Well once again you bass guys have shown how simply freakin cool you all are!!! Thanks for the insight.... Seems it could be a lot of trouble for no real pay off. I have messed with the EQ.... Three band.. It always has the hyped thing to me. If the Big Al has the same feel... I think may be worth investigation. The Fender jazz feels so "big" and bulky to me... In the body so I'm not as comfortable with it. The Sterling is scaled down and thus... Feels better in my guitar player hands. Thanks so much to all! Keep Ya posted....
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Dumb Music Man question
- Thread starter cmprock
- Start date
If the jazz bass sound is your thing you could always try to find a dinky J body. There are a few manufacturers out there that build a J with a dinky body because the standard J is large.
Mike Lull M4V is an outstanding version. No idea on your budget though, they can be pricey new. Quite reasonable on the used market though...
Have you tried and Stingray and if so, do you like it? If you do, you can order a Stingray SLO, which has a Sterling neck. Also, my favorite Sterling is an HH model. I find the neck pup to take a lot of the aggressiveness off.
there Are various preamps that have that Active/Passive , on/off options ...
if you pickups are Active they would have a power lead going to them from the battery ...
if they're passive , you could use them , and just remove the preamp ... put new pots/cap in ... it would probably be quieter and warmer sounding ...
if you pickups are Active they would have a power lead going to them from the battery ...
if they're passive , you could use them , and just remove the preamp ... put new pots/cap in ... it would probably be quieter and warmer sounding ...
I still say you see if it works without a battery most 3 bands will. My 2 band stingray classic wont work without a battery
You might try to find a used Lakland Darrell Jones Jazz. I'm pretty sure they have a downsized body compared to the Fender Jazz.
Maybe try a Sterling HS and use only the neck pickup? Sounds like you don't like the sound of a bridge humbucker.
There is no way that active electronics will work without a battery, whether they are 2, 3, or 4 band. None of them will work. They will actually all sound quite crummy as the battery begins to die.
Want me to post a video of my 2013 musicman stingray working without a battery? Certain ones work with out a battery. The active eq doesnt work at all but it essentially makes it a passive bass...
It appears to be that indeed there are StingRay basses with an active/passive push-pull pot. The push-pull pot doubles as passive tone control.
Here is one, start at 6:15. German spoken though...
Here is one, start at 6:15. German spoken though...
I guess this is a good a place to ask a stingray question as any. I've noticed a 'buzz' emanating from my stinger when I crank up the triple all the way. It goes away when I touch the strings or control plate. It sounds like 60 cycle hum you get from single coils, but I thought this was impossible with humbuckers right?. Otherwise I like my stingray.
Shielding, not grounding. With grounding issues the buzz gets stronger when the strings are touched. Shielding is a mere nuisance. Grounding is a major, possibly life threatening problem
I think that would be a really helpful video to have posted! A lot of guys worry about what will happen to their bass if the battery dies, and if you have proof that the Stingray has a built-in protection against anything bad happening in these situations, then yes, it would be a great service to the community to have that knowledge out there. Might I suggest that in the video you also include demos of trying to use all of the pots, including volume, and what the response is like. Looking forward to seeing it!
Definitely agree with not performing any surgery on a US MM, and also highly recommend checking out a Big Al ( if you can find one in the wild )
here's Ed Friedland's great demo of one.
here's Ed Friedland's great demo of one.
I have a passive OLP Stingray copy that is a great sounding and playing bass! When I got it the poor thing was pretty beat up and covered with stickers. I refinished it pulled out the crappy preamp and dropped a GFS MM pickup in it along with CTS pots and a series/parallel switch. So IMO it is possible to get that ballsy MM tone with a passive bass. Maybe it would be a good way to go getting something cheaper like that as opposed to modding an actual Music Man.
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I had a similar situation with my Stingray when I first got it. I really loved everything about the bass,but the tone wasn't quite what I was looking for.
My suggestion is to try different strings. If Sterlings are anything like Stingrays you might find what your looking by trying this first.. I'm loving group 3 flats on my bass, but wasn't crazy about the original strings or the LaBella flats I previously tried. I also tried cobalt roundwounds which I also like. All of them drastically changed the tone of this bass. It's amazing how much of a difference strings make on these instruments.
And when it comes to strings i use dr lo riders on my 3 band and daddario chromes on my 2 band stingray classic
