Al Krow

They totally do that, don't they!!

NBD - it's arrived! 😀 Spector Euro 5LX Having taken more of a shine to my mid-range Spector Legend Custom than I was expecting, my appetite was definitely sharpened for one of the higher-end models. When this one came up at 'sale' prices at Andertons, I found it hard to resist! Mine has a quilted USA maple top and the body is alder with a walnut strip in between the body and the top. The neck has a 3 piece maple construction. EMG 40-TW pups, as mentioned above, and 2 band EQ, but with pull selector on both individual volume controls to switch from humbucker to single J. Very quick initial thoughts: Not particularly ever been a quilted maple person, but I could definitely get used to this. And the sculpted back on Spectors is a real treat. Liking the tonal palette of humbucker / single J options, although I'll need to be mindful of the volume change when switching between the two if I am doing this mid-set. I'm immediately drawn to solo'd J bridge for a more aggressive tone and either humbucker for fulsome punch: the humbuckers aren't shy retiring types by any means in the terms of their output! My two Spectors definitely bring something different to the party compared to my Yammy PJs or even my Ibby SR Premiums. And although selling a Squier Bass VI to mangoT has turned out to be an expensive pastime, I can't say I'm regretting it 😊 ... and I hope you'll excuse one more belated pic, just wanted to capture the walnut strip between the body and the top which is a really nice touch. Amazing how differently the camera records the colour, depending on the light!

Knock £12.99 off for shipping. That leaves £60 for the bass. Does that imply around £10 to £15 for the pups? I didn't know anything vaguely decent existed at that price point? Although if the "snug fit" of the pups is anything to go by, we're likely to be getting what we pay for! In my experience it's defo possible to pay too little for stuff. I'd be very concerned for anyone starting out on bass that this could be one of those occasions. Loved the quality of the review btw ped. But, genuinely, would you recommend it to someone starting out?

Spot on. Just had 15 mins sorting out a pretty decent patch on HX Stomp. => Two 'dual pitch' effects in parallel (totally pants in series) with pitch shift on one set a 0, -12 for octave down and the other at +7, +12 for 5th and octave up to create a Fishman 5-8 patch, does the trick nicely. [Aside: the ability to do a decent pitch shift without significant latency is something my Zoom multis have struggled with, and placing effects in parallel is simply not an option. So it's at this more processing-hungry end where the newer HX kit really comes into its own]. Can thicken up / make more aggressive by combining with fuzz. Job done! And actually that would work really well on tracks like Bruno Mars' Runaway Baby - sounds a lot fuller than something like the Digitech Mosaic with its single octave up. Although tbf I've still not found anything that tracks as well and with minimal latency on the Stomp as the Mosaic if you're looking for a polyphonic single octave up (e.g. to get a 12 string guitar effect), so the Mosaic continues to survive for another day - sorry @bassfan

That's perhaps the most damning with faint praise comment I've come across all year. Brilliant!

Well as you'll see from the pics when it arrives a bit later, it's clearly not a very good one as it may force me make use of the mid EQ dials on my amp which I resolved I would try to avoid needing to do with active basses. FAILED On top of that it has two EMG 40TW pups which require a push/pull pot for switching from single coil to humbucker, so the BT and BQ onboard premps you've been raving about aren't recommended for this, as the balance control included with the system can't then be installed. FAILED It weighs over 10 lbs and is 'NOS' from the serial number dating it at almost exactly 3 years old. FAILED. My head has clearly been mango-tango'd with! 😂 ...although there is a rumour doing the rounds that Spector basses with EMG 40s have a fantastic mid-punch and won't require any further mid boost?

Oh dear...apparently DPD are going to be dragging (I hope not literally!) something to my door this afternoon. I really thought I was just selling a Squier Bass VI a few weeks back and thinning the herd but I've now ended up on a Spector quest instead. How did that happen? Conclusion: be very wary of selling @mangotango any gear whatsoever, chaps; the consequences are unforeseen and it could just prove to be an expensive decision! 😂

Dosi - do you know what the Quint Machine, which I think was first released in mid 2014, is like in terms of tracking and latency with bass? If it's good on both these counts then this could be a very interesting alternative to the Digitech Mosaic on my board, particularly at Thomann prices. The only decent reviews I've seen so far have been on guitar and, let's face it, tracking the low notes on bass is a whole different string game! The tone report review is pretty glowing: https://tonereport.com/reviews/t-rex-quint-machine

Well that's 3 out of the first 4 posters on this thread now accounted for then! 😀

On a more serious note, could you not do what you are wanting to achieve by routing the output of the SY-1 via something like a Focusrite interface?

