Paulhauser

I use drop tuning only for specific songs in our set (drop the low B to A before those songs and back after them) and since this is how I play them for long it is second nature for me. I would not worry about that.

This is a very interesting observation. I agree that the NS design is so distinct and well though out that it is (and was) hard for Spector to veer away from it. I happen to love it more than any other bass designs and have currently 7 of them (US and Euros) and to be honest I never cared anything else Spector have or had like the X - sorry Gary- or Rex for example and when they introduced the Fender copy Coda I was just shaking my head. What I do believe is that unlike Fender Spector with its NS design has a lot more market potential as it is a lot less market share than the classic Fender and look-a-likes but once a player gets to play a NS in many instnces will be won over. The NS design is one of Spectors main strenghts and I think Korg is now able to have a lot bigger market penetration than what the limited means of Stuart and PJ had, even if the import lines already weren't handled by them. So for me it makes sense to concentrate on this as maby the die-hard Spector players will get tired but there is such a room to grow by reaching and convincing other players. The brand is strong, the heritage is strong so if the quality is kept with clever marketing and wider distribution this can be a new and succesful era.

I knew I was forgetting something when I was typing 🙂 Yes, the X!

Personally I don't mind the wider product portfolio and as long the quality is there I wouldn't say they are watered down. I still remember years ago Spector fans complaining about lack of certain things (like fanned fret models, 34" 5 string Euros etc.) The market will decide which models are going to perform well in terms of sales and player preferences and I'm sure Korg will not be hesitant to pull the underperforming models and also introduce new stuff, too. Maybe it will take some time to settle from this transitional period when old and new models are offered alongside.

Very nice SR5 indeed. Also looking forward to you getting from this “consolidated position” back to normal 😁😁

I would also add that to be able to gauge the whole potential of a bass one needs to use it, practice, rehearsal, gigs, studio etc. so i think any feeling you might have based on a shop tryout is superficial. I do understand that as a player gets more and more experience and understands more about what he/she prefers in terms of sound, ergonomics, playability and looks the less time she needs to form a opinion about a new instrument as the set of preferences and experience is already established. So I believe it can be very beneficial to go through a couple (many) of instruments, maybe even having more than one at a time so you try a lot of different things and have a selection that is hard to challenge. This is also one of the premier reasons to come up with when you are seeking to justify any new purchases 😉

No. But with having the small collection of basses that I own I don't expect any bass to turn up and sound better.... different maybe, that's allright. I'm fortunate enough to own basses whose quality are high so things boil down to personal preferences in the end. Again, I'm in a fortunate situation.

Actually my Thumb NT6 is around 5.6 kgs, 12.34 lbs. Probably my all time heaviest but it does not bothers me. The Yamaha TRB6PII coming close as second with over 5 kgs (sold years ago)

My main gigging bass, a Spector Euro435 is 4,26 kgs - 9,39 lbs. It is never been a problem I suppose partly because due to onstage gymnastics it spends quite some time in the air thus not weighting my back as much 😄 😄

Orange! Red looks out of place.

I feel it's good for my weary eyes as the night draws near. Will leave like it for a few days for a try.

Very nice, congratulations! What's that color? Kinda hard to tell from the pic, looks like blueish...

Can't go wrong with a Legend 6, they are well built and great quality for the price especially used. Scale lenght and specing is like those of the bigger brothers (Euro 6, NS-6) but with a different headstock and slightly different bridge pu placing. If you wanna have a 6er just for fun, a Legend 6 will more than deliver.

White pearloid is the best of both worlds for me.....

Would be a 5 string tuned to E A D G C a solution with a Drop tuner on the E to get it down to D (or even C if it is a double stop one) edit: you have written 'sometimes' for a D so maybe the possible difficulty - if any - in playing in drop D tuning for those occasions are overshadowed by the otherwise normal tuning (EADGC) Btw DGCFBb is good, but anytime I have used that tuning lost some reference points on the fretboard, everything felt 2 frets off normal 😄 But I never spent an awful lot of time getting adjusted tbh.

I think it is the 6 string when it really matters..... I play Spectors for 15 years and some said some of them have chunky necks (talking about 5ers) but I never had one that I had a problem with in this regards. Now 6ers are where every fraction of an inch matters... or maybe we all can get used to pretty much anything and it's just nitpicking.

For a long time it brought me back the Obscura record by Gorguts 😄 Differents strokes I think 😄

@bassbora thank you for your thoughts on your own Thumbs. As for JPT I'm well aware of him, I happen to like the Obscura record he first played on with them (Cosmogenesis) also like his Ensemble Salazhar record (was it a demo?). He is a monster player and one of the reason I always thought that fretless Thumbs have some of the best fretless sound for me. The other is the Hungarian player Attila Fehervari with Special Providence, he played a lot his Thumb BO5 fretless and has great sound in the mix.

The bolt on Thumb 6 and the singlecut Thumb 6 both have the broadneck option and there are quite a few out there. However I haven't seen a NT6 broadneck....

@thodrik the Spector is 5,15 kgs, the Thumb is 5,6 kgs.

Ok, I see what you have meant. Do you know that the stories of the 2000' ovangkol neck basses had chunkier profile than before or after? Maybe it is not so much true for a 6 string neck but seem to remember reading about that in general Ww neck profiles changed through time and there was a period of think / chunky necks....

Actually it was some of your comments in a WW related topic about truss rod issues that caught my eye as a potentional problem for basses from 2000-2010-ish.

Happy to do it, mind you I am a full time Spector owner-user (you know that I guess) and the Thumb I only played for a week- albeit quite a lot. Both have incredible build and finish quality so both winners there. The Thumb is 34” but due to the design the first fret positions are the same place as with the 35” Spector. Thumb is heavier. IIRC neck dimensions are very similar (nut width 82 vs 84mm fingerboard widt at the 24th fret 85 vs 86mm) but the Spector neck profile is thinner front to back. Also spacing at the bridge is the same (17mm) Soundwise they’re different and both represent well the characteristics of their breed (NT6 Thumbs vs NS Spectors with soapbars) but there is lot more sonic difference between 5 and 6 string Thumbs than between 5/6 NS Spectors. As said above the NT6 is really stands in its own. Happy to answer any further questions you may have...

@warwickhunt thank you for taking your time to comment. I never was very deep into comparing or swapping pickups other than the EMGs in my Spectors so what you have written is fair enough of an information for me and answers my question. As for necks, what do you mean by the NT6 not being around? Were they not produced for a while? I found NT6s from 91, 2011 and iirc from the end of the 80’s...