Since the mid-seventies when he built his first bass, Stuart Spector has earned a reputation for designing and building great instruments. With the signature body style designed by Ned Steinberger in 1976, the company introduced the NS series and has been handcrafting basses in New York since 1977. In 1986, they introduced Korean import versions and in 1993 began offering production versions of their USA models made in their factory in the Czech Republic.
Two in Review
We have two basses for review, the Euro5LX EX and the NS-5H2 FM. The former has an alder back and a poplar burl top with clear gloss finish. It is manufactured at their Czech Republic factory and is a production version of their USA handcrafted NS-5XL using the same maple neck, truss rod, and graphite rods. The latter has a mahogany body and a figured maple top; our review model has a black matte finish, though it is available in other finishes, including the amber stain pictured (which is otherwise identical to our review instrument). It is handcrafted at their Woodstock, NY, workshop, and is numbered and signed by Stuart Spector. Both basses share the same NS curved body design, and both have a 35” scale and a brass nut. Both instruments carry a lifetime warranty against manufacturer defects to the original owner.
The Euro5LX EX has neck-through construction and gold-plated hardware, including a Spector locking bridge and Schaller tuners. It uses 2 EMG 40CSTW single/dual coil pickups, which are controlled by push-pull volume controls, and the preamp is a Spector TonePump, boost only, with active treble and bass controls and +19dB of gain.
The NS-5H2 FM has a bolt-on neck and black hardware, including a custom aluminum Hipshot bridge with brass saddles and Hipshot UltraLite tuners. It uses two special EMG CS-TW single/dual coil pickups also controlled by push-pull volume controls, and the preamp is an Aguilar OBP-3 active preamp with active Bass, Midrange, and Treble controls as well as selectable midrange frequency via another push-pull pot.
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My first impression out of the box: this is a lovely instrument! Though I am not a fan of glossy finishes, this finish is very pretty, smooth to the touch, and as far as I can see, perfectly applied. Balance-wise, the Euro might be a touch body heavy, and a little neck heavy on the knee. The tone controls are easy to get to, and their layout makes sense: the two upper pots are volume— left for the neck pickup, and right for the bridge pickup. The bottom pots are left for the treble boost, and right for the bass boost.
The 1.84” neck width at the nut and 0.66” string spacing at the bridge makes it narrower than I’m used to, but it’s easy to adjust to. I was curious how a 35” scale would feel, especially since I’m used to a 34”-scale instrument. I really didn’t feel a large difference between the scales, except when playing a finger-stretching passage—I found I had to stretch a little more than usual, but not to the point of missing what I wanted to play. Having the low B sound a little tighter thanks to the longer scale is worth any chops adjustment, so I think the 35” scale is a good compromise before tackling a beast with a 36” scale! Spector does offer 4-string models with a 34” scale for those who prefer the standard scale.
When it comes to the electronics, I found that you can have a wide variation of sound just using the single/dual coil capability—just don’t forget to lower the gain when going from single to dual coil! Adding the preamp, I found that the treble boost becomes apparent around one quarter-turn, and optimal at around a half-turn. Past one half-turn, you’ll start getting hiss. The bass control pretty much boosts the moment you start turning it, though with 19 dB of gain possible, you won’t need much to get seriousbottom, 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.
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.
Buy if...
you’re looking for a stage workhorse and like an even and full fundamental sound.weight is an issue, and you like using the upper register.
Skip if...
weight is an issue, and you like using the upper register.
Rating...
MSRP $3099 - Spector Design Ltd - spectorbass.com |
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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.
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!
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.
Buy if...
you like a full sound but want a soloist voice, wide tonal range, and lighter weight for stage or studio.
Skip if...
you want a smooth, low sound and can’t be bothered with complicated preamps.
Rating...
MSRP $3399 (with case) - Stuart Spector Design Ltd - spectorbass.com |
The Final Mojo
The Euro5LX has an even, dark quality (emphasizing the fundamentals) that is consistent through all registers regardless of how hard you pluck, while the NS-5H2 is also tonally even, but has a brighter initial sound, and develops a nice percussiveness when you dig in. Though the Euro’s preamp, the Spector TonePump, is simple, between it and the single/dual coil selection capability you can get a wide range of sounds and colors. With the NS-5H2 and the Aguilar OBP-3 preamp, you also get control of the midrange which gives you a ridiculously wide tonal palette.
