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Choosing my forever bass: Stingray vs Precision

#222
punchdrunk said:
Never dug the overly synthetic/nasaly sound of the MM.... Plus you can always add a j pickup in the bridge position to the P for the best of all worlds.
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EBMM are great basses no questions about. But what this guy says is truth. I never could get the along with the synthetic/nasaly EBMM sound. Also what JimmyM says is the completley truth: Dont base your opinion in Talkbass consensus. You will likely be in the 50/50 start point! :)
 
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#223
Silver sparkle Stingray /drool

In answer to your question, I've owned both a P and a Stingray, albeit a Squier P Special and an American SUB. Nonetheless, if *I* had to choose a forever bass/tone, it would be the Stingray hands down. I love the sound of a P, but a P just can't "punch and growl" like a 'Ray.
 
#224
mel0dic.bassist said:
Silver sparkle Stingray /drool

In answer to your question, I've owned both a P and a Stingray, albeit a Squier P Special and an American SUB. Nonetheless, if *I* had to choose a forever bass/tone, it would be the Stingray hands down. I love the sound of a P, but a P just can't "punch and growl" like a 'Ray.
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Different strokes. A Ray can't sound like a Precision, either.
 
#226
neo 7 said:
I'm at a point in my life where I want to stop buying and selling basses and own only one bass that I will take to the grave. I've had a P-Bass tone in my head since I started playing so I wondered into the local music store today looking for a new P-Bass. I tried a MIM, a Nate Mendel sig, an American Standard, American Special, and a MIJ E series. I liked the MIJ but it had some dings on the back of the neck so I passed. The American Special seemed like it fit the bill and I almost bought it. Then I asked if I could try the lone Stingray hanging on the wall. I was blown away. It had such a cool tone and the neck felt great, played like a dream. It was an ugly pea soup puke green color, but ugly in a cool way. Definitely more personable than ho-hum black or blue or something. This bass really spoke to me, but I still left empty handed.

Since I'm looking for a forever bass I figured it would be best to think it over. Will a Stingray be a good bass for what I want to do in 20 years. I'm sure a P-Bass would serve me well for any music I'd ever play, but I really fell in love with this Ray. I play in a punk band at the moment, but I also like classic rock, and smooth down-tempo acid jazz. Who knows what I'll be into in 20 years. Is this even a legitimate concern, or will a Stingray work for any style of music?

Also, this is the first time I ever played a Stingray. Was the tone so cool because it was new? Will I grow bored of the tone and long for a P-Bass, the tone that I've always had in my head?

What would you do in this situation? Stay with the tried and true P-Bass, or throw caution into the wind and buy the Ray?
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Are you dead set on the P bass? Have you considered the Fender Dimension bass? The Dimension bass would give you the best of both worlds.
 
#227
Well, since this thread is still going............

For those just joining us, I bought the Stingray. I've had it for six months and I love it. I love everything about it, the big neck with the high gloss, perfect balance, and THE TONE. No matter what strings I use, or how I set the EQ, the tone always make me smile. Six months in and I'm still smiling.

About the whole 'going down to one bass' thing:
I'm holding steady at five. I haven't bought any basses since the Ray, although I did buy a new neck for my MIM P, even tho its been living in the gig bag. My Mustang stays in the case as well. As much as I would like to gig the Stingray, my Squier and Fernandes have band duty. Those two basses are medium scale and I have to do lead vocals on a handful of songs, and the medium scale helps me concentrate on singing. The Stingray always gets at home practice.So I doubt going down to one bass will happen when my current band is still together. And I don't see myself selling the Mustang any time soon.

But at any rate, my band has really picked up some steam lately so I've had more important things to do than picking an instrument to marry.






Yes, I am happy I bought a Stingray instead of a Precision.
 
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#232
basslifter said:
Carrots. G&L L2000 (L2500) can do both. Or buy both since they are so different
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There's some truth to this. With the neck pickup solo'd, it has a very close P sound to it in passive mode. Kick in the preamp and/orseries mode, and it just sounds incredibly fat, but edgy. Bridge solo'd has a similar Stingray tone, but lacks some "girth," until you kick it into series mode and it beefs it up quite a bit. Very growly for sure. And this is with my experience using nylon tapes, not even rounds.

The L2000 is a monster, and quite possibly the most tonally versatile bass I've ever owned/played.
 
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#233
I think you should totally buy the Stingray. But instead of that puke green you should look around the corner in the store and see a trans white one with an unbelievable birdseye neck and buy that one.

Seriously, I'm late on this but nice buy. I am an avowed passivist but I was always drawn to the Ray Classic. And that neck! Damn!

From what little I know, EBMM and G&L have the best necks in the biz. You can knock down a brick wall with those things and they'll still play like butter.
 
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#234
Maybe the trick is finding P pickups voiced the way you like. I find stock P pickups to be lacking in the upper mids which may be why you like the Ray. Passive pickups are just something I can't get away from so I'm thinking find the right set and figure out if you're going rounds or flats and give it a try.
 

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