bottom, or to make your local speaker repairman very happy! One setting I found I liked had
the bridge pickup at single coil and full up, the
front pickup at dual coil and one quarter-turn,
treble boost at one quarter and bass off.
All the notes up and down the neck sound
smooth and even, but I did find that the very
high register feels cramped on the hand—I can
usually play three-string major scales starting
at the 20th fret on the A string without hitting
either the body or neck, but on this instrument,
it’s hard to reach the 22nd fret with my pinky,
and the back of my hand hits the lower cutaway. Starting at the 21st fret on the A string, I
can’t reach the 23rd fret with the pinky at all.
NS-5H2 FM
Out of the box, this too is a lovely instrument! The matte finish with the contrast of
the blond neck and the black body make a
simple but beautiful statement. Workmanship
is first rate, the finish is flawless—it just plain
feels nice! The balance is a little neck heavy,
slightly less than the Euro5LX.
Open 5-chords sound full and clear, as do
three-string chords. I love how responsive
the EMG pickups are, and how surprisingly
sensitive their response is. Using various
right-hand techniques, such as plucking,
thumb/pop, and strumming with the nails,
while leaving the tone setting as is, I was very
impressed at the wide range of sounds I got.
you’re looking for a stage work-
horse and like an even and full
fundamental sound.
Buy If...
The tone controls are again easy to reach:
left top is the neck pickup, right top for
the bridge, left bottom is the midrange
control with a notch for flat and push-pull
to choose either 400 Hz or 800 Hz, and the
right bottom is concentric—the bottom
knob is a bass boost/cut, and the top knob
is treble boost/cut with notches for flat
response. The neck width and bridge spacing are the same as the Euro5LX. I found a
favorite tone by turning the bridge pickup
full up, the neck pickup around one-half
turn, and the preamp flat; with this setting,
this bass has a more aggressive attitude
than the Euro5. It has the soul of a soloist,
rather than just being a support instrument.
I found that if I dug a little deeper into the
strings, the NS-5H2 responds and adds a
sweet but percussive attack, which feels
like it can cut through any number of musicians and make a powerful statement. It
kicks big time!
Skip If...
weight is an issue, and you like
using the upper register.
Rating...
4.0
ONTHEWeb
Click here to hear sound clips
of both basses in action
Stuart Spector Design Ltd.
MSRP $3099
spectorbass.com
Checking out the Aguilar OBP- 3 preamp, I
was really curious about the midrange control which is where the action is for overall
sound control. The midrange is the woody
part of the sound, with the 400 Hz setting
(knob in) controlling the “lower woody”
area, and the 800 Hz setting (knob out)
controlling the “upper woody” area. I was
very impressed with the range I could get,
and this control will allow anyone to play a
wide range of music. Even though this bass
has a bolt-on neck design, I found I could
navigate the highest register more easily
than the Euro5LX. The EMG pickups on
this instrument are very sensitive and also
allow for a wide range of sounds just by
changing hand position and or method of
attack. This bass begs you to try anything
on it. I even found myself trying pull-offs
and hammer-ons.
