Sean

I went to a jam night tonight for the first time and it was fantastic. I was made to feel very welcome indeed, chatted to so many people. I did some songs with one of the Spectors and had a cracking night out. The sound was great, everyone was chilled, the music was good.

I'm going back.

Lots of likes. Thanks for those, folks.

Go and try, that's a big bonus. Make sure you play it standing up with a strap if that's how you'd ever gig it, this is where some folks get issues. The geometry of strap button position, strap hang etc puts some people off. It's not like a Tbird.

Those strings are gimmicky rubbish. I bought some sets years ago, they last about 2 gigs. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. That looks like a peach and worth investigating.

15 minutes ago, SteveFate said:

 

Appreciate that input @Sean

 

It has a rather interesting neck - dont seem to see many about with a maple fretboard.

 

 

That's a white neck-thru Euro 4 LX, maple board, black blocks, black hardware?

There's people on this forum that would sell someone else's granny for that.

You'll see a unicorn Euro with a maple board next week 😉 but that one is right up my strasse. What are the black inlays?

I'd make an offer but it's not really overpriced at £1.6k.

I ordered some stuff,  I asked in the special instructions that the pen and sticker wasn't included, so that I didn't get any stick at home, and it happened. Can't argue with that.

5 hours ago, woolf said:

I also put lightweight hardware on my newly acquired LX5. I switched to black rather than gold…

 

I had some comms with the vendor. Looks like you got the deal around where I told him he should expect. Great buy, that one.

I've read that post 3 times, Chris. My answer might be a bit skewed.

When Leo was designing what would become the Stingray, he had a P pickup pushed back toward the bridge. Logically it would be more 'Ray-like. The placement of the Spector reverse P is somewhere in the ground between a 'Ray and a classic P placement.

To my mind, moving it forward toward the neck (if that's what you're talking about) would make it more like those basses that have what I call "true" neck pickups (as opposed to middle and bridge pups), like the Yamaha Attitude or Gibson-style basses. More bass frequencies, less treble.

6 hours ago, Paulhauser said:

I agree 100%

It is also high time to show off another beauty, my refinished pre-LX Euro 5 with P5 and J, just like the ones you have now @Sean only that mine are X series. The preamp is a John East deluxe. 

 

 

"Questions..." as Roy Batty said.

1. What colour is that called?

2. Who did it?

3. In normal person terminology, what's the difference with X models?

Does anyone remember the Wizard Area 51 P pickup with neodymium magnets?

They had their own very distinctive sounds.  I had one and it went in at least 3 basses and it had an unmistakable sound of its own.

14 minutes ago, SteveFate said:

I'm about to join the spector club and it's down to a choice between 2.

 

Buying a brand new pulse II 4 retail at £1200 or buying a euro 4LX second hand for £1600 (appears in great condition).

 

I'd love to hear if anyone feels I would see £400 of difference between both - the euro was made 2020 according to the serial.

A used E4LX wins every day of the week and twice on Sunday. I'm all about value for money. Euros are great bang for buck new when compared to equivalent instruments. Used at the right price/spec ratio, they're unbeatable. If Spector basses suit you;  they're Marmite X.O. it's like marmite but much more so and at £5.50 a jar you'd better like it.

@cetera has a lot of good to say about the Pulse II and the only reason I'm down on it, is because it's new and will depreciate but that's personal choice. Also, it's not £400 of difference, it's £1200 of difference at new prices. The E4LX is double the price of a Pulse II and made by a small team of craftsmen in Czech to near-USA spec.

If the E4LX doesn't work out, you can sell it on without a loss.

1 hour ago, Paulhauser said:

I agree 100%

It is also high time to show off another beauty, my refinished pre-LX Euro 5 with P5 and J, just like the ones you have now @Sean only that mine are X series. The preamp is a John East deluxe. 

 

 

What was it like before the refin?

I put an East preamp in the NS5-XL I used to have. I got mixed black and gold knobs from John to make it look a bit different. Someone refinished that in the end.

20 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

I can't imagine it would be possible to detect any sound difference by changing a bridge!

