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EBMM StingRay Special Club
- Thread starter MultiScaleMale
- Start date
Finally got to play the 4HH with a group. They liked it. Just a jam session, but we play a lot of different styles. It fit everything really well. Mostly played the jazzy position two or the precisiony position four. Had some occasional neck pickup action when we went reggae. Worked for Green Day, Steely Dan, blues, Dead, etc, etc.
That’s what I love about the 4HH versus the H. So many sounds.
Come to think of it, I didn’t use the bridge H position. Heh.
1 and 4 are my go to positions. But tonight I played more in 2 & 5. Funny how that works.
Just listed my 7lb 13 oz SRS 4HH with TI flats as a flash sale, needs to ship today or tomorrow or will have to wait a couple weeks. Check her out!
Going to be traveling pretty extensively through next June, going to go down to one bass, the 5HH for now, and may end up selling that as well if my time continues to shrink for work
Hope it doesn’t come to that.
Being bassless is no fun .
I’m not sure how to answer this. The Special is a very different bass. A lot more vintage bass tones than previous iterations. How it sounds is going to be very different depending on strings, amp and technique. It’s a different animal.
Well, in addition to the pickups, the preamp voicing is very different than the previous SR. The tone is tamer, more organic — a step or two closer to a Jazz Bass. And the SR Special has an aluminum bridge and tuners (lighter; may affect tone), and a roasted maple neck (more stable; may affect tone).
I asked this On a separate thread, but didn't get much response. Do you folks think the Special makes the Old Smoothie redundant, since the Special is, well, smoother sounding?
thanks but im asking how its different than the sterling, not the previous stingrays. not so concerned with neck dimensions, etc, mostly just tone questions. it seems like its the sterling preamp with bongo pickups, no?
I have not played a Sterling. I was trying to give you some reference points, hoping you had some familiarity with the older StingRays. Sorry.
The Special pickups are not at all like the Bongo. Not at all. I can’t get my Bongo close to the SR or SR Special tone. Maybe it’s the Bongo pre or pickup position or basswood body, and not the pickups. Maybe the pickups are, in fact, the same. What I can say is the Special pickups and pre are definitely StingRay, but a little less extreme, and they are not Bongo.
I brought up the neck and bridge only because some may believe these affect tone. Does a roasted maple neck sound different from a plain maple neck? Does and aluminum bridge sound different from a steel bridge? Those are other threads in the waiting.
The Specials have been readily available in larger Guitar Centers. Maybe worth a visit.
