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EB STINGRAYS, H or HH which do you prefer

S

stones18

Jan 28, 2008
59
0
#1
Which Bass do you prefer the single pick up or the double, which one in your opinion is the better bass, which one sounds better, i know the HH has more tone and sound variations with the extra pick up but is the neck pick up all that great, or is it not so great. I was gonna buy the HH but i couldnt find one, and i fell in love with that Raunchy Growl of the classic single pick up stingray. What different sounds does the HH bring to the table, does the bridge pick up sound the same in the HH as i does with the classic stingrays, just lookin for some feed back and info, thanks guys
 
#4
I've got an HS and I can't imagine ever regretting having the extra pickup. It's hands down my favorite bass. Plan to get a 5 of the same in the near future.

Had I gotten the single H I'm quite certain I'd would have regretted not having the extra pickup. It adds lots and lots of tonal options, and many of those other options still retain that classic stingray something or other that I don't get out of any other basses. I like that you can split the Humbucker too.
 
#5
I recently had this decision to make and I chose the one humbucker. I figured that I wanted this bass only because I wanted it to sound like a Stingray and that the other options would not be used when I have other 2 pickup basses.

Another angle here is that the single pickup model uses the old style pickup cover-the one with two 'ears' on the top, one on the bottom, whereas the new two pickup models now have a cover without. I found that I like to lock my thumb between these points along the top of the pickup when I play (I don't use the floating thumb technique!) and therefore I would keep slipping off the newer type of pickup moldings......

Rob.
 
#7
There are more tonal options with my HH, no doubt about it... but I still only use the bridge pickup. If you took away the top humbucker, my heart wouldn't skip a beat. If I wanted a jazz bass sound, or something like that... I'd get a jazz bass.
 
#8
I like the old school single humbucker's best. The HH and HS sound more boomy to me, true you can get some different varieties of tone from them but none of those tones sound as good as the good ole one humbucker original MM. The single humbucker model has just as much low end as you'll ever need. Also the HH and HS models don't sound the same as the original one pup models even if you only select the bridge pup. Now having said that I would still love to have a HH or HS model anyway.
 
#12
I like the HH models better if you are going Stingray 4 and a non Anniversary model. How is that for ya'?!

I like the versatility of the HH...it seems to tame the snappiness of the single H models a bit...still sounds like a Stingray with both pickups in series but with a deeper low end. I can still get the single H sound...but if I want a more "refined" slap tone then it is there and if I want a more "growly and brute force" slap sound then I switch onto the traditional bridge H.

Boom.
 
#13
stones18 said:
Which Bass do you prefer the single pick up or the double, which one in your opinion is the better bass, which one sounds better, i know the HH has more tone and sound variations with the extra pick up but is the neck pick up all that great, or is it not so great. I was gonna buy the HH but i couldnt find one, and i fell in love with that Raunchy Growl of the classic single pick up stingray. What different sounds does the HH bring to the table, does the bridge pick up sound the same in the HH as i does with the classic stingrays, just lookin for some feed back and info, thanks guys
Click to expand...

It gives you that classic Stingray tone and more. Actually, I was NOT a Musicman fan at all until they started making the HHs. The Hs sound great but it's only one sound and not much variation in tones. IMHO, the HH is WAY more versatile than the Hs.
 
#14
I agree with Stingray56funk and Basseroni. I love my HH for the tone (and the string spacing on the 5 actually). I'm not the typical Stingray owner tho - I tame the high end by almost completely cutting the highs creating an aggressive vintage tone. If I slap it still is bright enough to cut. It's different but good for me and I love it. I wouldn't be able to do that with a single H since I need them both to balance things. I play 95% fingerstyle and keep things closer to the neck than to the bridge.
 
#17
Single H all the way. Oh wait, us leftys don't have much choice anyway :(

Actually, I don't mind at all. I have an SR4 and an SR5, both lefty single H and they are pretty much perfect just the way they are.
 
#18
I owned an H for 15 years-- great sound, never wanted for anything except for a 5th string with wide spacing, hence I've gone to Lakland, but the H Stingray was a single pickup bass for a couple of decades for a good reason. I've also played the HS and HH, and they just didn't have that amazing tone that mine had, and I also don't like looking at two pickups on a Stingray, that neck pickup annoys me.
 
#20
All of my Musicman basses are H configuration except for my Sterling 5 LE 2008 which is a HH.

I perfer the H myself. I bought the HH because it was a very limited edition instrument that I hope will gain in value over the next couple of years.

However I will be placing my order for the new 25th anniversary 3 pickup single coil pickup bass in January when it's released. This new Musicman bass should be very interesting.

TD
 

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