"clanky" Stingray

Try flatwounds and see if that cures the problem

 

All Sting Rays sound "clanky" to me, but you should be able to mitigate the problem by:

EQing at the amp
Raising the strings slightly
Using a lighter touch
Trying flats, as doog suggested.

good luck!

 

Turn down the treble?

 

Stingrays naturally have a lot of zing (it's what makes them cut through a mix so well) but you can tame some of that zing.

Try turning the treble down on your bass. I keep my treble at about 2, and I don't get any clank. You may or may not like the tone, but give it a try.
Try flatwound strings as doog suggested, or Elixirs. Elixirs will give you a dark tone for a round string, and they're thumpy too. You might also like DR Lo-riders.

This is how I have the EQ set on my Stingray 4 with DR Lo-Riders:

Bass - 7 or 8
Mids - 7
Treble - 1 or 2

This gives a Paul Denman-type tone. (Sade's Smooth Operator)

Good Luck.

Mike

 

i've gotten mine under control by switching to heavy gauge (50-110) DR lo-riders. even though they are SS, they have prominent mids which help to balance the sound IMO. also, setup is very important - just a slight raising of the strings can go a long way towards reducing subtle fret buzz - the MM electronics really magnify fret buzz and string noise, so you have to watch it more on these basses.

JR

 

Do you have a maple fret board on this bass? I had a Sterling natural ash black pickguard with a maple fretboard. It was gorgeous but same thing a lot of fret noise. I sold it and bought a honey burst Sterling with a rosewood fretboard and all is well now.

 

If you're getting fret buzzing, maybe you need a truss rod adjustment.

 

I play a regular SR5 as my main bass. Flats is a great suggestion (mine is wearing LaBella mediums now) but, at least for the single H, the mid EQ knob is the secret. When playing solo, or in a sparse arrangement, you can round off the sound a lot by dialing the mids down on board. When I played High Beams, I kept the treble down as well. 90% of the time with the flats, I run in series mode with a slight bass boost and modulate the mids for the song.

 

I don't know if it is a generally accepted fact that Elixirs are dark sounding, but my experience with them on SR4's are quite a bit different. Elixir Nanowebs give me great treble and brilliance. I only use this brand and put them on all of my basses. They've always been very bright sounding IMO. +1 on using them on a MM. They'll get the job done and give you tone for a longer time than most brands of strings will.

 

I actually had this problem with the SR5 I used to own. The highs just felt to clanky and not smooth at all. I went and changed the PU and preamp and the sound became smoother. Mine had the G string a little weaker than the rest and sometimes the string just went off the fretboard when playing it. Don't know if I eplxained myself right. But I've read of a lot of people who had this same problem.

I'm actually now Gasing for a Stingray 4. Go figure.

 

I've been having a big problem with Stingray clank too. Are these settings on the Ray EQ or the amp?

Cheers,
Josh

 

Stingrays are great at what they do (a sort of active clank), but if you want a warm organic tone try something else.

 

I use Elixir mediums and they last quite a long time (a couple of months or so) before getting furry. Even then they still play OK. The only strings I like better are Fender Tapewounds.

 

When I got mine, it sounded pretty clanky, but putting some old worn strings on it helped a lot. I've been thinking about maybe putting some tapewounds on, but I like to keep a bit of the twang.
A tweak on the truss rod helped a lot too.

 

I have owned a few Musicman bass and the weak G string is a common problem for some reason but I love them anyway.

 

These are the settings on my Stingray.

On my amp, a Hughes & Kettner 250 watt 1 x 10 combo, all tone controls are at 2 O'clock, except the treble, which is at 9 O'clock. This does not apply to the volume, naturally.

Stingrays have a lot of upper mids and highs, and I think this influences a lot of people into thinking that this is the only sound they'll get from their 'Ray.

Start with all tone controls flat, then slowly play with them all until you get a sound you like.

That's my advice to every player with any bass.

Mike

 

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