NS-5XL Prototype #002
Solid Highly Flamed Maple
1998
Solid Highly Flamed Maple
1998
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This is my NS-5XL Proto #002, my primary go-to 5st bass since 1998. It has been used for many live shows & recordings.
The two prototype basses featured solid highly flamed maple body wings. As seen in my photos we still had some SSD era bridges in stock & used them for these two instruments. Production NS-5XL basses had a slightly different construction & feel to their 35"scale. Both Prototype basses were displayed at the Jan 1998 NAMM trade show (see below).
The two prototype basses featured solid highly flamed maple body wings. As seen in my photos we still had some SSD era bridges in stock & used them for these two instruments. Production NS-5XL basses had a slightly different construction & feel to their 35"scale. Both Prototype basses were displayed at the Jan 1998 NAMM trade show (see below).
The NAMM trade show Jan 1998, with our personal NS-5XL basses Prototype #001 & Prototype #002.
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Live with my NS-5XL Prototype #002, May 2002.
SSD NS-5 #002's peghead can be seen behind me. |
NS-5XL #002
Solid Walnut Burl
1998
Solid Walnut Burl
1998
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With the start of our NS-5XL 35" scale basses, I wanted my #002 bass to be very unique, with non standard features for that time including solid walnut burl body wings, matching walnut peghead veneer, and an ebony fretboard with abalone inlays. Standard specs at that time were solid figured maple body wings, black phenolic peghead veneer, and a pau ferro fretboard with white mother of pearl inlays.
First, we ordered walnut burl from one of our wood supplier friends. The wood was severely cracked during shipping. We re-ordered more walnut burl, again it arrived severely cracked and unable to use. We re-ordered a third time but did not have high expectations.
Around that time I reached out to my friend Vinny Fodera for help with a walnut peghead veneer as we were not set up to make them from wood at the Spector workshop. He has been a great friend and offered to help. I arranged a day at the Fodera workshop to help with the wood selection as well as some of the veneer sanding. After lamenting our recent walnut burl issues, Vinny graciously offered up some walnut from the Fodera wood stash for my body wings, and together we created the peghead veneer from this same walnut.
The next day I drove the wood to our (Spector) workshop. As luck would have it, the third shipment of walnut burl arrived that day...and it arrived undamaged! So we used the fancier walnut burl from our supplier, and the peghead veneer made at the Fodera workshop. The peghead veneer is from a different piece of walnut but still 'matches' the body in terms of type of wood.
At this time we were planning to upgrade our Euro neck-thru basses from dot markers to white mother of pearl inlays, as well as upgrade the USA neck-thru basses from white mother of pearl to abalone inlays. We made this change during the second half of 1999, and went with 'abalam' for the USA inlays, real abalone pieced together using the best looking shell pieces, with a beautiful end result. My NS-5XL #002 has authentic abalone inlays meaning they are made from full pieces of abalone, not pieced together from multiple pieces, like abalam.
In the electronics deptartment, this bass has a set of EMG 40J pickups with 18v Spector/HAZ active tone controls.
Fun Fact : Due to the mentioned walnut burl issues, this bass was not completed until June 1999.
This bass is one of the winners of the prestigious "One Of The Two Heaviest Weight Basses In My Collection" Award.
First, we ordered walnut burl from one of our wood supplier friends. The wood was severely cracked during shipping. We re-ordered more walnut burl, again it arrived severely cracked and unable to use. We re-ordered a third time but did not have high expectations.
Around that time I reached out to my friend Vinny Fodera for help with a walnut peghead veneer as we were not set up to make them from wood at the Spector workshop. He has been a great friend and offered to help. I arranged a day at the Fodera workshop to help with the wood selection as well as some of the veneer sanding. After lamenting our recent walnut burl issues, Vinny graciously offered up some walnut from the Fodera wood stash for my body wings, and together we created the peghead veneer from this same walnut.
The next day I drove the wood to our (Spector) workshop. As luck would have it, the third shipment of walnut burl arrived that day...and it arrived undamaged! So we used the fancier walnut burl from our supplier, and the peghead veneer made at the Fodera workshop. The peghead veneer is from a different piece of walnut but still 'matches' the body in terms of type of wood.
