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Takin' It to the House: | High-Flying Success with Low Notes | Luthier: Rob Allen of Rob Allen Guitars

Stuart Spector - High-Flying Success with Low Notes

by Lane Baldwin

You can stop with the disparaging banjo jokes right now. Because, if it weren't for a banjo, Stuart Spector would never have taken up the fine art of bass building.

Above all else, Stuart is a survivor, with more lives than an alley cat, and more heart than a cardio ward. To see his current success in rebuilding his company is very gratifying for me personally, as I have been loosely involved with his company for more than a decade. In September of this year, I was added to their long list of endorsers. I only bring this up so you won't think I'm hiding anything.

Stuart's career as a Master luthier began in 1974 after learning that a friend's vintage banjo had a new replacement neck built by Kit Stewart (of Stewart-MacDonald fame). It wasn't long before Spector bolted a workbench to the wall of his room in a communal house and purchased a truckload of tools. Not knowing a thing about woodworking, he was fortunate to meet Billy Thomas, a third-generation woodworker. A musician himself, Thomas took an interest in Stuart's work and agreed to teach him about woodworking. "I really owe a lot to Billy," said Spector during a series of interviews for this article. "He's been one of my best friends for thirty years…"

Stuart credits Billy with teaching him to run the myriad of power tools without losing any fingers. "I knew I could learn the right way to do things from him," Spector said laughing. "I mean, of all the members of his family are involved in woodworking, not one had a missing finger. That was a really good sign."

The first bass Stuart ever built was a fretless out of practicality. "I didn't have to figure out where to put the frets," he said, only half-joking. It also featured a paduak/mahogany body, hand carved ebony bridge and brass tailpiece. The custom pickup was built using a sewing machine motor to wrap the windings. "It didn't sound great, but it worked, and that was enough for the moment," Spector said.

He soon sold one of his early basses to Gracin and Towne Music on legendary 48th Street in New York City. Encouraged by his early success he formed a partnership with master woodworker Alan Cheney and opened shop in the newly formed Brooklyn Woodworking Cooperative. His very first full time employee was a young beginning luthier named Vinnie Fodera, one of many who got their start working with Spector.

Another future major name in the bass world was working as a furniture maker when he met Spector. Stuart and some friends visited a closing manufacturer to bid on used woodworking equipment. In addition to some good equipment finds, Spector also found Ned Steinberger who, with the demise of his former employer, moved into the Brooklyn Co-op. Fascinated by Spector's work, Ned asked to design a bass body. Stuart quickly agreed and a week later Steinberger delivered the prototype of the NS design that the company continues to build to this day.

1977 saw the introduction of the NS to the public. The fact that so many pros quickly adopted the bass was immensely helpful to the small company, which grew rapidly, gaining many converts thanks to their instrument's signature tone and comfortable body design. After building his company into one of the most respected suppliers of quality basses, Stuart sold it Kramer in 1985. Unfortunately, Kramer went bankrupt five years later and Spector basses disappeared from the walls of music stores around the world. It was a real blow to Stuart and he quickly set about getting the rights to his designs and company name so that he could bring his babies back to market.

He finally secured the rights to his original designs, but the rights to the name remained in legal limbo. To get around this problem, Stuart used the moniker Stuart Spector Designs and an SSD logo. (It was during this time frame that I commissioned the Thunder Bass, an NS-6P custom.) Soon, the original NS design was back in stores and Spector was on his way back into the limelight.

True to his roots, Stuart has an easy-going attitude about his success and the challenges he has faced over the years. The fight to regain the rights to the company's original name took more than six years. "I was very lucky to prevail in that," he said, "and I want to thank Howard Walter - one of the last investors in Kramer - for his help and generosity in making it possible."

One of Stuart's goals this time around was to offer more basses per year, and for a more affordable price. On the other hand, he didn't want to sacrifice the quality that had made his instruments so popular. The answer was to keep the original US shop intact as-is, and set up production facilities in other parts of the world. Spector now boasts several lines of instruments made in the US, Korea, China and the Czech Republic.

