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Are stingrays really one trick ponies?

#81
Freddels said:
The one trick that they excel at is music. I don't find they work as well with flipping burgers or opening bottles. Sure, they'll open the bottle but it's messy. :D
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:D:thumbup:
Yeah, the ones with metal battery covers are better, but, still, a bottle opener works better still.

Madeline Peyroux's bassist was using a 'ray on a DVD I saw.
They, 'ray's, do it all very well imo.
 
#85
Sorry fellas but Cliff just doesn't look funky enough for that Ray!!
C'mon now that's all wrong!!
One second thought, maybe cliff with a pink Tutu and some knee high striped socks!!!.....Now that's Funky!!!
 
#87
Progfan44 said:
Are Stingrays one trick ponys?
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Nope!
They are one pickup ponys (unless you get the HH or the HSC variant) but that one pickup and the preamp it's paired with is far from a one trick pony. Anyone who insists otherwise probably hasn't ever owned one or has very limited playing skills. I've used mine for every kind of music you can imagine (classical to dub and everything inbetween) with no problems. I do find the Stingray to be VERY responsive to string changes my favorite for the SR5 are DR Black Beauties. My preference is also towards the 2 band preamp vs the 3 band and the single pickup vs the other multi pickup variants.
Following TB rules, no pic no bass, so here's a pic of the gals (1978 Black PreEB and 2005ish Egyptian Smoke Silver SR5)....
046.jpg
 
#91
I had a one trick pony once.

Fortunately, the trick was, he could mix perfect martinis while predicting the winning lottery ticket numbers for any state with an "A" in the name, and curing cancer.

That was one hell of a trick, and one hell of a pony.

This perspective brought to you by Beatrice.
 
#96
One trick pony has to do only with how someone defines it. I think it's a useless description. Much prefer people talking in terms of how versatile an instrument is. And as far as that goes, my h/s stingray is one of the most versatile I ever played. My single pickup sterling was far lass versatile. I wouldn't consider either of them one trick ponies.
 
#97
I have actually heard some people refer to Stingrays as "one trick ponies."

To those people: How does it feel being completely wrong? Do you dread waking up in the morning? Do you curse the bus driver for *not* running you over? Was it that your parents not love you enough? :D

In all seriousness, the Stingray is one of the most versitile basses out there. They are great for funk (Bernie Edwards, Louis Johnson), rock (Cliff Williams, John Deacon), metal (John Myung, Robert Trujillo), punk (Mike Herrera, Joe Lally), session work (Tony Levin, Pino Palladino), country (just get a 5 string 'Ray, put flats on it, and dime the bass) and much more. With that big ass pup right near the bridge, and the MONSTER of a preamp (especially the three band), any sound you want is just a knob turn away.


Come to think of it, I can't think of any genre where a Stingray wouldn't work.

Also, EBMM has some of the best QC I have ever seen in the world of mass produced basses, easily beating out Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, and Rickenbacker. Nothing against those brands (I even own some of them!), but if I had to buy a bass sight unseen, I think I would have a good chance of getting a great bass if I went EBMM.


And now I have Stingray GAS. Again.
 
#98
cfsporn said:
I have actually heard some people refer to Stingrays as "one trick ponies."

To those people: How does it feel being completely wrong? Do you dread waking up in the morning? Do you curse the bus driver for *not* running you over? Was it that your parents not love you enough? :D

In all seriousness, the Stingray is one of the most versitile basses out there. They are great for funk (Bernie Edwards, Louis Johnson), rock (Cliff Williams, John Deacon), metal (John Myung, Robert Trujillo), punk (Mike Herrera, Joe Lally), session work (Tony Levin, Pino Palladino), country (just get a 5 string 'Ray, put flats on it, and dime the bass) and much more. With that big ass pup right near the bridge, and the MONSTER of a preamp (especially the three band), any sound you want is just a knob turn away.

Come to think of it, I can't think of any genre where a Stingray wouldn't work.
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Well, I'm not completely wrong no matter what my parents thought of me!

You just changed the defintion to suit your own opinions. You are saying it can fit with any genre. Well, sure. As pointed out here the musician and the fingers do that walking.

But the "one trick pony" comment comes from the very unique and desirable tone the bass puts out. Tonally, in spite of all the active EQ it tends to always have that certain 'Ray "something". Hence "one trick".

Yes, no question it's a great trick and at times I love that trick, but sorry, a 'Ray is NOT my main axe. That honor goes to my three G&L L2500 basses. Now compare the tonal versatility of THOSE to a stingray, and you'll have the essence of the argument.
 
#99
bassbenj said:
Well, I'm not completely wrong no matter what my parents thought of me!

You just changed the defintion to suit your own opinions. You are saying it can fit with any genre. Well, sure. As pointed out here the musician and the fingers do that walking.

But the "one trick pony" comment comes from the very unique and desirable tone the bass puts out. Tonally, in spite of all the active EQ it tends to always have that certain 'Ray "something". Hence "one trick".

Yes, no question it's a great trick and at times I love that trick, but sorry, a 'Ray is NOT my main axe. That honor goes to my three G&L L2500 basses. Now compare the tonal versatility of THOSE to a stingray, and you'll have the essence of the argument.
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Yes, but the tone that Cliff Williams gets from his Stingray is worlds apart from the tone that Louis Johnson gets from his. Much of that can be credited to the fact that they are two different players, with two different rigs, setups, strings, playing styles, etc, but to the casual listener (and I bet even most bassists), the tones are completely different.
 
#100
bassbenj said:
Well, I'm not completely wrong no matter what my parents thought of me!

You just changed the defintion to suit your own opinions. You are saying it can fit with any genre. Well, sure. As pointed out here the musician and the fingers do that walking.

But the "one trick pony" comment comes from the very unique and desirable tone the bass puts out. Tonally, in spite of all the active EQ it tends to always have that certain 'Ray "something". Hence "one trick".

Yes, no question it's a great trick and at times I love that trick, but sorry, a 'Ray is NOT my main axe. That honor goes to my three G&L L2500 basses. Now compare the tonal versatility of THOSE to a stingray, and you'll have the essence of the argument.
Click to expand...

Funny thing about the G&L 2500 that I had is that in spite of an immensely flexible preamp I ended up running the thing in passive mode 90% of the time because it just sounded so much better that way. So for me the G&L was more of a one trick pony than my stingrays. YMMV
 

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