Meat and Potato…

[some_dude]

Incoming…

[Securb]

Anywhere I want.

This!

Soundman: You don't need a 100w half stack for this room.
Me: Who said I needed it?

[some_dude]

Arrived.

I’ve had it a little under a week now. It’s my first active bass. Got it because I’m now in a metal band and I was having difficulty getting the passive basses to sit and cut through the mix the way I wanted. Used it for rehearsal this past week and zero issues cutting, if anything I’m dialling it back.

The more get to know it the more I like it.

[dystrust]

Arrived.

I’ve had it a little under a week now. It’s my first active bass. Got it because I’m now in a metal band and I was having difficulty getting the passive basses to sit and cut through the mix the way I wanted. Used it for rehearsal this past week and zero issues cutting, if anything I’m dialling it back.

The more get to know it the more I like it.

It's a bit hard to tell from the pics, is that a NS-2A or maybe a NS-2CR?

Nothing sounds quite like a Spector, and they tend to be something you end up either loving or hating. longcat and I have been Spector fans since we found a great deal on a Euro 4 locally about a decade ago now. We flipped it about a year later in favor of a NS-2CR-FM that's just a monster bass. These early Czech Spectors have a really cool soft V to C neck profile that plays a bit easier than the larger C they switched to later. If you have the same bass, it probably has an EMG-BT preamp which has a tuneable treble band where you can select from 4 frequencies on dip switches in the control cavity.

[some_dude]

It's a bit hard to tell from the pics, is that a NS-2A or maybe a NS-2CR?

Nothing sounds quite like a Spector, and they tend to be something you end up either loving or hating. longcat and I have been Spector fans since we found a great deal on a Euro 4 locally about a decade ago now. We flipped it about a year later in favor of a NS-2CR-FM that's just a monster bass. These early Czech Spectors have a really cool soft V to C neck profile that plays a bit easier than the larger C they switched to later. If you have the same bass, it probably has an EMG-BT preamp which has a tuneable treble band where you can select from 4 frequencies on dip switches in the control cavity.

1999 NS-4CR. I’m told it was a transitional model with the dot inlays and Spector logo. It has an EMG BTS and I found the dip switches, settling (for now) on the one that produces the 2.4K bump (on/on) I’m going to leave it like that for a month while I get used to how the bass sounds and switch to my second favourite setting (off/on) just to compare.

I could see the love/hate thing. It's not really natural sounding, but it's not unnatural either... just sort of Hi-Fi compared to a passive bass. I'm also digging the preamp. I thought the lack of headroom would be an issue, but I like the way it compresses, and I find it musically interactive with my playstyle.

As for the neck, I've read complaints about the Spector profile, but to me it seems pretty neutral, being neither as narrow as a Jazz or as wide as a Precision, so I have no issues with it.

[RevDoom73]

One of the bands I play with on regular occasion tends to play quite a bit of outdoor gigs, usually local festivals and such, between the months of May and October.
I had been doing the gigs using a smaller 4x10 cab and it worked fine, more or less. Then at one of the gigs I used a friend's 8x10 SVT and wow, what a difference.
Not only in terms of volume onstage but just the overall tone and sound of it, for me it really made a difference.
We don't use in-ear monitoring for this band, otherwise I'd stick with something smaller and rely on the d.i. sound in my buds.
So while I know many people dismiss using a large amp like that nowadays and I can certainly understand not wanting ot haul that thing around...
I just love the way that big amp sounds and feels onstage especially under the right circumstances.

[some_dude]

Honestly, I don't see the issues with moving it around. It has a handlebar and wheels. It only weighs something when you lift it, and if it's rolled around on wheels how long are you honestly lifting something during load in/out?

I think it's only 140lbs and the head is somewhere around 80lbs, neither of which are particularly heavy.

In return for doing something that's moderately challenging for maybe 5 minutes I get outstanding sound and projection.

[Mincer]

Anyone with back issues know that it only takes a few minutes for weight to shift when carrying or rolling something, and your back takes that stress.

[ErikH]

Anyone with back issues know that it only takes a few minutes for weight to shift when carrying or rolling something, and your back takes that stress.

Yup. Exactly how I ended up selling a guitar combo that weighed 50-60 lbs and getting one between 20-25 lbs. Threw my back out during load out after a gig. Had been moving PA equipment too that wasn't very light and I was tired. One bad step/move and that was that. My back was in worse shape then too. It's a lot better thanks to my chiropractor. My 4x10 isn't overly heavy. Only time it's lifted is when I put it in or take it out of the back of my vehicle. Same with the flip-top 4x10. Wheels, baby.

[Securb]

That is a beautiful bass I love the color, and the gold hardware pops.

[chadd]

I find 6x10 and 8x10 cabs often work better on stage than 2x10s. A horizontal 2x10 is so low that you need a deeper stage to get sound up to ear level, but the 8x10 is a lot easier to hear. That turns into less actual volume going out to FOH.

[Demanic]

Tomorrow I hope to be running through a 700 watt Peavey head pushing a Peavey SP-3 cab, a homemade 1x15 cab, ported, with a 4ohm 500w Gauss Cetek, along with a Hartke 280w 4x10" cab with the aluminum cone speakers.
The Peavey and Hartke are 8ohm. The head can push 700w@2ohms.
The 2x15 isn't part of the bass rig. It's connected to the Randall head out of shot.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

[some_dude]

I find 6x10 and 8x10 cabs often work better on stage than 2x10s. A horizontal 2x10 is so low that you need a deeper stage to get sound up to ear level, but the 8x10 is a lot easier to hear. That turns into less actual volume going out to FOH.

I think that if more players played with speakers pointing directly at their heads they'd dial in better sound, with far less top end, and play at a much lower volume than they do with the tiny little cabs pointed at their feat that are currently popular.