Spector Bantam 4 Review

What a SWEET Bass!

I have played and owned some of the most respected basses on the market. I became interested in trying a shorter neck because of hand and shoulder fatigue. I had never really heard of Spector until I started searching around for short scale basses. Found this Bantam and it seemed like it was just what I was looking for so I ordered it. WOW am I impressed. The feel, The look, and… read more tone of this guitar is as good as any bass I have ever played. The neck is wonderful and extremely easy to play! GREAT JOB SPECTOR!

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Spector Bantam Bass (Black Gloss)

I purchased a Cherry Red Bantam several months ago and am incredibly happy with it. My comments about it are copied below. I love it so much that I purchased another one, this time in black! And this time I followed my Sales Engineers advice and had this one plekked. WOW!!! I'm sending the Red one back to Sweetwater to have it Plekked this week! The Plek job and set-up… read more on the black Bantam is like adding a secret sauce to an already incredible recipe! The Bantams are great basses. After they're plekked and set-up by Sweetwater they become incredible basses. The additional aspects in playability, tone, consistency across the neck, harmonics and the ease of tapping is amazing! Now that I have two Bantams, both Plekked and set-up to perfection, I should be set for basses now... but that white one is starting to look really good! If you want a great, easy to play incredible sounding bass that facilitates all styles and techniques, you owe it to yourself to check out a Spector Bantam! And take Robert's advice... get it Plekked! Get all your basses Plekked! My Original Comments on my first Red Bantam are copied Below: The Spector Bantam Bass is the first 30" scale bass that is an actual modern high end bass with all the features you expect from any high end Spector or other premium brand bass manufacturer. It starts with the legendry NS2 carved body design with a gorgeous figured maple high gloss top, a full 22 fret neck that is beautifully finished with just the right amount of slick for working your way up and down the substantial but comfortable neck and fret board. Add to that almost perfect balance due in part to the chambered body, maple top, perfectly proportioned neck for this light 7-8 lb. bass that resonates wonderfully on it's own. The physical structure and components of the bass are well engineered and executed. It's just a very easy to play Spector NS2 style bass. To bring this wonderful bass to life Spector installed two EMG active pick-ups along with an EMG 2 band EQ active pre-amp that is perfectly voiced to offer a full range of sounds from aggressive rock to great slap and tap and the depth to pour your soul out on! The bridge is the nice Spector locked bridge that works great along with the graphite nut. My only upgrade was to change out the stock Gotoh tuners for the Gotoh Res-O-Lite GB 350 tuners Spector uses on their USA models. A perfect up grade for this bass! Unlike most every other short scale bass on the market that gives you maybe a 19 fret neck, tubby sounds, poor ergonomics and playability, the Spector Bantam is a True Professional Players Bass! I love my first Cherry Bantam so much I just received another one in Black Gloss! If you want a true professional 30" scale bass that plays and sounds like a real high end boutique bass, Get a Spector Bantam! I've played short scale instruments since my first Alembic Series ll Stanley Clarke model back in the early 80's and am spoiled by the scale length. The Spector Bantam gives you the next best thing to Stanley's Alembic at a fraction of the cost, that far out classes any of the other short scale production basses on the market! They are OUTSTANDING BASSES! I also have to mention the beautiful finishes on the nicely figured maple tops. The black Bantam finish has traces of blues, browns, greys and blacks that accent the maple figuring nicely and really add a beautiful dimension to the aesthetics of the bass. Looking at the on-line photos I thought the new bass was grey and black... what a wonderful surprise! A beautiful multi-colored finish with custom flair! Awesome! The Spector Bantam, a 30" scale bass for the discerning professional bassist! Play one and it will change your possible misconceptions about what a great short scale bass is really about! Think about it... why does Stanley play a shorter scale instrument? For his whole career! Enough Said!

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Spector Bantam Bass

Fantastic bass. Beautiful, Great feel, balance, and most of all sound. Been thru 100s of basses and guitars. This is my new favorite.

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Outstanding Short Scale Bass

By far the best short scale bass I've owned/played, and I've had a bunch over the years. In fact, besides another Spector I just bought because this one is so good, this may well be the best bass, regardless of scale length, that I've ever owned. I've had many, many basses of all price points over the years, but never a Spector. I now see what I've been missing out on. This is an… read more absolutely top notch bass. I will say the neck is a bit chunkier than I'm used to on a short scale, but I've gotten used to it quickly (it was originally reported as 1.5 inch on the Spector website, but has now been updated to its true 1.65 inch). This bass plays very well, has all quality hardware, is constructed impeccably, and the black cherry finish is drop-dead gorgeous. Although I haven't really been a fan of active EMG pickups over the years, they work well here. In fact, they sound killer in a band setting and it's easy to change overall tones based on the room and style of music being played. I've already used this bass on everything from country/folk jams to classic rock to funk to Motown/soul to jazz fusion to Latin... sounded wonderful each time. This is the only active bass I've ever had over the years that I haven't had to crank the bass knob way up and back the treble way down. In fact, I generally cut the bass a touch with this bass. I've never had that happen! It's one of the few short scale basses I've had where I don't feel like I'm sacrificing something (generally sound) to get the easier playability of the short scale. I'd put it up against any bass regardless of scale length. With this bass around... my bass collection is populated with endangered species. I've barely touched any of them since getting this baby (besides my other new Spector). I don't see how anyone who prefers short scale basses would not love this thing!

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