Music Man sound and pickups

[mcnach]

Originally Posted by mtandrews

I have a two different 3 band preamps in two of my OLPs. Both are copper shielded and have GHS round Bass Boomers.

this one has the Seymour Duncan Basslines pickup and preamp setup. Also has the "Slap Switch" which I rarely use.

this one has the Tone Monster 3 band preamp and I also added a Kent Armstrong pickup. Added a 3 way switch for Series, Parallel, and Phase Inversion. It's also ceramic.

This one sounds exactly like my buddies EBMM. I don't know the year but it's a real Stingray.

Though I'm waiting on my new SUB to arrive I don't see me getting rid of either of these.

I like some OLPs a lot. I owned four in total, three at the same time. I now own a Stingray an one of the original USA SUBs, from 2003. I still kept one of the OLPs.

[mastaihei]

My stingray copy model w/ lanepoor ,john-east BTB MMSR preamp and original capacitor varitone switch.

But 4years ago, I noticed the pup position is different from original 5mm neck side....

[bassdude51]

Sorry for my "dum dum" comment on Rays and their sound and mods...............but for me, stringing a 'Ray with flats really rounds off annoying "clank", mellows out aggressive sound and tone and I get a very nice "bark" and/or "burp" type sound/tone. As an example, coming close to the, ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST bass line kind of sound.

Going flats is a cheap and easy mod for a 'Ray.

Having 2 'Rays, one with rounds and one with flats is a good way to go, IMHO.

[bassdude51]

I've read through most of the posts to this thread and it's very fun, enjoyable and informative.

One thought came to mind. Larry Pollock of Aero Instruments Pickups makes a replacement pickup for SR4s with slightly different magnet pole spacing. The reason why? It corrects the flaw in all SR4s in that the strings do not pass dead center over the poles. Especially, the E & G strings which many times just nick over the edge of the magnets.

With all of the many little improvements Sterling Ball and his team have made on the 'Ray over the years, why has neither the bridge nor pickup been modified for correct string to magnet placement?

Anyone try out the Aeros?

Any comments on the bad centering of strings over poles on Stingrays?

[Stax63]

Wow, great thread guys and thank you for posting. So I brought home my brand new MM Stingray 4H last night with trepidation as I have an American 1981 P-Bass Elite II with 4 Active EMG pickups and was not sure what to expect. The P-bass weighs about twice as much as my new MM. So I was initially underwhelmed with the weight of the MM, but when I plugged it in to my Ashdown EVOIII 900, even at low volume...it blew my mind! Especially considering that neither my P-Bass or my American Fender Jazz Standard come anywhere to producing the same tone and warmth. So now, considering how solid my P-Bass is, do I upgrade the electronics? Do I mess with a classic? I want to see what the P-Bass can sound like with modern electronics?

[Steve Dallman]

I built a parts bass, using a very lightweight Silvertone P body, a cheap Eden neck, OLP bridge and control plate, cheap $14 MM pickup with 4 conductor wiring, and an Artec three band preamp with mid sweep. It turned out fantastic, even though I only had around $100 into it. I rarely use the series wiring (I put in a switch), and usually run the bass and treble all the way up, and vary the midrange a lot. Huge thump, punch and presence, and despite my many basses being much higher quality, it is the best sounding bass I have...and it's really light. I built it as a "last set of the night" bass as it is 6 or 7 lbs lighter than my Variax 5 string was (before I chambered it.) My main bass, my Variax, was sidelined for almost a year when it got busted up in a truck accident. I don't know how close it is to any MM, but I love this bass. I have straightened the pickup and changed to a black pickguard.

I built an original type 2 band MM preamp for a friend's OLP. The results were excellent. It now has great presence and bottom end, and the treble has great range and effect, from subtle, to to bright, to obnoxious...if necessary.

[Modern Growl]

I just wanted to quickly chime in on my experience with the SGD 2-Band Music Man style Preamp (based on the Pre-Ernie Ball 76 Stingray Preamp). One word - Great!

I was on the hunt for an "authentic" Pre-EB 2-Band Preamp, and while there's a few choices out there, my research (and conversations with Dave, owner of SGD) lead me to check his out above the rest.