A quality I look for in an instrument is whether it challenges me to play something new, and both of these instruments did—but if I had to choose only one, it would be the NS–5H2 for its extra dimension of soloist quality.
Duane Denison of the Jesus Lizard, EGC Chessie in hands, coaxing some nasty tones from his Hiwatt.
The Jesus Lizard’s sixth album, Blue, served as the band’s final statement from the frontlines of noisy rock for the next 26 years. By the time of their dissolution in 1999, they’d earned a reputation for extreme performances chock full of hard-hitting, machine-like grooves delivered by bassist David Wm. Sims and, at their conclusion, drummer Mac McNeilly, at times aided and at other times punctured by the frontline of guitarist Duane Denison’s incisive, dissonant riffing, and presided over by the cantankerous howl of vocalist David Yow. In the years since, performative, thrilling bands such as Pissed Jeans, METZ, and Idles have built upon the Lizard’s musical foundation.
Denison has kept himself plenty busy over the last couple decades, forming the avant-rock supergroup Tomahawk—with vocalist Mike Patton, bassist Trevor Dunn (both from Mr. Bungle), and drummer John Stanier of Helmet—and alongside various other projects including Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers and Hank Williams III. The Jesus Lizard eventually reunited, but until now have only celebrated their catalog, never releasing new jams.
The Jesus Lizard, from left: bassist David Wm. Sims, singer David Yow, drummer Mac McNeilly, and guitarist Duane Denison.
Photo by Joshua Black Wilkins
Back in 2018, Denison, hanging in a hotel room with Yow, played a riff on his unplugged electric guitar that caught the singer’s ear. That song, called “West Side,” will remain unreleased for now, but Denison explains: “He said, ‘Wow, that’s really good. What is that?’ And I said, ‘It’s just some new thing. Why don’t we do an album?’” From those unassuming beginnings, the Jesus Lizard’s creative juices started flowing.
So, how does a band—especially one who so indelibly captured the ineffable energy of live rock performance—prepare to get a new record together 26 years after their last? Back in their earlier days, the members all lived together in a band house, collectively tending to the creative fire when inspiration struck. All these years later, they reside in different cities, so their process requires sending files back and forth and only meeting up for occasional demo sessions over the course of “three or four years.”
“When the time comes to get more in performance mode, I have a practice space. I go there by myself and crank it up. I turn that amp up and turn the metronome up and play loud.” —Duane Denison
the Jesus Lizard "Alexis Feels Sick"
Distance creates an obstacle to striking while the proverbial iron is hot, but Denison has a method to keep things energized: “Practice loud.” The guitarist professes the importance of practice, in general, and especially with a metronome. “We keep very detailed records of what the beats per minute of these songs are,” he explains. “To me, the way to do it is to run it to a Bluetooth speaker and crank it, and then crank your amp. I play a little at home, but when the time comes to get more in performance mode, I have a practice space. I go there by myself and crank it up. I turn that amp up and turn the metronome up and play loud.”
It’s a proven solution. On Rack—recorded at Patrick Carney’s Audio Eagle studio with producer Paul Allen—the band sound as vigorous as ever, proving they’ve not only remained in step with their younger selves, but they may have surpassed it with faders cranked. “Duane’s approach, both as a guitarist and writer, has an angular and menacing fingerprint that is his own unique style,” explains Allen. “The conviction in his playing that he is known for from his recordings in the ’80s and ’90s is still 100-percent intact and still driving full throttle today.”
“I try to be really, really precise,” he says. “I think we all do when it comes to the basic tracks, especially the rhythm parts. The band has always been this machine-like thing.” Together, they build a tension with Yow’s careening voice. “The vocals tend to be all over the place—in and out of tune, in and out of time,” he points out. “You’ve got this very free thing moving around in the foreground, and then you’ve got this very precise, detailed band playing behind it. That’s why it works.”
Before Rack, the Jesus Lizard hadn’t released a new record since 1998’s Blue.
