EBMM StingRay Special Club

[Stranger Danger]

If I spring for a Stingray at any point, it'll be a special for sure! That’s a nice set of upgrades.

Mine is the still the single best instrument I have ever played or owned. Sometimes I pick up other basses at stores or whatever and I am always left with the same feeling: this is garbage compared to my Ray.

 

[bovinehost]

I rather like your concept (I hope your band mates did) and the bass sound was very nice indeed. Nice work.

Thanks! We've worked at least part of that into a medley that begins with Folsom Prison and wanders around into the Who, Hendrix, BeeGees, Toto, and whatever else we can think of at the time.

I'm working on a solo version that will hopefully be included on the very first bovinehost solo album. I'm not even really kidding. I've certainly screwed up some really decent songs.

 

[Wood and Wire]

Caught part of a set at Reading Festival, by a band called something like "Day To Remember".

The bassist had a couple of Stingray classics, and a Stingray Special.

On the Stingray Special, he had swapped out the preamp for a 2 band - leaving a redundant output socket on the bottom of the instrument.

Are there any 3rd party 2 band preamps available for the Special?

If he just used an old 2 band preamp (be that EBMM, or 3rd party), I wonder if he swapped the pickup too, as the new pickup is somewhat different from the one originally designed to work with the old 2 band preamp.


Anybody here in the know, with regard to that individual?

Anybody here swapped out the Special preamp, for a 2 band?

I'm intrigued.

 

[bovinehost]

I'm not.

Having said that, it's his bass and he can do whatever he wants to it, but it sounds like a solution in search of a problem.

 

[KaseOfBass]

Caught part of a set at Reading Festival, by a band called something like "Day To Remember".

The bassist had a couple of Stingray classics, and a Stingray Special.

On the Stingray Special, he had swapped out the preamp for a 2 band - leaving a redundant output socket on the bottom of the instrument.

Are there any 3rd party 2 band preamps available for the Special?

If he just used an old 2 band preamp (be that EBMM, or 3rd party), I wonder if he swapped the pickup too, as the new pickup is somewhat different from the one originally designed to work with the old 2 band preamp.


Anybody here in the know, with regard to that individual?

Anybody here swapped out the Special preamp, for a 2 band?

I'm intrigued.

I mean, there are plenty of two band preamps out there. Specifically for Music Man or with the idea of recreating the original two band MM pre, John East and Nordstrand come to mind, but there may be more.

 

[Wood and Wire]

I mean, there are plenty of two band preamps out there. Specifically for Music Man or with the idea of recreating the original two band MM pre, John East and Nordstrand come to mind, but there may be more.

Yeah, I'm aware of those - but they're intended for the pre-2018 Stingray.

Since the pickup was modified, and the preamp re-voiced for the Stingray Special, I've no idea if those particular 3rd party preamps would be a good match for the Special pickup.

When I asked one of the Ball family if there was a setting on the Special preamp, that matched a particular setting on the old 2 band preamp (as there is on the old 3 band), they said there is no corresponding setting, nor was there intended to be.

That doesn't necessarily preclude the old 2 band working in a predictable way with the new pickup, but I got the impression that it's a symbiotic system - an old pickup with the Special preamp might just as easily sound great / terrible (I'm assuming they were changed as a complete package for a reason).

Do you know of any 2 band preamps that are specifically designed for the Special?

I'm just curious. I'm wouldn't be interested in making that modification myself.

 

[Stranger Danger]

I'm not.

Having said that, it's his bass and he can do whatever he wants to it, but it sounds like a solution in search of a problem.

Yep pretty much

 

[bdplaid]

Changing the electronics in a SR Special - what a step backward. If I wanted the old SR sound, I'd buy an old SR.

 

[KaseOfBass]

Do you know of any 2 band preamps that are specifically designed for the Special?

Nope, I sure don't.

 

[Stevorebob]

Caught part of a set at Reading Festival, by a band called something like "Day To Remember".

The bassist had a couple of Stingray classics, and a Stingray Special.

On the Stingray Special, he had swapped out the preamp for a 2 band - leaving a redundant output socket on the bottom of the instrument.

Are there any 3rd party 2 band preamps available for the Special?

If he just used an old 2 band preamp (be that EBMM, or 3rd party), I wonder if he swapped the pickup too, as the new pickup is somewhat different from the one originally designed to work with the old 2 band preamp.


Anybody here in the know, with regard to that individual?

Anybody here swapped out the Special preamp, for a 2 band?

I'm intrigued.