At this time we were planning to upgrade our Euro neck-thru basses from dot markers to white mother of pearl inlays, as well as upgrade the USA neck-thru basses from white mother of pearl to abalone inlays. We made this change during the second half of 1999, and went with 'abalam' for the USA inlays, real abalone pieced together using the best looking shell pieces, with a beautiful end result. My NS-5XL #002 has authentic abalone inlays meaning they are made from full pieces of abalone, not pieced together from multiple pieces, like abalam.
In the electronics deptartment, this bass has a set of EMG 40J pickups with 18v Spector/HAZ active tone controls.
Fun Fact : Due to the mentioned walnut burl issues, this bass was not completed until June 1999.
This bass is one of the winners of the prestigious "One Of The Two Heaviest Weight Basses In My Collection" Award.
My two NS-5XL basses from our original batch of five with Buckeye Burl tops
2003
2003
In the early 2000's I was mainly playing my NS-5XL Proto #002 with my bands. During visits to my friend Vinny Fodera's workshop and seeing him work with buckeye burl, I wanted an NS-5XL bass with a buckeye burl top. We purchased a small quantity of exceptionally killer premium grade buckeye burl, enough to produce one limited run of five NS-5XL basses with body wings made of a buckeye burl top over black walnut. Black walnut was selected for its tonal qualities, just like it was in the 1970s for the original Brooklyn Era Spector instruments.
I own two of the five NS-5XL basses from this very special batch, a fretted & fretless, shown below. For my two personal basses I added the extra special specs of a buckeye burl top AND back, with flame maple as the center tone block.
It is also worth noting that these two basses had very early production TonePump circuits in them, along with EMG 40DC pickups. Stuart and I finalized our new TonePump circuit in 2002, visiting our friend at his shop in the Czech Republic where I played thru many prototype "breadboard" versions of his circuit until our ears settled on the specs.
In the mid 2010s I had our workshop update these basses with Spector/HAZ 9v circuits. #095 fretless currently has Seymour Duncan NYC pickups, and #101 has EMG 40J pickups. The bridges were also changed, to aluminum bridges with brass saddles and intonation screws. The original parts remain in each bass case. Both basses sound amazing!!!
The plan was to make only these five buckeye burl basses as a one-time offering. After a few decades of working with solid figured maple body wings, Stuart really liked the unique visual qualities of these buckeye burl topped basses. Seeing the variations of each buckeye burl top was super cool! This buckeye stump in particular had a great variance of colors including black, grey, brown, lighter sections which were maple-like in appearance, and even some green! We continued to offer buckeye burl over black walnut body wings as an option, adding other exotic top wood selections over time.
I own two of the five NS-5XL basses from this very special batch, a fretted & fretless, shown below. For my two personal basses I added the extra special specs of a buckeye burl top AND back, with flame maple as the center tone block.
It is also worth noting that these two basses had very early production TonePump circuits in them, along with EMG 40DC pickups. Stuart and I finalized our new TonePump circuit in 2002, visiting our friend at his shop in the Czech Republic where I played thru many prototype "breadboard" versions of his circuit until our ears settled on the specs.
In the mid 2010s I had our workshop update these basses with Spector/HAZ 9v circuits. #095 fretless currently has Seymour Duncan NYC pickups, and #101 has EMG 40J pickups. The bridges were also changed, to aluminum bridges with brass saddles and intonation screws. The original parts remain in each bass case. Both basses sound amazing!!!
The plan was to make only these five buckeye burl basses as a one-time offering. After a few decades of working with solid figured maple body wings, Stuart really liked the unique visual qualities of these buckeye burl topped basses. Seeing the variations of each buckeye burl top was super cool! This buckeye stump in particular had a great variance of colors including black, grey, brown, lighter sections which were maple-like in appearance, and even some green! We continued to offer buckeye burl over black walnut body wings as an option, adding other exotic top wood selections over time.
NS-5XL #095
Exotic Premium Buckeye Burl front and rear, Flame Maple center
2003
Exotic Premium Buckeye Burl front and rear, Flame Maple center
2003
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NS-5XL #095 was first of my two buckeye burl basses to be completed. It has a pau ferro unlined fretless fretboard and a high gloss finish. When this bass was updated, I added Dunlop Flatwound strings which really helps this bass sing.
NS-5XL #095 on my workbench. Note the body wing's flame maple center wood.
