Favorite Stingray Settings?

Nighthawk551 · #1 07-14-2010, 05:27 PM

I just bought an awesome EBMM SR5HH. I really like the sound, but I have never owned a Stingray before, so I'm not sure how to squeeze the most awesome tones out of it. How can I get that "Another One Bites the Dust" tone? Or the "Flea" Stingray tone? I'm sure there are many excellent sounds that I'm leaving out. So I ask you, TB. What are your favorite Stingray settings?

j.kernodle · #2 07-14-2010, 06:49 PM

another one bites the dust is gonna be your classic stingray bridge humbucker tone. put the selector switch in position one (closest to the bridge) and play with a pick. don't go to crazy with eq. you won't need to, to get that sound.

I really personally like position four on the HH basses next (one click short of closest to the neck) it combines the two coils closest to the middle of the two humbuckers. gets a good p-bass type snarl, but still maintains that Musicman bite. I boost a little mids and bass when I use that position.

as far as fleas tone? he used single humbucker rays when he played live for a long time, but he recorded a lot of the RHCP albums using other basses. Spectors, Modulus's, Wals, Alembics, Vintage J basses to name a few. He only used a ray to record a few songs. (aeroplane being an example)

Nighthawk551 · #3 07-15-2010, 10:33 AM

Thanks for the suggestions. I really like position four... it's the smoothest tone I've been able to get out of it so far.

DTrocks · #4 07-15-2010, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nighthawk551

I just bought an awesome EBMM SR5HH.

Gratz! Im sure you'll love this bass! I just got my SR5 HH last month, and I cannot get enough of it!

My favorite setting is also that of position 4, but my bass is strung with flats, so you get another type of sound.

I forget where i got the information from, but I was under the impression that 'Another One Bites the Dust' was recorded on a stingray with flatwounds, so maybe you could try that to get close.

With an eq so versatile and intuitive, im sure you'll find many great tones out of the bass! Have fun!

dave64o · #5 07-15-2010, 11:16 AM

Love my SR5HH. I bought it because I really wanted the Stingray sound, but a) mine is one of the first SR5's, which has the ceramic pickups rather than the current alnico's, so it probably sounds closer to a Sterling and b) over time I found I like positions 2, 3, and 4 the best. Funny how that worked out.

The place I usually start from is with a slight boost to the bass (yes, slight, a little goes a LONG way) and a slightly larger cut on the treble. Then I adjust from there depending on what's needed.

But if I had to pick a favorite setting, it's with the EQ adjusted as I described above and the pickup selector in position 2.

Thunderthumbs73 · #6 07-15-2010, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nighthawk551

I just bought an awesome EBMM SR5HH. I really like the sound, but I have never owned a Stingray before, so I'm not sure how to squeeze the most awesome tones out of it. How can I get that "Another One Bites the Dust" tone? Or the "Flea" Stingray tone? I'm sure there are many excellent sounds that I'm leaving out. So I ask you, TB. What are your favorite Stingray settings?

Still figuring out favorite settings on the Stingray 5. It's the newest of the bunch. I was trying to roll off the volume knob a bit on the bass and fiddling with the settings on the bass, frankly, to try to get it to sound more "Fender-ish" like a Jazz bass neck pickup-only kind of sound or a Precision bass kind of sound just for the heck of it.

I've been experimenting with adjusting tone simply (or largely) by volume knob adjustments on the instrument. I've really started to do this a lot with my guitar work, but am trying to apply the technique to bass. Normally, the volume of whatever pickup I'm using is always all the way up on my basses, but just trying something different. This technique, of course, is much more practical if you have an amp that allows you to turn up more and compensate in terms of amp volume for changes made on the bass volume knob. If you have a 80 watt bass amp (or something merely passable/adequate for your situation), you probably need all the volume that thing can make, and therefore, as a practical rehearsal/gigging matter probably have to leave the bass volume knob all the way up.

heliotropic · #7 07-15-2010, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nighthawk551

I just bought an awesome EBMM SR5HH. I really like the sound, but I have never owned a Stingray before, so I'm not sure how to squeeze the most awesome tones out of it. How can I get that "Another One Bites the Dust" tone? Or the "Flea" Stingray tone? I'm sure there are many excellent sounds that I'm leaving out. So I ask you, TB. What are your favorite Stingray settings?

At some point EB changed the wiring in the SR5 HH from parallel to series. If your bass is a recent one, it'll be wired in series and its just not gonna have that classic Stingray sound.

FunkMetalBass · #8 07-15-2010, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thunderthumbs73

Still figuring out favorite settings on the Stingray 5. It's the newest of the bunch. I was trying to roll off the volume knob a bit on the bass and fiddling with the settings on the bass, frankly, to try to get it to sound more "Fender-ish" like a Jazz bass neck pickup-only kind of sound or a Precision bass kind of sound just for the heck of it.