Denison’s guitar also serves as the foreground foil to Yow’s unhinged raving, as on “Alexis Feels Sick,” where they form a demented harmony, or on the midnight creep of “What If,” where his vibrato-laden melodies bolster the singer’s unsettled, maniacal display. As precise as his riffs might be, his playing doesn’t stay strictly on the grid. On the slow, skulking “Armistice Day,” his percussive chording goes off the rails, giving way to a solo that slices that groove like a chef’s knife through warm butter as he reorganizes rock ’n’ roll histrionics into his own cut-up vocabulary.
“During recording sessions, his first solo takes are usually what we decide to keep,” explains Allen. “Listen to Duane’s guitar solos on Jack White’s ‘Morning, Noon, and Night,’ Tomahawk’s ‘Fatback,’ and ‘Grind’ off Rack. There’s a common ‘contained chaos’ thread among them that sounds like a harmonic Rubik’s cube that could only be solved by Duane.”
“Duane’s approach, both as a guitarist and writer, has an angular and menacing fingerprint that is his own unique style.” —Rack producer Paul Allen
To encapsulate just the right amount of intensity, “I don’t over practice everything,” the guitarist says. Instead, once he’s created a part, “I set it aside and don’t wear it out.” On Rack, it’s obvious not a single kilowatt of musical energy was lost in the rehearsal process.
Denison issues his noisy masterclass with assertive, overdriven tones supporting his dissonant voicings like barbed wire on top of an electric fence. The occasional application of slapback delay adds a threatening aura to his exacting riffage. His tones were just as carefully crafted as the parts he plays, and he relied mostly on his signature Electrical Guitar Company Chessie for the sessions, though a Fender Uptown Strat also appears, as well as a Taylor T5Z, which he chose for its “cleaner, hyper-articulated sound” on “Swan the Dog.” Though he’s been spotted at recent Jesus Lizard shows with a brand-new Powers Electric—he points out he played a demo model and says, “I just couldn’t let go of it,” so he ordered his own—that wasn’t until tracking was complete.
Duane Denison's Gear
Denison wields his Powers Electric at the Blue Room in Nashville last June.
Photo by Doug Coombe
Guitars
- Electrical Guitar Company Chessie
- Fender Uptown Strat
- Taylor T5Z
- Gibson ES-135
- Powers Electric
Amps
- Hiwatt Little J
- Hiwatt 2x12 cab with Fane F75 speakers
- Fender Super-Sonic combo
- Early ’60s Fender Bassman
- Marshall 1987X Plexi Reissue
- Victory Super Sheriff head
- Blackstar HT Stage 60—2 combos in stereo with Celestion Neo Creamback speakers and Mullard tubes
Effects
- Line 6 Helix
- Mantic Flex Pro
- TC Electronic G-Force
- Menatone Red Snapper
Strings and Picks
- Stringjoy Orbiters .0105 and .011 sets
- Dunlop celluloid white medium
- Sun Studios yellow picks
He ran through various amps—Marshalls, a Fender Bassman, two Fender Super-Sonic combos, and a Hiwatt Little J—at Audio Eagle. Live, if he’s not on backline gear, you’ll catch him mostly using 60-watt Blackstar HT Stage 60s loaded with Celestion Neo Creambacks. And while some boxes were stomped, he got most of his effects from a Line 6 Helix. “All of those sounds [in the Helix] are modeled on analog sounds, and you can tweak them endlessly,” he explains. “It’s just so practical and easy.”
The tools have only changed slightly since the band’s earlier days, when he favored Travis Beans and Hiwatts. Though he’s started to prefer higher gain sounds, Allen points out that “his guitar sound has always had teeth with a slightly bright sheen, and still does.”
“Honestly, I don’t think my tone has changed much over the past 30-something years,” Denison says. “I tend to favor a brighter, sharper sound with articulation. Someone sent me a video I had never seen of myself playing in the ’80s. I had a band called Cargo Cult in Austin, Texas. What struck me about it is it didn’t sound terribly different than what I sound like right now as far as the guitar sound and the approach. I don’t know what that tells you—I’m consistent?”
YouTube It
The Jesus Lizard take off at Nashville’s Blue Room this past June with “Hide & Seek” from Rack.