It looks as if 2016 will be the year of the Spector Bass.
The company ended 2015 with a bang by way of their win-win marketing distribution partnership with Korg, so things are only looking up from here, according to Stuart Spector. “We were looking for a new North American distributor,” Spector recalls. “Late, last year, we started discussing this. Shortly after NAMM we worked out the parameters of an agreement to work together. It’s a tremendous boon for both companies in that KORG did not have a bass guitar line to compliment the Ashdown bass amps that they’re selling. We needed assistance with servicing a wider range of dealers with our imported instruments.” Spector imported instruments are made both in the Czech Republic and in South Korea, and these are the products that Korg will be distributing. Spector will continue to sell their USA-handmade instruments direct to dealers, which are made in their woodshop in Woodstock, NY.
In conjunction with the announcement of the news, Korg launched a creative rebranding project which resulted in the release of several new Bass models, new variations, uncluding new finishes to Spector’s Legend and Coda lines, as well as extended pickup options. “Spector basses are built for a lifetime and deserving of the highest level of sales and marketing support dealers have come expect from Korg USA,” says Brian Piccolo, Korg’s director of guitar brands. “As a partner in product development we are thrilled to help bring these new products to market.” The new bass models premiered in early October of last year, the CodaP4 Pro and the CodaPJ 4 Pro. The CodaP 4Pros features a solid alder body with a figured maple top. The CodaPJ 4 Pro was designed with working bassists in mind and offers a palette of both classic & modern tones. Adorned with a high gloss black finish, the CodaPJ 4 Pro features custom-wound Spector pickups. Both models come equipped with a pickguard, a newly designed Spector split-coil pickup, and Spector exclusive TonePump Jr circuit.
Spector believes a few things set a Spector bass apart from any other bass on the market. “Thanks to a brilliant design and his first design for the music industry by my friend Ned Steinberger, back in 1977,” says Spector. “We were the first bass with a multi-curved ergonomically curved body that fits perfectly from the instrument body to the human torso for playing. That feature provides an incredibly comfortable instrument. Through the years, we have tweaked every detail of the instrument, both on the USA and with our offshore products.”
And though Spector notes the company has tweaked the instrument slightly over the years, he firmly believes in the continuity and legacy of the Spector bass. “Any instrument such as our curved body basses that you can produce with very slight variations except for improvements in performance for 40 years has to be a classic,” comments Spector. “We are deeply honored to be participating in producing something like that. One of the rare opportunities that manufacturing musical instruments presents is the opportunity to produce a product that is not disposable – that is so durable that you can play it for all of your life, pass it on to your children and their children – and in an age of disposable products, that’s an incredible privilege to be able to work in that sort of realm.”
In 2016, Spector has a lot of new things planned. “2014 was okay, but 2015 even with Korg just starting to work with us, has been a significant leg up in terms of having the help of their incredible marketing department and sales and customer service, which is at a level that with the small company that we are here in Woodstock, we could not begin to provide that to our customers,” Spector says. “So there’s a huge benefit for everybody in something that is really helping to move the brand ahead in a big way… We will be producing for this year only 40th anniversary instruments with a special inlay at the 12th fret commemorating this, which will be available in all three series – the U.S., the Czech Republic, and the South Korean models. We’ve had a chance to expand a range of finishes and some of the existing products.”
Spector is very excited to start offering some USA electric guitars. The new Kenmair carved top electric guitar uses wood sourced from NYC – reclaimed redwood from water tanks that have been on top of NYC buildings for 70-80 years. “We’ve made this into a really wonderful, responsive electric guitar, which we are just starting to produce in the U.S and which there will most likely be a Czech Republic version of in the Spring,” says Spector.
There will also be some new basses, which will debut at NAMM. “We are truly excited about being able to participate in the NAMM show in conjunction with Korg; we will be exhibiting at the Korg booth,” comments Spector. “We’ll have our USA stuff and our Czech and Korean instruments there. Also just having a little 40th anniversary BBQ celebration after the show in the neighborhood and seeing all of the great people we have worked with over the years and continue to work with, which is always one of the joys of NAMM, that we get to see our friends from not only all over the country, but all over the world.”
