Spector Basses: are tattoos and/or long hair prerequisites for playing them?

[Old Horse Murphy]

Very much tongue in cheek, but having recently played a Spector LX4 and doing a bit more research about them, they seem to be very much a tool for Rock bands rather than other genres. 
 

I can only think of Sting and Greg Lake who were non-rock players who used these and I am sure there are countless others but wondered why they appeal to a limited genre musically than say, Fenders or even Warwicks. Looking at them and having played one, I can't see why they wouldn't suit other music styles but would appreciate some more thoughts or insights if people have them. 

Edited December 26, 2019 by Old Horse Murphy

[Doctor J]

Perhaps the question should be why some genres seem to demand a more conservative or unimaginative choice of instrument?

[DoubleOhStephan]

I've had a bit of a scan through Spectors official insta feed and, with the exception of Doug Wimbish, Spector artists so seem to be rock or metal. 

Maybe it's something to do with the famous Spector growl? 

[Old Horse Murphy]

I'm genuinely bemused as the ones I've seen and tried look spectacularly built and sound great. I just can't work out why they're not more prevalent  

Edited December 26, 2019 by Old Horse Murphy

[DoubleOhStephan]

Fully agree. Maybe it's a European thing and Warwick is the preferred weapon of choice, though I can't help think even they're a bit out of fashion at the moment. 

[Al Krow]

46 minutes ago, Old Horse Murphy said:

I'm genuinely bemused as the ones I've seen and tried look spectacularly built and sound great. 

^^Yup! 

I've been completely bowled over by my Spector Euro LX5 bought a few months back. I now find myself thoroughly deflated of bass GAS looking through the FS section, for the first time in a very long time. It's disconcerting. 

I guess I now just need to grow my hair and get myself booked into a tattoo parlour... 

[ead]

Well I certainly have little enough hair and it's quite short.  I do have one tattoo but it was acquired after my Spector basses so I feel doesn't really count and was unrelated to the impact of any purchasing decision.  My current two are the Euro LE 1977 and sister (ish) Euro LE 1979 basses.

Gratuitous Spector pic:

Edited December 27, 2019 by ead

[NickA]

3 hours ago, Old Horse Murphy said:

 

I can only think of Sting and Greg Lake who were non-rock players

... what were they then?  🤔

[Doctor J]

Garry Tallent from the E-Street band has been a Spector player for a long, long time.

[HazBeen]

Graham Maby, Quintin Berry, Lenny Bradford, Ben Martin .... and an endless list of non metal Spector bassists. As Trump would say “fake news”  

[DoubleOhStephan]

1 hour ago, HazBeen said:

Graham Maby, Quintin Berry, Lenny Bradford, Ben Martin .... and an endless list of non metal Spector bassists. As Trump would say “fake news”  

Interesting. They do seem to push the metal guys on their SM, at least the posts I scanned following this thread being posted. 

[Paulhauser]

I have short hair, no tattoos, but I do play rock/metal and have a couple of Spectors - they are my main recording and live instruments.

My experience is that the NS Spectors are some of the most versatile basses around but it is is true that they always featured more rock / metal players in their marketing than players from other genres. 

[merello]

15 hours ago, Doctor J said:

Garry Tallent from the E-Street band has been a Spector player for a long, long time.

On a similar theme, I watched the Dolly Glasgow (edit.... Glastonbury!) set the other day. The bass player seemed to have a double P-pick up Sadowsky. Did some research and found her bass player is now a Spector player. I think over here we tend to be more in our silos. When I watch gospel or country players in Nashville they seem to be more open minded.

Edit...Dave Fowler be his name.

Edited December 27, 2019 by merello

[Old Horse Murphy]

Thanks chaps, very interesting. I never knew Graham Maby ( one of my Bass playing heroes) used them and of course I missed name checking Gary Tallent. 
 

There does definitely seem to be more players of Rock/Metal than other genres and it very-much echoes my own experiences of gigging my main squeeze (a bright red 1980's Charvel 1B with pointy headstock) in my R'n'B band and a number of people who come along to the gigs asking what the heck I'm playing. 
 

Anyway, the Spector I tried were super basses and apart from the 24 fret neck which gave me vertigo, were as good quality build-wise and sonically than anything else I've tried. 

[Paulhauser]

Stuart started in the second half of the 70's and the biggest exposure his brand got was in the heyday of the 80's glam/rock/metal when many of the then prolific or higher profile bass players from those styles used and were seen using Spectors. For example the guys from Winger, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Queensryche etc and that sort of continued to the '90s with Alice in Chains, Pantera, Metallica,  so the biggest visibility of the brand was mostly conneted to hard rock / metal bands. 

edit: and behind the scenes Spector basses were used on many more recordings, I've read that Spector was some of the most recorded bass in the '80s being a preference of producers. 

