2008 Spector NS-2JA-R Bass Review

Greetings!

Today we are looking at a pretty cool Spector NS-2JA-R, a 25th anniversary re-issue of the 1983 Spector NS-2JA. This is one of only 83 of these basses that were finished in glossy black. Only 83, because this is a re-issue of the 1983 model (clever). They made 83 each in glossy white and natural, so there were only a total of 249 built in the Czech Republic. To be honest I have only seen black ones up for sale, so the other colors must have been more popular.

Pretty much, this instrument ends up being a bolt-on neck version of the Spector Euro series basses. This is a 34-inch scale bass with 24 frets, and seven years later the frets are still level. There are simple dot inlays on the rosewood fretboard, and check out that kicking brass nut! The tuners are first-rate chromed Schaller machines.

The maple body is carved into the traditional Spector contoured shape with a oddly erotic upper horn. There is a chrome-plated Leo Quan Badass bridge, which has always been a favorite of mine. The body is loaded with a pair of active EMG pickups, which are wired with EMG BT active tone controls (2 volume and 2 tone). The lower cutaway goes pretty far into the neck joint, so there is good access to the upper frets.

This bass is a real winner. The neck is very thin and fast, and the tone is super punchy with tons of mids. There is plenty of sustain too, if that is what you are looking for. Another bit of good news is that this bass is relatively light, despite its maple body, coming in at 8 pounds, 9 ounces.

These basses had a list price of $2099 when they came out (no bag or case included!), and a street price of $1575. They did not sell very well, and today gently used ones sell for around $800. You could certainly do a lot worse for your money!

Mahalo!

1989 Spector NS-2A Bass Review

Hiya!

Today we are looking at a sweet 1989 Spector NS-2A bass that is an attractive offspring of the relationship between Spector and Kramer Guitars.

Stuart Spector is a luthier that started his own company in 1974, and he introduced his most famous and popular bass design, the NS, in 1977. “NS” stands for Ned Steinberger, who helped design the bass. Later Ned would go on to found Steinberger guitars.

NS basses sold well, leading Kramer Guitars to buy the company in 1985. Kramer continued production of the NS, and introduced an imported line of basses that include the NS-2A we are talking about today. All of these basses were sold under the Spector name until Kramer went bankrupt in 1991.

So, this bass is a 1989 NS-2A, which is one of approximately 7000 that were built between 1987 and 1990. This is a neck through bass with the same body shape as the NS, with a carved top and a concave back. It is finished in a formerly gorgeous glossy black poly. It is a 25 year old bass that has been gigged, so it has the expected dings, chips and scratches.

The 34-inch scale neck has a rosewood fretboard with pearl dot inlays, and despite its age it shows very little fret wear. The headstock has the SSD logo, and the original Spector truss rod cover, anddo not forget that bad ass 1980s-issue brass nut. The neck is very playable and has a nice medium/low action.

This NS-2A has its original black hardware, and the finish has held up a lot better than it did on the late 1980s Fenders. The bridge looks to be the same design as they use today, and the Schaller tuners are a nice find on an import bass. By the way, an odd feature of these basses is that the serial number is stamped onto the pre-amplifier cavity cover.

The original Spector-branded pickups are long gone, and have been replaced with active EMGs that are routed through a 9-volt Haz copy preamp. This is my favorite configuration, and there are four control knobs, including treble, bass, volume and tone (I think)… This thing sounds fabulous, with lots of growl and a solid burp on the back pickup. If you are popping and slapping kind of player this is the instrument for you.

Lastly, this bass will not kill your shoulder and back. It weighs in at a bit over 8 1/2 pounds, which is not too bad at all.

So, I think this NS-2A is a winner -- it looks cool, plays well, sounds awesome, and lives up to what I expect from a Spector bass for boatloads less than I would pay for similar quality instruments. Right now these basses are still a fabulous deal, selling for $600-$700, so if you always wanted a Spector but are not rich you will not find a better value.

Mahalo!

2005 Spector Euro 5 LX Bass Guitar Review

Hello!

Hi there! Ever since I saw my first Spector NS bass, I have thought they are the sexiest basses ever built, and it turns out that they are really nice basses too. Today we are looking at an NS variant that was yet another failed attempt by me to take up the 5-string bass: 2005 Spector Euro 5 LX.

The Euro 5 LX shares the same contoured body shape as the NS, at a considerably lower price than the US-built Spectors. The Euro models are made in the Czech Republic, so the Euro designation is not just a clever name. This Euro models have been in production for over 10 years.

Other features it shares with the US model are the neck-through construction and the electronics package. The build quality is very good. I have played quite a few of these basses and have not found build issues with any of them.