The Czech neck-through design is very similar to its more-expensive US brother, yet costs about half as much. Part of the savings is due to decreased labor costs, and the Euro basses use a slightly lower grade of USA figured maple. The electronics are slightly different (Spector Tone Pump preamp circuit) and the pickups are still USA EMG. Both neck-thru and bolt-on versions of the original NS shape are available in the handmade USA Series and Europe Series.

The Korean made Professional Series and Chinese made Performance Series basses have even more affordable price points, and incorporate some of the same features as their USA and European counterparts.

Stuart keeps a close eye on the international operations while still running the USA workshop, working with his top craftsman handcrafting a limited number of USA basses. Asked about the transition from boutique builder to what he calls an international mom-and-pop shop, Stuart said "it's been such a long and gradual build that it seems like just going in every day to make the donuts."

At the other end of the spectrum, the company continues to turn out high-end custom work. One of the rarest basses on the planet is their NS-30K BC Mastodon bass. Constructed out of 32,000 year-old wood salvaged from under 40 feet of sand in a Georgia quarry. "It was difficult working with the wood," said Spector, "as it was very dry and a bit brittle. We had enough of it available that if we toasted the first attempt we could try again."

No toasting occurred and the Mastodon is an example of elegant understatement (http://www.spectorbass.com/NewFiles/32kbass.html). Accented by Stuart's signature gold hardware, the bass features a single neck inlay - a highly-detailed carving of the bass's namesake created by master inlay artist, Larry Robinson. The remainder of the ancient wood is hidden deep within the Spector vaults and there are currently no plans to build a companion, truly making the bass a one-of-a-kind instrument.

Stuart credits much of his success to working with close friends who share his love of crafting fine instruments. One such friend is PJ Rubal, whom Spector met during the "Kramer Era." In fact, Stuart gives much of the credit for the successful expansion to PJ. "He's done an incredible job," Spector said. "He really has been indispensable."

Now National Products Manager and head of Artist Relations, PJ helps the company continue to deliver the "best possible instruments, store support and customer service," he said. "It's been great to be a part of such a wonderful team."

Stuart isn't just sitting on his laurels. Currently, he and his crew are hard at work perfecting the new line of Spector electric guitars. The full model range will be debuted at the 2005 Winter NAMM (North American Music Merchants) show in Anaheim, CA. On the bass side, he continues to experiment with different woods and materials "to see what sort of sound we can get them to make," he said. "Of course, this part of the work is the most fun of all."

One result of this tinkering is a new limited edition featuring water-cured redwood burl. The wood, immersed in streams 75-100 years ago, has been washed of resin and impregnated with minerals in its place, giving the wood its unique color and density. Water immersion curing has been used for centuries in Europe as the preferred method of preparing wood for high-end violins but Spector's wood has been cured naturally. The "buckeye" burl redwood is mated to Black Walnut; the combination gives these basses a lighter weight and stunning visual appeal.

Even with so much going with the company, Spector still finds time to actually play his basses once or twice a month with the band, Crawdaddy. You'll find them tearing down the house in bars and clubs around the Woodstock/ Saugerties area, playing a wide range of "music we love," Stuart said. Covering everything from Motown and New Orleans R&B, to Duke Ellington, the band gives him the opportunity to forget the business side of life, and even the building he loves so much. Smiling, he said, "Sometimes you just want to have fun. And there's nothing better for me than to take one of my own basses out and play some big, fat Low Notes."

Do yourself a favor if you meet him, however. Don't ask him to play the banjo.

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Lane Baldwin is a working bassist and teacher located in Colorado. He is also the proud owner of two outstanding custom basses, and is currently discussing his third custom with PJ. Learn more about Lane and see pictures of his Spector by visiting www.laneonbass.com.

Author's note: Many thanks to PJ Rubal for spending so much time helping to coordinate interviews with Stuart. No matter how busy he was, PJ always came through and it's greatly appreciated.