Edited December 27, 2019 by Paulhauser

[White Cloud]

Spector's are one of the iconic bass designs: Completely ergonomic, tactile, beautiful and incredibly well made. They are fantastic basses that play, and sound like a dream. The necks are also very stable and reliable (I've had very expensive, luthier built necks disregard this, my golden rule) 

The Euro series are, for me one of the best buys for a production bass... still not cheap however, in essence you're getting a US NS at what is in relative terms a bargain price.

I have tattoos, but sadly my hair is now retreating to the same  place that my 6 pack went when it deserted me several decades ago. Dont get me wrong, I'm over it; what was once thick, jet-black and lustrous has now become arid, dry and grey! Good riddance.

I play a bit of rock, and everything else in between - but no metal. Yes, Spector's 'rock' .. but oh so much more!!!

Edited December 27, 2019 by White Cloud

[Cat Burrito]

I always associate Spector basses with the tail end of what is now called Hair Metal. The early 90s was littered with adverts in Bassist magazine with the likes of Rachel Bolan from Skid Row clutching his Spector. Personally I preferred the more traditional look of a bassist rocking a Thunderbird or a Precision but Spectors can sound good. The look was just not to my personal tastes.

[AndyTravis]

Has anyone said “Flea played an NS-2 for a while...”?

[Old Horse Murphy]

12 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

Has anyone said “Flea played an NS-2 for a while...”?

They have now 😉

[AndyTravis]

4 minutes ago, Old Horse Murphy said:

They have now 😉

Good stuff. I must have missed in on my other account...🤨

[Woodinblack]

I have loads of tattoos, but no longer have long hair, and I don't have a spector. I have had two but I don't have any at the moment or any plans to change that. 

Just for a data point

 

[Delberthot]

Guy Pratt used one on a couple of tracks when touring with Pink Floyd in the Delicate Sound of Thunder era

[Paulhauser]

@ead how do you like these '77 and '79 and what is your opinion about them?

Thinking about getting a '77 and while I like the '79 too, I already have another Spector 4 string with PJ pickups. 

Any difference you think worth mentioning between this two (apart from the obvious pickup P placement difference plus the additional J)?

Many thanks!

[ead]

2 hours ago, Paulhauser said:

@ead how do you like these '77 and '79 and what is your opinion about them?

Thinking about getting a '77 and while I like the '79 too, I already have another Spector 4 string with PJ pickups. 

Any difference you think worth mentioning between this two (apart from the obvious pickup P placement difference plus the additional J)?

Many thanks!

They are suprisingly different in sound.  It's probably fair to say that the '79 is quite similar to the Euro 4LX I had (and sold to buy the '77) so I feel that you are right to stick to your NS-2 basses.  I'm very shallow so wanted the two basses to match.

The '77 has a really nice tone to it.  It's fair to say these are hot pickups so a little care is needed dialling them in.  I tend to run the bass preamp EQ with the bass at around 60% and the treble at about 25% for a bit of definition and this produces a nice warm P bass tone that sits really well in the covers band I play with.  I also turned down the overall preamp gain.

I think these are cracking basses and I genuinely can't see me selling either of them.  The '77 is the marginally heavier of the two at 3.9 kgs (vs 3.8 for the '79) so both very manageable for gigging.  I love the natural matt finish that makes the necks very special to move around on.  I'd say the neck profiles are a little more P than J.

As you know the NS bodies are very comfy to play now I have managed to get rid of my 6-pack they are perfectly profiled.  The vintage style frets are my preference in any case and, it may be sacriledge, I prefer the dot inlays to the Spector crown inlays

PJ told me they only made around 50 of the '77 basses but not sure how many '79s will be made, just yet at any rate.

I tend to use the '79 in the originals band but I don't have any good recording I can share for that.  Here are links to couple of recordings I made with the band using the '77.  Apologies for the abosolutely average playing and the shades (and the hat for that matter) they made me do it

 

 

[Paulhauser]

Thank you @ead, these are the sort of infos I wanted to know! Out of my 7 Spectors I have two Euro 435's that are both tuned to BEAD /AEAD, one of which I'm selling. The one I'm keeping has maple wings and a white finish, so the classic Spector sound and look is checked 🙂 But even if I can't gig with a standard tuned 4 string (and I feel lost wihout the B string as an anchor for my thumb) I always want one especially when I play with a pick plus I like the idea of a P with an ergonomically friendly NS package (even if the single P is not in the classic Fender P sweet spot)

I have watched the vids you posted and the bass sits well in the mix, I like the sound so thanks a lot for posting them, too!