My research came from this site:
http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/town8019...ompage0019.htm

Based on the photo's of true Pre-EB preamps - SGD's looks like an exact match. Board, Chip, etc... all almost identical.

Photo of 1979 Stingray Preamp:







Photo of SGD's 2-Band Preamp:


As you can see, SGD's Preamp looks almost identical, following the same PC board design, and using the same LM4250CN chip like the original.

Tone: It sounds amazing! Compared to the EBMM 3-Band the bass control is wider, fater, and extends deeper. The treble is wider as well... and doesn't have that upper-midrange "clicky" sound. It's Overall warmer, fatter and less hyped up treble. Very "vintage" voiced and organic sounding.

While I never owned a Pre-EB Stingray, I did own for a short while a Stingray "Classic" which comes with the 2-Band Preamp (which is also based on the original LM4250CN chip design). SGD's sounds identical.

Props to Dave at SGD - great guy to work with and great Preamp - love it!

**Also FWIW - Because I have a newer 3-Band Stingray, I had a 4th hole to fill... I decided to put a in a tone control that is also a series/parallel push-pull pot.
**Note - I have the Nordstrand MM4.2 which is a 4 conductor pickup which makes this wiring possible.

The price is right, and the tone is amazing. Highly recommended!

For more info on SGD's preamp, click here

Thanks Dave!!!!

[chumbo73]

I have a SBMM Ray34 and do you think a set of Bass Lines pickups may improve my sound keeping the tone?

What preamp do yo recommend for this bass?

[tylerwylie]

Originally Posted by chumbo73

I have a SBMM Ray34 and do you think a set of Bass Lines pickups may improve my sound keeping the tone?

What preamp do yo recommend for this bass?

It seems most people prefer the Nordstrand pickup. The preamp from Seymour Duncan can work but the John East is awesome too.

[mcnach]

Originally Posted by bassdude51

Any comments on the bad centering of strings over poles on Stingrays?

it makes no difference to the sound, but if it bothers someone aesthetically, I guess a variation would be good... although it'd better be a great pickup.

You can have a string passing quite off-center and it will make no difference at all. That's why you can bend strings on bass or guitar and still sound good.

[raynoslo]

I recently bought a ray 34 because I used to play stingrays, but I couldn't afford one this time around. I love it except for the new pickup design. My thumb placement tends to feel lost while playing. Can the new style pickup cover be swapped out for the old design? I found a replacement cover on ebay for ten bucks. Has any one tried this? Will it fit the new style pickup?

[BlueTalon]

Informative thread. Since this thread is ostensibly about MM pickups rather than MM basses per se, I have a couple of questions.

I am putting together a bass using a Warmoth J body routed for two MM pickups. The plan is to put a SD Bassline alnico pickup in the neck slot, and a Bassline ceramic pup in the bridge position. Any thoughts on the combination? Or guesstimates about what it will sound like?

Also, my original intent was to wire it passive, but after reading through the thread, I am reconsidering. Am I correct in understanding that the pickups I was intending to use passively can simply be wired with a preamp to make them active? I'm a little confused by the term "active pickups", it seems to indicate that some pickups are designed to be used in an active circuit, and others are not.

Comments? Suggestions?

[IronLung1986]

i was just thinking the other day about the relatively small number of people who replace the stock EBMM pickups/electronics with aftermarket stuff. i could be wrong but it seems like Music Man owners rarely change those things, whereas i'm always seeing threads on which aftermarket stuff to use in your warwick, fender, or whatever else. i know Sterling Ball himself tend to discourage modding, but people would still do it if they felt it would significantly improve their bass. i think it's admirable that EBMM's proprietary stuff holds its own against the boutique options.

[MrRockne78]

Any advice or known resources would be highly appreciated. I have a 1977 Music Man Stingray that is all original except for the preamp, which dates from the '90's. My repair man has new-old stock of a few pre-amps dated to around my 77 bass. The problem is, neither of know a fair price for the little epoxy coated wonder. So far, we've both agreed that twice the value of a standard Ernie Ball preamp would be fair. Any ideas? Thanks!

