At best, our import instrument serial numbers indicate year of production. They will not determine the exact month & day.

Additionally the serial number process has changed over the decades at our factories & is not straight forward. Also there are exceptions to any rule such as serial number dating.

Our Czech serial number info is as follows :

1993 thru 2000: serial numbers do not indicate year of production. Use our Czech Archived Import Model Sheet on our site & use the bass specs to determine the years of production.

Note: some early SSD Czech models may not have a serial number.

2001 is when our Czech model serial numbers started to indicate the year of production. On the back of the headstock you will find “NB” with digits following.

2001 – 2010
If there are four digits after the NB, you would add (1) to the first digit to determine the year.
Examples:
NB 0212 = 2001
NB 2517 = 2003
NB 9914 = 2010

2011-2012
Starting in 2011 there will be five digits after the NB and the rule is to add (1) to the second digit from the left.
Examples:
NB 10219 = 2011
NB 11543 = 2012

However this system does not apply to more “modern” NB serial numbers….they appear to be as follows:
NB 12xxx = 2013 thru 2014.
NB 13xxx = 2015 thru 2016.
NB 14xxx = 2017.
NB 15xxx = started late 2018.

Please refer to our Archived Import Model sheets located at the bottom of our Resources Page.

For Rosewood and Pau Ferro fingerboard, we recommend Dunlop Formula 65 01 & 02 Fingerboard Conditioner and Cleaner for our fingerboards. You can also use furniture-grade lemon oil to keep your fingerboard conditioned.

Maple fingerboards can be cleaned with Dunlop Formula 65 care products, or a similar guitar polish that is safe for matte & gloss finishes.

For Matte Poly Finishes (mid 2015 – current) do not use any cleaning products. Simply wipe with a clean cloth or cotton t-shirt.

For Matte Poly Finishes (2008-mid 2015) and Gloss Finishes, we recommend Dunlop Formula 65 care products.

For Oil Finished Spectors (before 2008*) Use a pure lemon oil such as Formby’s Penetrating Lemon Oil, to remove dirt, etc.
You can also use this product on the maple parts (body, neck). Use a quality clear paste wax on the maple parts (body, neck) only, NOT the fingerboard, to maintain the finish.

You need a SwitchCraft (brand or style) ‘stereo output jack’, aka ‘stereo panel jack’. Switchcraft part number is 152B, sometimes called CC-152-B.

These are available from places online such as allparts.com, mouser.com, & stew-mac.com.

Of course the bass is not stereo, the third lead turns the battery on when you plug the cable into the output jack.

For longest possible output jack life, use a cable with a 90 degree end for the bass side.

Yes!

Our Legend4 Classic & Legend5 Classic basses are available left handed in Black Cherry. These are usually in stock in the USA, with no lefty upcharge.

Additionally any of our Czech made basses (ReBop, Euro) can be special ordered left handed with an upcharge of +10% to the list price.

We make left handed NS Neck-Thru basses at our NY workshop (NS-4, NS-5XL, Forte4, Forte5, etc) with an upcharge +10% to the street price. Our USA Shop has additional USA Series ordering info.

Jim Eppard, our main set-up and assembly person at our NY workshop, shares some information on the Spector World website: www.spectorworld.com/setupprocedure.htm

We show these on our FaceBook Page, a photo album called “Wiring Diagrams.”

Custom instruments are only available on USA Series instruments. Each USA bass is handcrafted in Woodstock, NY from the finest materials. Some custom options are possible, some are not. Check the USA Shop, fill in the form to get your custom bass guitar started.

You can register your Spector by clicking the Product Registration link on our Support page.

Be sure to retain a copy of your sales receipt as proof of original purchase.

Our USA Series Basses come with a Limited Lifetime Warranty to the Original Owner.

Our Europe Series Basses come with a Limited Lifetime Warranty to the Original Owner.

Our Korean-made NS Series Basses come with a 5-Year Limited Warranty to the Original Owner.

Our Performer & Legend Standard Basses come with a 2-Year Limited Warranty to the Original Owner

Warranty applies to a New Spector purchased from an Authorized Spector Dealer and covers defects in workmanship.

Parts such as tuning keys, bridges, pickups, finish, etc. carry a 1-year Warranty against defects.

A copy of your original sales receipt is required with any warranty claim. Please work with your retailer for any warranty claims.

It depends on whom it was purchased from. If you purchase a “new” Spector from an authorized Spector dealer your purchase will qualify for a warranty (pending review of receipt).

If you purchase a “used” Spector, your purchase will not qualify for a warranty since the warranty only belongs to the original owner and is not transferable.

Any Spector purchased from a non-authorized Spector dealer will not qualify for a warranty.

