New Gear Day: Soldano and Spector (56k: Use your cell phone)

[bulb]

So i managed to get this stuff by trading some gear at the local used instrument store. My first acquisition is this little beast here, i know i really dont need another amp, but i traded a bunch of stuff i NEVER used for it, and its a really fun and different amp.

To be honest, i was never thrown aback by a soldano until i tried this one on a whim at atomic. Its voiced different from the ones i have tried, its like the perfect rock amp, great clear mids with a lot of harmonic content, nice musical gain which you can easily prevent from getting oversaturated by keeping it closer to 12:00 and its very pedal friendly as well! And of course it opens up very nicely when you turn it up and is pretty damn loud! Stick a tubescreamer in front and it even djents nicely!
Its a one channel amp, but if you roll back the volume it cleans up surprisingly well, not that i think i could ever use this live with periphery, but i swear this amp makes me want to play in a rock band, and i would just plug straight in.

The next acquisition is something that i almost missed. As soon as i was done with the transaction for the amp i noticed this sitting on the counter:

and i thought "hmm that looks a little small for a bass case"
so i asked the guys there if i could open it up, and this is what i saw:

Apparently Spector DOES make guitars, but this was the first time i had ever seen one. It was a NAMM showpiece that someone had sold to atomic, and it was up for grabs. I ended up trading my Les Paul Gary Moore sig for it, which i personally think was a worthwhile trade, especially since i fell in love with the way the Spector played and sounded.

The top is Spalted Maple and im guessing the neck and fretboard are some sort of highly figured rosewood unless you guys can tell from the pics and the body looks like mahogany.
As far as the pickups go, Spector calls them "Z-90", and they sound like p-90's but fit into a humbucker slot, i think i will probably replace the bridge with a Bareknuckle so i can use this guitar with Periphery (need to figure out if the Nailbomb or Warpig is the right pup for me).

Here is a clip of the two together, jamming on some "all new materials"
YouTube - Bulb Playing "All New Materials"

 

[Zach]

nice

 

[BadHorsie]

Awesome score with the Soldano! They're like works of art.


(that sound killer!)

 

[Telephant]

Ive never heard of that Soldano.

 

[noseminer]

im gonna go out on a limb and say the neck is cocobolo

 

[bulb]

Ive never heard of that Soldano.

apparently they are pretty rare! i dont care much about that though, they sound phenomenal imo!

 

[bulb]

im gonna go out on a limb and say the neck is cocobolo

i checked the website, and it is infact rosewood, but i think those woods are "related" if thats the right word?

 

[Mudder]

Those Z-90 pickups are made my Harmonic Design, and get used in US Hamers like the Talledega, nice pickups. If that's a US Spector then that's a great guitar. They do offer the same model MIK, but different electronics/pickups.

Nice acquisitions, both.

 

[bulb]

Those Z-90 pickups are made my Harmonic Design, and get used in US Hamers like the Talledega, nice pickups. If that's a US Spector then that's a great guitar. They do offer the same model MIK, but different electronics/pickups.

Nice acquisitions, both.

yeah its a usa guitar, its the arc6rw
and im definitely digging it!

 

[fearhk213]

Killer axe! You gotta love spalt tops

 

[jcj]

Ive never heard of that Soldano.

It's an older MIJ (I believe), one channel, two input SLO type circuit, without the Deyoungs. They didn't make too many of them.

 

[glpg80]

the knobs are that of cheap fenders..

my 5150 EVH model i bought off egay had knobs like that on it. original owner tried to redneck them on there for some reason.

god i hate those types of chickenhead knobs. annoying.

nice score though. wish you had pics of the gibb you traded in. im a huge gary moore fan

 

[bravedude2]

great guitar !
the soldano was a cool score as well.

 

[Code001]

A spalted (moldy wood) maple top guitar - and a Japanese Soldano... I'd go get my GM Les Paul back!

Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:25 pm

 

[thiswaythatway]

I wonder how these Spector guitars are related to the ones that were made in the Kramer factory. Spectors back in the late 80's and early 90's were made in Neptune NJ, at the Kramer plant. And when i was there, 1990, they were the ONLY guitars made 100% in the Neptune plant. And only a few guys made them. They didn't make many of the guitars, and from what i remember they looked a lot like this guitar.

Then, i remember they did come out some Spector import models. I remember the easy way to tell if it was imported was black hardware, and an overall cheaper look.

I had no idea that Spector continued making guitars. But damm, anyway you can get the Gary Moore back? They're worth a lot now. I almost bought one a few years ago for $1400, and I've since seen the prices for them shoot through the roof.

 

[Szar]

WANT.