Patrick

[MrRockne78]

Originally Posted by MrRockne78

Any advice or known resources would be highly appreciated. I have a 1977 Music Man Stingray that is all original except for the preamp, which dates from the '90's. My repair man has new-old stock of a few pre-amps dated to around my 77 bass. The problem is, neither of know a fair price for the little epoxy coated wonder. So far, we've both agreed that twice the value of a standard Ernie Ball preamp would be fair. Any ideas? Thanks!

Patrick

Hey everyone,

Great thread. Lots of good info I intend to research. My problem is that I own an excellent 1977 stingray, although it has '90's pre and pots. My set up guy has a few 1976 stingray pres that he is willing to install except neither of has an idea of the $ value. It looks his suggestion is to value it at 2x the value of a new stock stingray preamp. Any opinions/suggestions? Thanks.

[basswave]

Originally Posted by MrRockne78

Hey everyone,

Great thread. Lots of good info I intend to research. My problem is that I own an excellent 1977 stingray, although it has '90's pre and pots. My set up guy has a few 1976 stingray pres that he is willing to install except neither of has an idea of the $ value. It looks his suggestion is to value it at 2x the value of a new stock stingray preamp. Any opinions/suggestions? Thanks.

Your best bet is on the EBMM forums.
They folks over there are more fanatical (I don't mean that in bad way) about the original parts. I'm not sure about twice as much, but I would most certainly look over there.

[Steve Dallman]

I'd like to comment on something said early in this thread. the tone circuit in an Ampeg's does not have the inherent mid scoop that a Fender, Vox or Marshall has. the passive tone stack used by those companies are quite similar and DO have an inherent mid cut. To achieve "flat" response with a Fender, indeed treble and bass have to be set at near 0 and mid has to be cranked. Ampeg's tone circuit is far different. The bass and treble controls, though they be passive, are Baxandall controls, and they do act as active boost and cut controls, as opposed to Fender, Vox and Marshall's cut only controls. The controls in an Ampeg's are not interactive as the others are. Straight up with Baxandall controls is flat. The mid control is a separate circuit and is a true active boost and cut circuit. Center is also flat. There are other companies that use Baxandall controls, such as Carvin's guitar amps, although the midrange is not like Ampeg's's and is far less effective.

[Not yet]

So it may be seen as a crime against humanity, and for those feeling that way no need to reply

Have a B00 1977 bought new and never play because it's not my sound... Plays great and totally broken in but never use because I'm a P sound player

Is there a replacement PU that gets close? Put in a 3 coil Bartolini in the 90s, but that doesn't work for me either

Keeping the bass for nostalgia, but would really like to use it again....

[1bassleft]

Quote: Originally Posted by NatalyPlaysBass
How often does one come across someone who was willing to sell their Music Man Stingray pickup? Ever happen?

I've never seen it...
__________________

I have a 5-string pup with the triple coil, bought from a guy in Hawaii and shipped to me in England, awaiting my "taking forever" lefty self-build. Interestingly, a whole slew recently came up on the 'bay over here. A pair of 5ers (twin coils) went for around £30/$50 each and a couple of fours went higher, about £50 each.

Back to OLP, I bought a righty MM3 5-string with dud electronics (only the pup and 1 vol working) for my son. Not wanting to donate my genyooine, I got a Warman; mostly because my chum Jimmy Lloyd Rea recommended them, for the price of a decent set of strings.

The Warman, a series/single/para switch and an EMG BTC makes it a smoker... way above the OLP as stock, and I haven't replaced the old strings yet. The weakest part is probably the BTC (a freebie from the parts bag) but the bass boost/cut is pretty useful and it all squeezed in without routing.

[Session1969]

Originally Posted by MrRockne78

Hey everyone,

Great thread. Lots of good info I intend to research. My problem is that I own an excellent 1977 stingray, although it has '90's pre and pots. My set up guy has a few 1976 stingray pres that he is willing to install except neither of has an idea of the $ value. It looks his suggestion is to value it at 2x the value of a new stock stingray preamp. Any opinions/suggestions? Thanks.

I just bought an '05 with an authentic 1980 preamp and Nordy Pup. The seller, Bassman28 mentioned in his ad that they go for 2-300 when they pop up on ebay. I've only had it a couple days and it sounds very good.