The bass we are looking at today has a an oil finish over a figured maple top and alder body. There is a pretty large control cavity routed out of the back, which needs to be removed to access the battery. I have never been a fan that the control covers on these instruments are mounted over the body so that they are over flush. If they could break out the router and countersink the cover into the body it would look a lot cleaner. Maybe when I hit the Powerball and buy the company I can change that…

This Euro 5 LX has a 3-piece rock maple neck with the optional 35-inch scale (34-inch is standard). As I said before, it is neck-through, and the neck is graphite-reinforced. There are 24 frets lovingly stuck into the rosewood fretboard, along with a gaggle of mother of pearl inlays. The fret work is pretty good, but not quite up to the standards set by other basses in the price range. This one had to have the frets leveled and dressed. This one also came with a factory-installed brass nut (1.84-inch), which kind of takes me back to the 70s. The fretboard is fairly flat with a 16-inch radius.

The hardware is first-rate. Besides that retro brass nut, Euro models come with Schaller tuners, Schaller strap locks and a solid brass zinc alloy bridge. The gold finished hardware is standard, which is my only visual gripe about the bass. Gold hardware is played (like brown Louis Vuitton), and shows fingerprints and smudges like nothing else on the planet.

The electronics are where I think these basses really shine. This Spector Euro 5 LX is outfitted with EMG 40DC pickups, and a TonePump pre-amplifier. Controls are two volume pots as well as treble and bass pots. The treble and bass controls are boost-only, which would not be my first choice, as I would like the option to cut as well. The output is thunderous, and it cuts through a mix as well as any bass you have ever heard. If that is what you are looking for, that is. The guys in your country band might not be too cool with its sound.

How does it play? Well, that is a problem for me, as I just cannot get used to playing a 5-string, let alone a 35-inch scale 5-string. I think it will take giving up the 4-string completely and switching over to a fiver to make this work for me. That just is not going to happen.

What I can tell you is that it is very well made and that it is not terribly heavy, coming in at 9 pounds, 10 ounces according to my digital scale. This is not bad for a neck-through bass. It balances nicely, and does not feel heavy on a strap. As it is a long scale bass with a small body those first few frets are quite a reach…

Spector in New York is only a phone call away and they do a great job of customer support, plus they also stand behind these basses with a limited lifetime warranty for the original buyer. Which is a good thing, because the list price for a Euro 5 LX is $3299 with a street price of $2299. You can usually find them in good used condition for around $1200. You will be hard-pressed to find a better bass for the money, but make sure you play one before you buy because they are a lot different than the Fender-style basses that most folks play.

Mahalo!

2008 Spector NS-2JA-R Re-issue Bass

Greetings!

Today we are looking at the NS-2JA-R, which is a 25th anniversary re-issue of the 1983 Spector NS-2JA. This is one of only 83 of these basses that were finished in glossy black. 83, because this is a re-issue of the 1983 model – savvy? They made 83 each in glossy white and natural, so there were only a total of 249 built in the Czech Republic.

This is a 34-inch scale bolt-on neck bass with 24 frets. The frets are level and did not need anything when it came out of the box. It has simple dot inlays on the rosewood fretboard, and check out that brass nut! It is almost like we are still in the 1970s! The tuners are first-rate Schaller machines.

The maple body is carved into the traditional Spector contoured shape with a highly erotic upper horn. There is a chrome Leo Quan Badass bridge, which has always been a favorite of mine. The body is loaded with a pair of active EMG pickups, which are wired with EMG BT active tone controls (2 volume and 2 tone). The lower cutaway goes pretty far into the neck joint, so there is good access to the upper frets.

This bass was one of the first shipped, arriving in the US in March 2008. And, it is a real winner. The neck is very thin and fast, and the tone is super punchy with tons of mids. There is plenty of sustain too, if that is what you are looking for. Another bit of good news is that this bass is quite light, despite its maple body, coming in at 8 pounds, 6 ounces.

These basses had a list price of $2099 when they came out, and a street price of $1575. They did not sell very well, and there are still a few new ones to be found at dealers for a little under $1500. You could do a lot worse for your money.

Mahalo!

1988 Spector NS-2A Bass

Hi there!

Today we are going to look at a sweet 1988 Spector NS-2A bass. But before I start yammering on about this bass, I had better explain the relationship between Spector and Kramer Guitars.

Stuart Spector is a luthier that started his own company in 1974, and he introduced his most famous bass, the NS, in 1977. “NS” stands for Ned Steinberger, who helped design the bass. Yes, that is the same Ned Steinberger that started Steinberger guitars.