NS-5XL #101
Exotic Premium Buckeye Burl front and rear, Flame Maple center
2003
Exotic Premium Buckeye Burl front and rear, Flame Maple center
2003
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Originally we thought a high gloss finish was the best choice for these five buckeye burl topped basses. After discussing options with our finish guy at that time, we decided that a matte poly finish would also be OK. #095 had already received its high gloss finish, so we experimented with the matte poly finish on #101. After evaluating and approving #101's finish, matte poly became our standard finish, replacing our oil and wax finish. Bonus : matte poly finishes do not require the ongoing maintenance that oil and wax finishes require.
NS-5XL #101 on my workbench. Note the body wing's flame maple center wood.
NS-5XL Wide5 #413
Exotic Premium Walnut Burl over Reclaimed Redwood
2017
Exotic Premium Walnut Burl over Reclaimed Redwood
2017
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My concept for NS-5XL #413 was a bass with our Wide5 string spacing and 1.25" x 4.00" pickup routes so I could evaluate a variety of passive pickups. This bass served its purpose, I used it to check out many different pickup brands and models.
When built, the pickups in the bass were Aguilar Super Doubles, which are very powerful and full sounding. Currently its pickups are Nordstrand Big Blades with their "Warm and Wooly" voicing. In the near future I will install a set of my custom wound Bartolini pickups, and after that either the original Aguilar Super Doubles or their Super Split pickups.
The specs of this bass include exotic premium walnut burl (which I selected) over reclaimed redwood, ebony fretboard, gloss finish, 9v Spector/HAZ active tone controls, and gold hardware including an aluminum bridge. This bass is a joy to play!
When built, the pickups in the bass were Aguilar Super Doubles, which are very powerful and full sounding. Currently its pickups are Nordstrand Big Blades with their "Warm and Wooly" voicing. In the near future I will install a set of my custom wound Bartolini pickups, and after that either the original Aguilar Super Doubles or their Super Split pickups.
The specs of this bass include exotic premium walnut burl (which I selected) over reclaimed redwood, ebony fretboard, gloss finish, 9v Spector/HAZ active tone controls, and gold hardware including an aluminum bridge. This bass is a joy to play!
NS-5XL Wide5 #413 on my workbench
NS-5XL #417
Bahama Blue Gloss
Quilted Maple over Reclaimed Redwood, Chambered Body Wings
2017
Bahama Blue Gloss
Quilted Maple over Reclaimed Redwood, Chambered Body Wings
2017
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I spec'd this bass to be a lightweight five string with the look and tones of a set of P/J pickups. Also I wanted a Bahama Blue bass! To help achieve the lighter weight, the body wings are chambered and the bridge is made of aluminum. Lightweight reclaimed redwood was used for the back of the body wings. The result is a very special bass.
Fun Fact :
This bass was one of three personal NS-5XL basses I took to share with my friend Mikey Craig of Culture Club. This was his favorite sounding bass of the three! Below is one of my photos from that afternoon. My NS-5XL Prototype #002 can be spotted on the far right side.
Fun Fact :
This bass was one of three personal NS-5XL basses I took to share with my friend Mikey Craig of Culture Club. This was his favorite sounding bass of the three! Below is one of my photos from that afternoon. My NS-5XL Prototype #002 can be spotted on the far right side.
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NS-5XL #417 at the workshop
NS-5XL #430
Solid Old Growth Redwood
2018
Solid Old Growth Redwood
2018
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After falling in love with my NS-2 #1044 (shown on the NS-2 page), I selected another set of old growth redwood for a five string bass! I gave this bass similar specs to 'match' NS-2 #1044 including an ebony fretboard with abalone inlays, EMG active P/J (five string version) pickups, a Spector/HAZ 9v circuit, gold hardware (including a Spector aluminum bridge), and a clear gloss finish.
For this bass, all of the components were new.
The result was a lightweight and articulate 35" scale five string bass, with plenty of low end! Its tones are very unique,
unlike any other NS-5XL I have played or owned. It has great articulation and does not have as much boomy low end compared to a typical NS-5XL.
This is one of only four basses we built with *solid* old growth redwood body wings. I am fortunate to have two of these!
For this bass, all of the components were new.
The result was a lightweight and articulate 35" scale five string bass, with plenty of low end! Its tones are very unique,
unlike any other NS-5XL I have played or owned. It has great articulation and does not have as much boomy low end compared to a typical NS-5XL.
This is one of only four basses we built with *solid* old growth redwood body wings. I am fortunate to have two of these!
NS-5XL #430 at the workshop during its set-up and final assembly
