Yeah, I knew a guy who played one - I'm pretty sure it was the same kind Eddie uses. He was telling me about the special preamp in it that makes the signal SUPER loud. His tone was a dead-on clone of Eddie's, and he was using Trace Elliot Preamp/Amp/Cabs. Again, thanks for the great work!
Yeah, that'd be the HazLab preamp. Some people out there, from time to time (and in very small batches, usually 25 at a time or less) make "clones" of these - as true to the original as possible, down to how the PCB is made. That's what I have in my Euro 5
.
And, my pleasure to help! I'll be updating that preset in the next couple of days to make sure everything is panned center - thanks for pointing that out.
Also, out of curiosity, I recently bought an Ibanez BTB 1605, which comes with Nordstrand pickups and active electronics(
Electric Bass BTB - BTB1605 PREMIUM | Ibanez guitars). I like its tone, but I'm wondering if the tone of the Spector Euro5LXEX (
Spector Euro5LXEX Birdseye Poplar 5-String Bass | Guitar Center) would be vastly better. Any opinions?
You're basically at the price point with either bass that saying one is outright "better" than the other gets fuzzy. One
will be better than the other
for you. The BTB basses from Ibanez are no slouches, and Nordstrand makes some serious good pickups.
For me, the Spector wins out in multiple ways:
1) The neck - for some reason, even though it's "chunkier" (front to back - think more baseball batish), the Spector fits me better than Ibanez necks.
2) The Tone - Even with the factory TonePump pre, they are versatile and great sounding. You can get very close to the Eddie Jackson tone with the TP pre - changing to HazLab is purely personal choice.
3) Long-term ownership - I've owned a few Spectors in my career now, and every time I have a question or concern about things, I can call up Spector and talk to PJ, or even Stuart Spector himself sometimes.
The Ibanez though, does have a few perks of its own, and like I said, is no slouch:
1) More extensive EQ. While the Spector I find to be plenty for what I do and need, there is no doubt the one on board the 1605 can be more fine-tuned, and bypassed in a pinch (dead battery on stage)
2) Thinner neck (front to back) - some people prefer the sleeker feel of these necks. For me, their
too thin, but for you, it may be perfect.
If you can manage to get your hands on a US or Euro Spector, do give it a try. I've typically found that the neck is a "love it or hate it" thing for people. Only you can truly decide which is better. Either way, you have a fine bass that would serve you very well!