Spector USA Forte 4 Bass Black, 2015 (No Longer Available)

The Spector USA Forte 4 bass brings back the early highly innovative Spector basses seen at The Twelfth Fret and in the hands of many pro players in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Stuart Spector began building basses with Alan Charney about the same time as The Twelfth Fret, and soon connected with Ned Steinberger – all members of the Brooklyn Woodworker’s Co-op. Steinberger, fresh from a furniture design course, took Spector’s neck-through construction and added a unique and very comfortable curved body. That curved body became one of the hallmarks of Spector designs.

Spector rapidly expanded, filling gaps with contracts like producing necks for sale by DiMarzio. In 1983 a white Spector NS-2 bass was purchased and used by Sting on The Police Synchronicity world tour. Sales increased and in 1985, Spector sold the company to Kramer Guitars and everything moved to New Jersey, with basses also being produced in Korea. Unfortunately, Kramer folded just five years later and Spector production ceased in 1990. After two years, Stuart Spector launched a new firm in Woodstock NY. bought back the Spector rights in 1998 and restarted production. Korg USA became the distributor in 2015 and in 2019 bought the company.

Here we’re looking at a Spector USA Forte 4 bass, signed on the back of the head by Stuart Spector and dated 3/6/15 at Woodstock, NY. It features Spector’s neck-through construction and the distinctly elegant, very comfortable curved body designed by Steinberger. The neck is Maple, with Pau Ferro for the fingerboard, and the body ‘wings’ are North American Swamp Ash. It is in very good condition with only very light wear. The pickups are custom built by Aguilar and are connected to controls for Master Volume, Pickup Balance, Bass, and Treble. An Aguilar OBP-1 active boost, powered by a single 9v battery is also installed to a concentric pot.

This instrument is sold with the original hard shell case.

More From The Builder On The Spector USA Forte 4 and others in the series: 

“The sleek Forte Series represents the essence of the classic Spector design. Each Forte body is handcrafted from select North American Swamp Ash, a tone wood that is revered for its lightweight and resonance. The Swamp Ash body wings are paired with a 3-piece North American Maple neck and 24 fret Pau Ferro fingerboard. This recipe of Maple & Pau Ferro goes back to the early days of Spector and is proven to provide excellent note definition and clarity. When it comes to pickups and electronics, players can choose from a wide variety of products from EMG, Aguilar & Darkglass. Each of these companies offers an array of pickups & preamps that are suitable for players of all genres. As for hardware, each Forte instrument features our lightweight locking bridge for solid, long lasting intonation, high-precision tuners and Dunlop strap locks. Forte instruments provide rich, organic tones with plenty of growl on tap.”

Here is Aguilar on the OBP-1 Preamp used in this Spector USA Forte 4:

“The OBP-1’s boost-only design gives you the tone shaping benefits of active electronics without losing the inherent sound of the instrument. The OBP-1’s discrete, all-FET circuitry features up to 18dB of boost at 40Hz and 4kHz, creating a sonic environment high in dynamic headroom and low in noise.”