StingRay Ultra-mwah mod

Silent Fly · #1 02-24-2011, 09:33 AM

I recently purchased a second-hand StingRay fretless 2EQ and I really like it.

I think it has a more than a decent mwah but compared to a JB it is somehow different. It is more "liquid" and with less focus on the midrange.

Initially, I though that a different set of strings (I use D’Addario EXL220 on this bass) would have helped but I wasn’t entirely convinced by idea that different strings could lead to such a dramatic change.

I thought about the differences between JB and SR I found this simple solution that I think works great.

It is nothing innovative but it really opens up a total different set of sounds. It requires the drilling of a hole in the control plate for an on-off-on switch so if you have a pre-EB bass it might be a good idea buying a spare control plate to use for the mod.

Needless to say, the mod works equally well on fretted basses. I tried on my StingRay Classic and it makes it much more JB/Jaco sounding.

BassLife77 · #2 02-24-2011, 12:13 PM

I did something similar except I wired a rotary switch parallel to the input resistor and put caps from 10n to 100n on the switch. I get a high or mid boost depending on the cap selected. I see you have your caps wired to ground. for experimenting purposes I'll hook the rotary output wire to ground to hear what it sounds like

Silent Fly · #3 02-24-2011, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassLife77

(...) I wired a rotary switch parallel to the input resistor and put caps from 10n to 100n on the switch. (...)

I am little bit confused...

To which input resistor are you referring to?

BassLife77 · #4 02-24-2011, 01:09 PM

it's the 220K resistor after the input cap. I copied Leo Fender's design who put a bright switch with a 2n2 cap in parallel with the input resistor. instead of using a toggle switch I used a rotary. 2n2 is way too bright for bass so I used 10n to 100n

Silent Fly · #5 02-24-2011, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassLife77

it's the 220K resistor after the input cap. (...)

I suspected it was the 220k resistor but I wasn't sure.

I am pretty sure that the effect of your mod is very different from the ultra-mwah mod.

If you try the rotary switch in the position I suggest I would be interested to know what you think about it.

LowB-ing · #6 02-25-2011, 07:07 AM

I've had a setup like variation 1 for about a year on my SUB5. Basically a tone control that you can set to full on, halfway on, or full off.

I also have another "secret sauce" passive filter on it

walterw · #7 02-25-2011, 07:54 PM

cool stuff, but what does it actually do to the sound? kills treble, kills bass, adds mids, what?

Silent Fly · #8 02-26-2011, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by walterw

cool stuff, but what does it actually do to the sound? kills treble, kills bass, adds mids, what?

It interacts with the pickup impedance changing the the frequency response.

In terms of perceived tone, it cuts the higher frequencies with a mid boost before the cut-off frequency.

With bigger capacitors, the sound simply gets darker. With intermediate values it increases the mwah/bark, with small values it cuts the upper frequencies.

walterw · #9 02-26-2011, 05:48 PM

oh OK, you're basically switching in a pre-set passive tone before the pickup hits the preamp, with the different cap and resistor values controlling the cutoff freq (and the peak just below it).

Silent Fly · #10 02-27-2011, 02:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by walterw

oh OK, you're basically switching in a pre-set passive tone before the pickup hits the preamp, with the different cap and resistor values controlling the cutoff freq (and the peak just below it).

Exactly. It's not too different from a Varitone or similar solutions.

Silent Fly · #11 03-13-2011, 10:56 AM

I am not sure you will find them interesting but here some sound samples:

Fretless
Bass: Music Man Stingray fretless 2EQ '98
Strings: D'Addario Nickel EXL220 (40-95)
Directly in the audio interface, no processing.

Fretted
Bass: Music Man Stingray Classic 2EQ 2010
Strings: Ernie Ball Coated (45-100)
Directly in the audio interface, no processing.

I play similar phrases with the stock sound followed by the 56n position and the 100n position.

Apologies for the not accurate playing but I hope you get the idea.

BassLife77 · #12 03-29-2011, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silent Fly

I suspected it was the 220k resistor but I wasn't sure.

I am pretty sure that the effect of your mod is very different from the ultra-mwah mod.

If you try the rotary switch in the position I suggest I would be interested to know what you think about it.

the mod is very powerful since I am altering the circuit with the different caps in parallel. each cap gives a different mid boost frequency so I'm not stuck with the Stingray sound. I ended up using 4.7n, 10n, 22n, 47n, and 100n. The 6th selection is bypass. I noticed the higher the cap value selected, the overall gain goes up too. when the 100n cap is selected the preamp clips so I am going to have insert a resistor at that pole to tame the signal before it hits the opamp. since its a 2 pole rotary I have unused lugs to work with. a work in progress

swartzfeger · #13 04-07-2011, 01:42 AM

I just listened to Silent Fly's mod and *really* like it, but the 56n rolls off a tad too much treble for my tastes. if I could split the difference between the bypass/56n that would be awesome.

What I don't understand is the correlation between cap value and the mid freq it's affecting. Assuming I went with something like a 22n (trying to split the difference between 56n and bypass), what freq would I be boosting?

FWIW, I would be considering this for a Bongo 5str fretless HHP. I love the bass but would like to get a smidge more mid presence from it. The diagram I have lists the low-mid knob at 400Hz and the hi-mid knob at 2.5KHz.