NS basses sold well, leading Kramer Guitars to buy the company in 1985. Kramer continued production of the NS, and introduced an imported line of basses that include the NS-2A we are talking about today. All of these basses were sold under the Spector name until Kramer went bankrupt in 1991.

So, this bass is a 1988 NS-2A, which is one of approximately 7000 that were built between 1987 and 1990. This is a neck through bass with the same body shape as the NS, with a carved top and a concave back. It is finished in a gorgeous semi-transparent cherry burst fade. The finish is in very good condition, with only some light dings. See the photos for details.

The neck has a rosewood fretboard with pearl dot inlays, and 23 years later it shows very little fret wear. Somebody changed the nut somewhere along the line, so there is a little roughness between the nut and the original finish. The headstock has the SSD logo, and the original truss rod cover. It is a little dinged up around the cover. The neck is very playable and has a nice medium/low action. BTW, this is a 34-inch scale bass.

This NS-2A has its original black hardware, and the finish has held up a lot better than it did on the late 1980s Fenders. The bridge looks to be the same design as they use today, and the Schaller tuners are a nice find on an import bass. The low E tuner has been replaced with a matching Gotoh de-tuner. It came to me like this, and I have no idea where the original ended up. Also, the end pin has been relocated about ½ inch, so I figure its hole must have gotten stripped at some point.

The Spector-branded pickups are in my favorite configuration: P-J. There are four control knobs, including treble, bass, volume and tone. I think. They are hooked up to a 9-volt pre-amplifier that sounds fabulous. BTW, an odd feature of these basses is that the serial number is stamped onto the pre-amplifier cavity cover.

Lastly, this bass will not kill your shoulder and back. It weighs in at a bit over 8 1/2 pounds, which is not too bad.

So, I think this NS-2A is a winner. It plays well, sounds awesome, and lives up to what I expect from a Spector bass for boatloads less than I would pay for similar quality instruments.

By the way, this bass is for sale so shoot me a message if you are interested in owning it. It is very reasonably priced and comes with a very nice padded Spector gig bag.

Mahalo!
Tags: Kramer, Spector, Steinberger, NS-2A, Bass, Guitar

Spector Euro 4 LX Bass

Hi there! Ever since I saw my first Spector NS bass, I have thought they are the sexiest basses ever built.

The Spector Euro 4 LX shares the same contoured body shape as the NS, at a considerably lower price than the US-built Spectors. The Euro models are made in the Czech Republic. So, the Euro designation is not just a clever name. This model has been in production for almost 10 years.

Other features that it shares with the US model are the neck-through construction and the electronics package. The build quality is very good. I have played quite a few of these basses and have never found major issues with any of them.

The bass we are looking at today has a transparent blue finish over a figured maple top and alder body. There is a pretty large control cavity routed out of the back, which needs to be removed to access the battery..

This one has the 34-inch scale 3-piece rock maple neck (35-inch is available as an option). As I said before, it is neck-through, and the neck is graphite-reinforced. There are 24 frets on the rosewood fretboard (with mother of pearl inlays, no less). The fret work is adequate, but not quite up to the standards set by other basses in the price range. This one had to have the frets leveled and dressed. This one also came with a brass nut (1.64-inch), which kind of takes me back to the 70s. The fretboard is fairly flat with a 16-inch radius.

The hardware is first-rate. Euro models come with Schaller tuners (D-tuner optional), and a solid brass zinc alloy bridge. Schaller strap locks are included. The gold finish is standard, which is my only visual gripe about the bass. Gold hardware is played (like brown Louis Vuitton, IMO), and shows fingerprints and smudges like nothing else on the plant.

The electronics are where I think these basses really shine. All of the Spector Euro LX 4-string basses are outfitted with P-J EMG pickups, and a TonePump pre-amplifier. Controls are two volume pots as well as treble and bass pots. The treble and bass controls are boost-only, which would not be my first choice, as I would like the option to cut as well. The output is thunderous, with considerably more output than any of my Stingrays.

It plays well, and sounds very good. There is a lot more versatility than I would normally expect from the EMG pickups, which I have always considered to be a one-trick pony.

This one weighs in at 9 pounds, 10 ounces according to my scale. This is not bad for a neck-through bass. It balances nicely, and does not feel heavy on a strap.

Spector stands behind these basses and has a limited lifetime warranty for the original buyer. An odd thing is that these basses do not ship with a case, so you will have to buy one separately.

The list price for this bass is $2299, with a street price of $1899. You can usually find them in good used condition for around $800 to $900. You will be hard-pressed to find a better bass for the money.