Then aren't you just left with a thru midi connector and a USB 2.0 port? 😂

Haha - that's definitely going to split bass-land right down the middle! I think there are as many folk who prefer the jack placement on the side as they do on the top / front!

It's been around since 2015 :) It isn't however cheap as chips!

Check out fretmeister's YT link above, if you haven't done already. It's actually a pretty good intro to what this pedal can do on bass. But there are easily north of 500+ distinct synth tones this thing can put out, pretty much all with flawless tracking. Gonna keep me out of mischief for a while!

Cheers SM! Was using a little program called Song Surgeon, which I bought a few years back on line to help me with key changes for when the band were doing covers in non original keys. It also let's you change the tempo whilst keeping the original key (or even changing both tempo and key if that takes your fancy!) but which I've not really made use of until now No SY-1 stuff on there krispn, just speeded up. But 80s synth is very much where this pedal is at methinks.

Well here's my promised uptempo version of the Yazoo classic. Completely ruined? 😎 Not a glitch in sight, eh H? 😁 Yahoo - Only You (Uptempo & lower).mp3

I am indeed fine with making pedals available to fellow BC'ers, whom I've got to know, as Q will be able to vouch But there are a couple of pedals that are in regular use / exploration on my board and this one is one of them! Had to wait patiently for the best part of six weeks from first getting excited about this pedal, waiting for non existent bass reviews to materialise, taking the plunge and it finally arriving. So this one ain't going anywhere fast! 😋 Put your orders in with PMT and get in line, gents. You won't be disappointed. Well most of you anyway - as H has rightly pointed out, this pedal ain't for everyone 😂

Hearing Alison Moyet / Yazoo's 'Only You' on 'Synth Brittania' brought back a few memories! My favourite cover used to always be the Flying Pickets acapella version. Selena Gomez slowed it right down in 2017, not sure that did anything for me. Kinda thinking speeding it up might be the better way to go with this particular iconic track...give me 45 mins 😉

You're not the only one! I've just enjoyed watching this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00n93c4/synth-britannia

Soz Harry, on this one I have to disagree with you. Glitchy pedals don't have 'character', in my books they're simply annoying. So the less glitches the better! How often do you hear glitches with quality keyboard synths, which is what bass synth pedals are aiming for, or any recorded synth music? Pretty close to never, right? Let's face it: if glitchy / poor tracking was just fine and musicians and audiences didn't care, FI wouldn't have bothered improving the tracking via their recent software updates would they? If tracking can be made flawless that's a good thing in my books. I'll take flawless tracking over glitches every day of the week and on this the SY-1 has set the bar. ^^ this absolutely

How does it do on a 4 string down to the open E and played at speed - any glitching at all? I'm guessing by definition it won't be flawless, otherwise @HazBeen wouldn't be able to say that the C4 tracks marginally better! 😉 I suspect the polyphonic capability of the SY-1, which is not shared by either the C4 or FI, will give it an edge on tracking. For live band use IMO tight tracking is as important, if not more so, than wider sonic variety. It's a real plus for the SY-1. I think we need you, as our BC synth guru, to get hold of an SY-1 and put it through its paces for yourself and see if you would change any of the A/B points list in my earlier post.

Sounds promising. But does it now track flawlessly / tightly all the way down to a low B with the latest firmware, Peter, even when playing short notes quickly? I'd be very (and pleasantly) surprised if it did! That is however the bar that the SY-1 has set.

Yup! I pretty much only play 5ers these days. Both Woody and I were a little blown away (see his initial review immediately after getting the pedal earlier in this thread) by its ability to track tightly down to a low B. My FI didn't come close in terms of tracking ability. I'm sure being fully polyphonic really helps give this its edge with tracking.

Wunjos is a fantastic little bass store - probably my favourite in Central London. Tom the manager there is a great guy, and his team mostly also called Tom(!) are pretty decent too!

@razor5cl - you mentioned you'd tried a 735A at a store, was that the main Yammy store in central London? I'm guessing you're still loving it compared to your Ibby Talman, although I have to 'fess to being a big Ibby fan, particularly of their SR Premium range. @TRBboy - the only caveat about the Yammy store is that they just have a couple of pretty basic combos to play through and there is the whole noise and buzz of other folk in a music store. So IMO it will give you just a taster of tonal palette, but you if you take your usual strap you can at least assess how they feel to wear and how comfortable the necks are to play etc. My BB 1025 is very noticeably better than it sounded in the store, so whatever you're hearing in the store you should treat as a kind a base case!