed]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='539953' date='Jul 14 2009, 01:57 AM']The NS5CR's were made from 94 to 98. What years are you referring to specifically?[/quote]

The pre-LX years but post NS5CRFM, think 2002-2005ish but I can't really remember.

[Kiwi]

I want the green one.

[dub_junkie]

and to think you could have had it

[Kiwi]

I know, kick me please. I just have this thing now about Spector NS5CR's, playing the sunburst one right now along to a Four Play DVD and with the mods I've made it sounds smoother than Nathan East's Yamaha. :wub: I'm besotted and its starting to get embarrassing.

[dub_junkie]

cant say I blame you for feeling that way about them. fantastic basses imo.

[Bassmurf]

wow........the green one is fantastic....i'm going have to start saving me pennies!