I've been experimenting with adjusting tone simply (or largely) by volume knob adjustments on the instrument. I've really started to do this a lot with my guitar work, but am trying to apply the technique to bass. Normally, the volume of whatever pickup I'm using is always all the way up on my basses, but just trying something different. This technique, of course, is much more practical if you have an amp that allows you to turn up more and compensate in terms of amp volume for changes made on the bass volume knob. If you have a 80 watt bass amp (or something merely passable/adequate for your situation), you probably need all the volume that thing can make, and therefore, as a practical rehearsal/gigging matter probably have to leave the bass volume knob all the way up.

The Stingray has an active preamp, meaning that it's probably buffered and thus the volume knob should have zero effect on your tone like the all-passive controls do.

Thunderthumbs73 · #9 07-15-2010, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FunkMetalBass

The Stingray has an active preamp, meaning that it's probably buffered and thus the volume knob should have zero effect on your tone like the all-passive controls do.

You could very well be correct. Again, I'm learning the nuances of this bass. Thanks for that. I was noticing slightly more Fenderish sounds for volume roll-off, but I could be mistaken. Eh, I'll know more in the weeks and months to come with a new bass, and a new technique applied to it.

FunkMetalBass · #10 07-15-2010, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thunderthumbs73

You could very well be correct. Again, I'm learning the nuances of this bass. Thanks for that. I was noticing slightly more Fenderish sounds for volume roll-off, but I could be mistaken. Eh, I'll know more in the weeks and months to come with a new bass, and a new technique applied to it.

Eh, trust your own ear for it. There are probably some audiophiles out there that will tell you that they can hear the 1 dB drop in the 63-67Hz area and that it completely destroys the tone.

heliotropic · #11 07-15-2010, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FunkMetalBass

The Stingray has an active preamp, meaning that it's probably buffered and thus the volume knob should have zero effect on your tone like the all-passive controls do.

While the preamp provides an overall boost to the volume, the volume control comes before the preamp and is passive. You can verify this by removing the battery and playing, there's still output (though kinda quiet) and you can adjust the volume.

HMZ · #12 07-15-2010, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heliotropic

At some point EB changed the wiring in the SR5 HH from parallel to series. If your bass is a recent one, it'll be wired in series and its just not gonna have that classic Stingray sound.

From what understand all HH EBMM basses are wired in series.
the single pickup Stingrays are parallel.

heliotropic · #13 07-15-2010, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HMZ

From what understand all HH EBMM basses are wired in series.
the single pickup Stingrays are parallel.

The 4 string HH/S Stingrays are still parallel.

Nighthawk551 · #14 07-15-2010, 08:04 PM

I found out from EBMM that my bass is an '06. I assume that means it has ceramic pickups and is wired in parallel?

metron · #15 07-16-2010, 12:07 AM

I recommend starting with the eq at center and give it a good listen, see what you like about the tone and what might be missing to your ear. I prefer to leave it like that most of the time. Occasionally Ill bump up the treble for a little extra bite, sometimes cut a little treble and boost bass for a more thumping old school sound, or boost both bass and treble a bit for slapping. Less is more.

DTrocks · #16 07-16-2010, 04:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heliotropic

At some point EB changed the wiring in the SR5 HH from parallel to series. If your bass is a recent one, it'll be wired in series and its just not gonna have that classic Stingray sound.

Actually its the other way round.

When sr5 first came out in 1987 or somewhere near then, it came with the ceramic pickups, which was wired in series, which is the same as Sterlings.

However in 2008, ebmm released Sterling5, which comes in ceramic pickups, and from then on the pickups of the SR5 became alnico, just like SR4. And the alnico pickups are wired in parallel.

The introduction of HH and HS models didn't affect the wiring or pickup type, as far as i know.

HMZ · #17 07-16-2010, 05:46 AM

The eq on my stingray is usually set treble centered mids centered bass booted a bit.

heliotropic · #18 07-16-2010, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DTrocks

Actually its the other way round.

When sr5 first came out in 1987 or somewhere near then, it came with the ceramic pickups, which was wired in series, which is the same as Sterlings.

However in 2008, ebmm released Sterling5, which comes in ceramic pickups, and from then on the pickups of the SR5 became alnico, just like SR4. And the alnico pickups are wired in parallel.

The introduction of HH and HS models didn't affect the wiring or pickup type, as far as i know.

For the single H SR5s, Sterlings, and Sterling 5s the pickup metals don't matter, they all have the standard three way switch that'll do series/parallel/single. For HH and HS models the metal type changed with the wiring, and currently they're in series.

DTrocks · #19 07-16-2010, 07:50 AM

On the column on the right side, you can download the diagram and schematics.

http://www.music-man.com/instruments...tingray-5.html

I totally forgotten about the switch on the single pickup models though, thats why i was concerned about the wiring

heliotropic · #20 07-16-2010, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DTrocks

On the column on the right side, you can download the diagram and schematics.

http://www.music-man.com/instruments...tingray-5.html

I totally forgotten about the switch on the single pickup models though, thats why i was concerned about the wiring

It looks like you're right. I saw some diagrams on the EB forums but they didn't have the &/+ key so I guess I got them mixed up.