 

But now I look at those figures it is tempting, my euro weighs quite a lot

Agreed. It's still an 7oz bridge, it's It's not like putting a BBOT in there.

If anyone needs saddles filing, I can help with that.

What you're looking at above its the use of masking tape to protect the lovely shiny featherweight jewellery from any file slips. The slit in the tape is where the groove being worked on is. It's 4th string in the photo.

I marked the lines, scored them and then filed them gently. I used the original as a reference and a tyre tread depth gauge to measure the depth.

2 hours ago, Paulhauser said:

Come on, I never doubted THAT 🙂

Maybe a different shade of great 😉

It's quite a bit different due to the pickups and LHZ obviously. The DCs are atomic but the PJ config that’s in there now is what I wanted, it breathes better and has more articulation rather than what you get from two hot double coils with a old-style dimed TonePump. 

The balance and feel of the bass has changed with it losing nearly a pound in weight. It’s gone from body-heavy to neutral. It’s dropped from 4.45 to 4.05 kg give or take a few grams. I managed to get the action and intonation 95% there when I roughed it so that was a bonus and I’ve set it up so that it’s very low, quite a bit lower than before. The new bridge is dream to adjust.

Would I recommend swapping to a new-style bridge? Only if you’ve got an older Spector that could do with losing a pound. This one didn’t need it doing but it’s a nice mod and I learned a lot.  Would I recommend DCs to PJ? It’s very subjective but it is a big difference, it makes it a very different instrument. For a start there’s about half the amount of pickup in there.  

That figuring! 

55 minutes ago, AinsleyWalker said:

Those cat-claw scratches on the phone inside look familiar, I wonder if this is my old case haha! My friend's kitten got inside the case about a decade ago...

That was my Bengal. The great thing is that restyled everything in the house to match!

It's still going to sound like a 35" Spector and better than pretty much anything out there 😉.

The bridge will take it down to 4.05kg. That's light even compared to a modern one.

On 06/04/2025 at 15:46, Sean said:

 

In the words of Col Bill Kilgore, "Get your boys back, it's going to be a big one..."

 

 

 

 

400g saving.

If you've never played a modern Japanese BB and are interested, try it.

It's a steal at this price.

Stuart bought a bass from me. Super smooth transaction. Top Basschatter.

Great bloke to chat to about all things bass and makes me realise how important it is that we stick together, get together and support bass bashes etc.  We're a rare breed.

Anyway, thanks to Stuart for his patience waiting for me to navigate the horrific Gloucester traffic carnage after a burst water main on A40.

All done. That's 40DCs out (and up for sale here already so you can buy them without nasty fees) and a 40P and 40J popped in. 

This is the third LHZ-03 I've fitted and it was a bit different as the new EMGs come with the clever DuPont connectors meaning I saved a fortune on electric as I only needed to solder 3 joints at the jack socket.

If anyone wants an LHZ-03 or other preamp fitting, I'm available. I won't charge extra for the luminous green cable ties, battery blanket or fancy printed labels,  they're all part of the service.

This one is off to rehearsal for the first time tomorrow. That lot never react well when they see something new, so hopefully she behaves herself and makes some new friends. 

A pair of 40DC pickups for sale.

They come boxed. Loads of tails on them.

I just spotted this. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335754368078?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=rpbRlok9T1C&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=6MnoMIQiQQC&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

2 year warranty. 

They're big and heavy but they're truly awesome. It's a properly scary amp. One of the few valve amps that has both valve and solid state preamps. 

It's an absolute bargain IMO. Straight from the manufacturer. 

I have heard good things about this https://www.thomann.co.uk/thomann_safecase_80_e_bass_bag.htm?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwzMi_BhACEiwAX4YZUNTh_eKZopah680QlKXktp3HEJUqXjEUPc00DgYhrn3wgqkLj-jiPRoCf4YQAvD_BwE

Mono Vertigo is the ultimate if you can find one used.

A busy afternoon with the Euro 5 LX. She's getting new EMGs and LHZ-03. 

She might have a new bridge by the end of the week too... And she's been promoted to #1 5-string this week. 

Does anyone know what stain colour these are, what it is and where you can get it?