Please visit our dealer locator:

Dealer Locator

Euro4LX basses are are true production versions of our USA NS-2. The same USA 3pc maple neck blanks, truss rods, graphite rods, etc are used with these basses.

The natural matte will always feel slightly thinner than the same bass with a gloss finish.

Euro4LX has our standard neck shape. It has our standard 1.64″ nut width.

Euro4LX Ian Hill has a slightly thinner neck profile, front to back. It is just a little different but still noticeable than our standard Euro4LX neck. It has our standard 1.64″ nut width. This neck was made from measuring one of Ian’s mid 80’s NS-2 bass necks.

Euro4LX Doug Wimbish has a narrow 1.50″ nut, and a special ‘soft V’ neck shape, copied from Doug’s original late 80’s unique NS-2 neck. This neck is not super thin front to back but is also very nice to play.

NS-2A was our first non USA made bass, produced in Korea 1987-1990 during the Spector/Kramer era. This was our Korean version of our very popular USA NS-2 and featured our original world famous curved body design (since 1977), 3pc maple neck, maple body wings, Spector P/J passive pickups designed for us by EMG, Spector NS-2A Korean active tone controls, rosewood fingerboard, 24 frets, dot markers. NS-2A’s came in limited colors. White, Black, Red, Teal, Sunburst.

Our EuroLX series started in 2004. The Body wings on a EuroLX series are made of USA Figured Maple Top half over European Alder Back half, with a slice of Walnut in between.

Our Euro series (prior to 2004) had solid Maple Body wings. Both models have a graphite reinforced 3 piece Rock-Maple neck and are Czech Republic made production models of our USA NS Neck-Thru Series basses.

ReBop4, ReBop5. (2002-2004) Dot Inlays. European Alder Body. ReBop4DLX, ReBop5DLX. (2004-2006) European Alder Body. Added MOP Spector Crown Inlays. ReBop4DLX-FM,ReBop5DLX-FM or EX (2007-Current) Added Flamed Maple(FM) or Zebra Wood(EX) tops to the European Alder Body.

All ReBop series models have a graphite reinforced 3 piece Rock-Maple bolt-on neck and are Czech Republic made.

Our Legend Series are made in Korea. Our same Korean factory since 1986. These have 3pc maple necks, Spector locking bridges, and Czech made Spector TonePump Jr active tone controls.

Our Performer Series are now made in Indonesia and were previously made in China.

Our Performer Series are our most affordable basses and are all passive (meaning the do not have Active Tone Circuits) have flat non-curved more traditional electric bass body shape, 1pc maple necks, and Performer bridges.

The “SS” Spector Logo at the top of the headstock will also usually look gold instead of white.

Our Legend Custom 4 & 5 String Models (2006-2010) had a Set-Neck, EMG HZ Passive Pickups and an EMG B-30 3-Band Active Tone Circuit. Our Legend Classic 4, 5 & 6 String Models (2006-Current) have Bolt-On necks and have our SSD Passive Pickups and a Tonepump Jr. Active Tone Circuit.

NS-2, NS-4, NS-5XL and NS-6XL are USA made neck-thru basses, the flagship of our USA Neck-Thru Series. These are handcrafted to order by Stuart Spector and his four employees at our famous NY workshop. Less than thirty instruments are completed each month. We have handcrafted USA instruments since the mid 1970s.

If you are looking for a bass handcrafted by Stuart and his crew we are happy to build you the Spector bass of your dreams.

Euro4LX, Euro5LX & Euro6LX basses are true production versions of our USA Neck-Thru Series basses. These are precision crafted at our Czech Republic factory since 1993 by a shop of approx 40 employees so there is still a lot of hands on craftsmanship.

We ship some of the same components to our Czech factory for these basses as used with our USA Neck-Thru basses, including: USA 3pc neck-thru maple neck blank, graphite stiffening rods that give additional neck strength, truss rod, EMG pickups, USA figured maple for the top of the body wings, and more.

Many of our artists happily tour the world with our EuroLX basses.

Our Europe Series Basses made between Jan 2003 to later 2008 had a Tonepump without an internal trim pot.

Our Europe Series made after late 2008-Current have a Tonepump with an internal trim pot.

A Tonepump with internal trim pot will allow you to adjust the overall output of your bass.

If your Pickups are labeled EMG only, they are Active Pickups.

If your Pickups are labeled EMG-HZ, they are Passive Pickups. If your Pickups are labeled SSD or EMG-SSD, they are Passive Pickups.

If your Pickups are labeled Spector, they are Passive Pickups.

If your bass has Aguilar Pickups, they are passive.

If your bass has Bartolini Pickups, they are passive.

Please note, even though the pickups may be passive, some models, may still have a battery inside the control cavity for the Active Tone Control/Preamp. Basses can be active via active tone controls and have passive pickups.