Music Man offers an Alnico pickup and 2-band preamp package through its dealers. It may not be available for long, and it is extremely pricey. But it does come with a free bass. It’s called a Classic StingRay.

 

[Stranger Danger]

Yeah, I'm aware of those - but they're intended for the pre-2018 Stingray.

Since the pickup was modified, and the preamp re-voiced for the Stingray Special, I've no idea if those particular 3rd party preamps would be a good match for the Special pickup.

When I asked one of the Ball family if there was a setting on the Special preamp, that matched a particular setting on the old 2 band preamp (as there is on the old 3 band), they said there is no corresponding setting, nor was there intended to be.

That doesn't necessarily preclude the old 2 band working in a predictable way with the new pickup, but I got the impression that it's a symbiotic system - an old pickup with the Special preamp might just as easily sound great / terrible (I'm assuming they were changed as a complete package for a reason).

Do you know of any 2 band preamps that are specifically designed for the Special?

I'm just curious. I'm wouldn't be interested in making that modification myself.

I don’t think anyone makes an aftermarket preamp that’s designed for a specific OEM pickup. That doesn’t really make sense to me.

 

[Stranger Danger]

Music Man offers an Alnico pickup and 2-band preamp package through its dealers. It may not be available for long, and it is extremely pricey. But it does come with a free bass. It’s called a Classic StingRay.

Hahahahaha!

 

[mouthmw]

Yeah, I'm aware of those - but they're intended for the pre-2018 Stingray.

No, they are intended to be used wherever you want to use them. They're not designed as a drop in replacement, they're not the crescent shaped preamp like the original Stingray ones are.

Since the pickup was modified, and the preamp re-voiced for the Stingray Special, I've no idea if those particular 3rd party preamps would be a good match for the Special pickup.

Hard to say, it might not yield the results you like. I had an original 2 band ray preamp paired with Nordstrand MM4.2. I didn't the like the way the low end was reacting when boosting bass. Nordy was more focused on the low mids, so if I cranked both knobs, I'd just get a tinny tone without that signature Stingray low end. Returning the stock pickup cured this. Pairing the Nordy with a John East preamp though gave me a much better result as I had control over the mids frequency, and was able to boost low mids when I wanted to.

When I asked one of the Ball family if there was a setting on the Special preamp, that matched a particular setting on the old 2 band preamp (as there is on the old 3 band), they said there is no corresponding setting, nor was there intended to be.

That doesn't necessarily preclude the old 2 band working in a predictable way with the new pickup, but I got the impression that it's a symbiotic system - an old pickup with the Special preamp might just as easily sound great / terrible (I'm assuming they were changed as a complete package for a reason).

Do you know of any 2 band preamps that are specifically designed for the Special?

I'm just curious. I'm wouldn't be interested in making that modification myself.

There are no after market preamps that are designed to fit a certain bass. There are only designs that are either based on existing designs, be it vintage or modern, or are new designs, not based on something.
@Tuna Can Dan swapped the neodymium pickup on his Special for an alnico one (Aguilar AG4M), you might wanna ask him about it.

And yes, there's a certain symbiotic system with the preamp and the pickup(s). I've tried several combinations with old Stingrays and the stock ones did it best for me - for both 2 banders and older 3 banders.

As for a 2 band sounding preamp, John East 3 band preamp does this and fits 3 band Stingrays, so it should fit a Special too. That said, it's a slippery slope, and you'd be better off grabbing an older 2 bander for that tone, rather than modding a Special.

 

[maplenecked]

Club members gettin all nervous talking bout modding anything beyond pick-guards.

 

[Iofflight]

Does anyone know what the stainless steel fret measurements are on the SR special? I’m thinking of having a Pbass neck built by warmoth and I really like the neck profile of the special.

 

[Scott Ball]

We haven't made any 2 band's for the special yet....I'm sure it's something we'll explore down the road tho...

 

[bdplaid]

Club members gettin all nervous talking bout modding anything beyond pick-guards.

As well we should on a $2K+ bass that's pretty awesome as is, especially when said mods will halve the resale value from the depreciation it already has.

 

[Stranger Danger]

As well we should on a $2K+ bass that's pretty awesome as is, especially when said mods will halve the resale value from the depreciation it already has.

NTM be completely pointless.

 

[Stranger Danger]

We haven't made any 2 band's for the special yet....I'm sure it's something we'll explore down the road tho...

Literally the only thing that my SRS 4HH doesn't have that I wish it did have is a quick release bridge for quicker and easier string changes. Thanks for making the best instrument that I have ever played or owned. 14 months later and I still think the same.

 

[eyeballkid]

Yeah... it just continues to prove itself .