ratking

[quote name='radansey' timestamp='1331376762' post='1572012']A bit concerned how to clean the general grubbiness - hopefully it has not become too ingrained. Any advice on how to do a oil/wax finish would be most welcome.[/quote] At first, it's important to remove any previous finish, so that the wood's grain is open. The surface should be smoothly polished ... Then you can start applying tung oil in very thin layers, using a clean rag or something like that. It takes several coats of oil for a nice, smooth finish. Let each (thin!) coat dry out well, buffing it very lightly with fine polishing wool or similar, before applying the next coat. Polish after applying the final coat, and you should get a nice, even oil finish There are several tutorials on youtube, just try searching for "tung oil finish" ... But your Spector doesn't look too bad on the pictures ... Actually, it really looks good - you can see it's been played, of course, but that's what an instrument should look like in my opinion So for me, personally, a good cleanining (for the fretboard, I'd recommend lemon oil - not only good for wood maintenance, but also gets dirt off like nothing else; for the body I'd use just a little bit of really mild, diluted cleaning fluid on a smooth cotton rag, only slightly moist) would probably be sufficient Really a nice bass, and more than a steal for that money ... I'm trying hard not to hate you for it

Actually, I myself would simply leave it and go for the road worn / aged look But if you want to refinish it, I'd recommend an oiled finish. A proper paint job with lacquerd finish is quite hard to do, and takes a lot of time and practice for a satisfactory result (many layers of paint, with enough time to dry for each layer, lots of sanding between applying the layers, polishing etc. ...), while a good-looking oil finish isn't that hard to do, even without too much experience ... In my opinion, an average spray-can paint job usually looks worse than an authentic road-worn look, which actually adds rock'n'roll-credibility But a nice oil-finish isn't too hard to do, or if you want to take the time and effort, it IS possible to achieve a nice lacquered finish - and it can also be fun, of course

I didn't post on basschat up to now, and only stopped by from time to time for reading and looking for equipment in the market place - so a minimum post count would exclude me from the market place (as a seller), for some time at least. Still, I have to say I'd actually recommend it. I'm moderating the bass section in Germany's biggest musician's board, and we have introduced a minimum post count for selling at our market place some time ago. As far as I can tell, it didn't scare new users away - there were no noticable negative effects on the number of new users. But it did lead to a noticable decrease in user complaints about sellers from our market place section - of course a certain number of posts doesn't mean you can automatically trust everyone who has reached the minimum count. But 50 posts can actually help to get a better picture of the person you're dealing with, and peple who just sign up to rip others of in our experience mostly don't make the effort to participate that much. Some do, of course, and try to get the minimum number of posts quickly by excessive spamming - that's why we introduced a minimum time of membership as well, and quickly react to obvious spamming. That of course does mean some additional work for the mod team, I have to admit that But although I usally am very much against unnecessary restrictions, I have to say it really helped to minimize trouble with our market place section. And all that actually seems to draw new users rather than scare them away - 'cause the market place offers at least a little bit more security for buyers, and people often sign up simply to contact sellers ... and quite often stay and begin to take an active part in the community Actually I just signed up on basschat to contact a seller in the first place

Oh yes, pics would be great Just recently switched to Spectors myself, having only played Fender Precision(s) over the last years. The neck certainly is a bit on the "chunky" side, but being used to Precision necks, I actually found them surprisingly comfortable to play ... My favourite bass right now is an old Czech model as well, an old NS-4CZ. EMG-Hz PJs, and the former owner switched the electronics for an Aguilar OBP-1. Solid maple, quite on the heavy side - but a tone to die for, one beast of a bass Right now, I'm looking for another PJ- or JJ-equipped Czech Spector as backup ... Own an old Korean NS2000(Q4) as well, but with basswood body and soapbars it's just too different tonally - though a really great bass, and I got it damn cheap - for a stage backup ... Getting an old Czech Spector for just £150 is really a deal almost too good to be true - congratulations, I hope you enjoy your Spector as much as I enjoy mine

I've bought (and sold) a quite impressive number of amps over the years ... But the Ashdown ABM was love on first sight, well, no, love on the first note played, and it's a real keeper. Have tried several amps since, from various compact mini-heads to some Ampeg SVTs (always thought that for rock bass sounds I should go for Ampeg, but somehow haven't found one yet that I actually liked). Well, never was really satisfied with anything I tried until I got back to our rehearsal room, plugged into the ABM, and was glad I didn't buy anything else ... For deep (but not muddy) rock sounds with lots of low mids and just a little bit of tube grind, im my opinion you just can't beat the ABM! Mine is a UK-made ABM500 Black Edition, by the way ... How do you like it for funk sounds? I only need deep, dirty rock sounds, and the ABM delivers ... But would be interesting to try to get some clean funk tones out of it. Just recently switched from Fender Precision to Spector basses, and discovered that slapping (which never really interested me before) on the Spectors is actually fun . If you find a sound that works for you, it would be great if you'd post your settings