TrevorG

That really looks like a special find. Especially at that price! Seen a lot of threads about high end Fenders being badly put together. Kind of puts a treasure hunt element in buying one. Looks like you struck gold.

Ditto. They are also the most comfortable basses I’ve ever played. For me £1200 on a bass that isn’t quite right it’s a waste of £1200. £1800 on something that’s perfect is money well spent. If I can’t afford 1800 then I’m 1200 better off. Bought my Ultras when they were around the 1800 Mark. At the time people thought I was throwing money away. That’s changed and now everything is too expensive the Ultra has been getting a lot of love on the internet.

I have a rough equation in my head that includes the amount of spare cash and desire. I pined for a Spector NS5 XL for ten years before I had three and a half grand spare and didn't buy another bass for twenty years. I'm a better player now and am starting to see the value is in what I know, not what I can play it on. I still have the bass but the spare cash equation clicked in again about four years ago and I got a Fender for around £1700. I'm now looking for a light, 5 string passive Precision. How much I'll pay depends on spare cash which right now is about 1200 but if that were to change, so would my choice.

The Ultras have a U neck which I find feels chunkier.

Wow. Congratulations. Beautiful instrument.

Have one of each and refuse to choose. If a house fire only gave me time to save one it would be my P because it's a little bit rarer(ash body). Love the sound of fenders but generally hate the feel. But I found a couple with U shaped necks like my Spector and now everything's great but still can't make a choice.

I've tried them and I think they're great. Fab colours too. Congratulations!

I find it interesting you mentioned gigging with it twice before someone else pointed out the problem. If you'd found the mark in a year's time would you have cared? I must confess if I see a problem straight away - it's a problem. If I find it way down the line after bonding with it - it's character.

Anybody noticed there's no tone control in passive mode?

Same here. Except my was from the Ultra series and the feel of the bass took my breath away as much as the sound. Only took forty years to find it.

Seriously thinking of getting one. The neck looks great and it sounds quite bright. Even like the colour!

I tried a CS about a couple of weeks ago expecting the £4,000 bass to be twice as good as my £1800 Precision. It wasn't set up but it felt like there was no point. The feel was a bit grubby. I understand it's a copy of something that was made in a very different time but, apart from the neck plate and the price tag, there was nothing about it that felt special. Isn't that the whole point?

They're coming out as almost different basses on my laptop. Especially with the plucking. Really surprised! Hi mass seems great for depth and the stock bridge comes out brighter. Not so much difference on the slap lines BUT I tried my Ultra for sustain along with the tape. I didn't pluck hard but the note ran WAY longer that on the tape with much less fade. Probably just a thumbs up for the pickups. Thanks for posting.

So true. Went to see Snarky Puppy last night and Michael League made that very clear (though he could have been higher in the mix for my liking). I played bass for about thirty five years before getting into Precisions and, when I got there, felt like I'd been missing out. Better late than never.

After playing Spectors and Alembics over the years I did a theatre show that needed me to play bass on stage. No way was I bringing any of my instruments into that mad show so they gave a a seventy quid budget and sent me to the local pawn shop. I left with a withered, Korean impersonation of a Precision with dodgy wiring. It was the first time I'd ever played a Precision and no, it didn't sound amazing - it was only £60 BUT it sounded so close and maybe even better than my Spector in that situ. I was speechless. Two years later it's time for a new bass and I went straight for a Precision. A Fender with all the bells and whistles. Took me about ten minutes to bond with in the shop. I can't compete with all the Fender experts out there but I know my sound is good (La Bella strings) for so, so many styles. I think you should get out and try. Good luck.

For forty years I played everything but Fender. Alembics, Warwicks, Arias, Ibanezes, Spectors, Overwaters and Washburns but never Fender. In 2019 I walked into a shop and tried my first Precision. Bonded with it in about five minutes and haven't looked back. Got a Jazz later from then same range. Three other great basses still in the studio but those two get the practice time.

Been thinking about it but I don't trust my walls. Great OP title btw. Made me look!

Speechless. I have only trusted buying on line once and swore never to do it again. It's the best chance for sellers to offload the units people reject on sight. Don't have a problem with PMT in general. Always had great help from them and found my hallowed Precision there but stuff like this can really taint your impression of people. Regardless of the discount I would hold out for a like for like replacement. Wouldn't hurt them to show a little grace. Good luck.

I was in the same boat and just went for the best in the shop which was the Ultra series. Tried several in PMT and GuitarGuitar. All were ready to play out of the box. All sounded fab. A couple had factory faults but still nice basses. I didn't want to mod or search for an old model so the Ultra meant I could just buy and get on with it.

My God that's a good looking bass. Got the F Jazz in Texas tea which is nice but not quite as elegant! How heavy is it?

On my speakers there's no contest. The P sits in the mix way better for fingers and slap. Great playing!

I have exactly the same collection of basses (plus a Spector). Doubtless we’re both following some great, universal law.

As I understand 35" scale, there are pros and cons. The pros are in the tone and breadth of the B string. The cons are the other strings lose some of their resonance from being slightly too long. I have the US build XL5 and you don't really notice because the HAZ circuit gives such an even tone. But you can hear the difference next to a decent fender. Not sure about bridge position thing as the body on a Spector is pretty small compared to many. Have you tried one? The necks don't feel short or set deep into the body but are still comfortable.

I have 2 ELFs. One for living room practice at home with a Markbass 102P. One in my work flat with a TE 2X8. Both sound great. Was looking forward to their next products but it turns out, sadly, they've not continued the small-and-light theme.

That's a pretty lush looking Spector. Is it a US build?