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EBMM StingRay Special Club

#8,701
dave64o said:
My recollection is that, through 2007, the Stingray 5's had the ceramic pickups and the preamp from the Sterling 5 (I have a 2007 SR5HH). Starting in, I think, 2008, they introduced Stingray 5 pickups and could then put the Stingray preamp in the Stingray 5s. I'm not aware of the Stingray 4s and the Stingray 5 being different after that point in time.

Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. :)
Click to expand...

The main change was the pick ups - the SR5 went from ceramic to alnico, and the Sterling 5 was introduced, with ceramic pick ups (as per the pre 2008 SR5).

The change in the EQ related (in the SR5H) to the previous single coil arrangement (centre setting in the switch) - at some point it changed to single coil with filter rather than single coil (using phantom coil to avoid hum).

I don’t find any real difference in the EQs between my SR4HH Special or SR5HH Special (both 2018 models). I took my SR4HH to a jazz jam a few weeks back and got a great sound (using switch selection 3 - both humbuckers) on The Chicken (Jaco version) and a couple of standards with walking lines.

My favourite effect on the aqua sparkle colour is in low light - this appears to bring the sparkles to life but in a low lighting setting. However, got to love the amethyst sparkle with gold hardware - one of my favourite Musicman colours.

744F1C21-08B6-414F-9DC2-DE9837588E72.jpeg
1B695FEC-00E0-451D-B5AA-D10F6B684846.jpeg
 
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#8,710
bdplaid said:
Well, I've been trying to sell it for months and not even a nibble. It's just sitting here. I really hate the neck, but love everything else.
Click to expand...

Same problem here. Love everything else but the nut width, although not considering selling mine.
Love the feel and finish of the neck, but it's just not for my short fingers.

I'm familiar with the SLO Special, but it's so hard to found one (not to talk about choosing a color).
I'm closer to making a new custom neck and keep the original one.

Until then, I'll keep on fighting...
 
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#8,714
dave64o said:
I may be doing this backwards, but my recollection of the Musicman HH controls is that Position 1 is the bridge, Position 5 is the neck. If I'm wrong, I'll fix what I typed below.

In the mix - I typically use Position 2 (outer coils) or, more often, Position 4 (inner coils, my favorite setting). Bass is raised just a little from the center detent and treble is lowered a littel more than I raised the bass. This is my personal default Stingray tone and I could be perfectly happy using only these settings, especially in Position 4.

Cut through - I'll usually use Position 1 (bridge pickup) with a little bass boost. If I want to cut through a lot, I'll raise the treble to get the amount that I need. If I don't want to cut through as much, I'll leave the treble alone and boost the mids to get the amount that I want. I also sometimes use Position 5 (neck pickup) with a little mid boost and that gives me a good rock or blues rock tone.

Thumpy - I'll use Position (3 both coils), bass boosted a little and treble cut to taste. If I want a little more definition, I'll raise the mids just a little. I also have a compressor on my pedalboards (a Broughton Apex on the big board and a Becos CompIQ Mini Pro on the small board) set to act as a leveler, with a relatively low threshold and a relatively low ratio. Both of those also have a sidechain HPF filter on the compressor to reduce the amount of compression triggered by the low end. Didn't know what that was when I bought the Apex but I learned to like it, so I looked for another compressor that had that feature but in a tiny enclosure when I bought the Becos.

Hope that's useful to you. :bassist:
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Im here to give you another report on my HH.

Postion 1 is a given. But I am shocked at the difference those stock slinky rounds and the maple fingerboard combo make. It really is a slap machine. Now that my technique is cleaned up, the neck pickup is no issue. It offers a great contrast to the flats/rosewood Amethyst sparkle. When I want finger style Im going flats/rosewood. When Im going to be doing a lot of slapping I'm going to pick up the rounds/maple.

3 & 4 thicken up the tone quite a bit. I like it. Like you said, it takes of the bite and allows a nice thump mid to come into play. 4 is growly . 3 is thick and rich.

No use for 5 . I could use 2, but my Sandberg is the winner in that department so. 1 & 4 is getting the most use. Im pleased.
 
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#8,716
LadyLoveStingRay5 said:
Im here to give you another report on my HH.

Postion 1 is a given. But I am shocked at the difference those stock slinky rounds and the maple fingerboard combo make. It really is a slap machine. Now that my technique is cleaned up, the neck pickup is no issue. It offers a great contrast to the flats/rosewood Amethyst sparkle. When I want finger style Im going flats/rosewood. When Im going to be doing a lot of slapping I'm going to pick up the rounds/maple.

3 & 4 thicken up the tone quite a bit. I like it. Like you said, it takes of the bite and allows a nice thump mid to come into play. 4 is growly . 3 is thick and rich.

No use for 5 . I could use 2, but my Sandberg is the winner in that department so. 1 & 4 is getting the most use. Im pleased.
Click to expand...

Assuming position 1 is the bridge and 5 is the neck, I just finished recording a track using position 4. I was pretty pleased with the thickness of the tone (I'm using TI flats). Vocals have yet to be recorded and final mix completed, but here is what I have so far:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
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#8,717
Nobis17 said:
Assuming position 1 is the bridge and 5 is the neck, I just finished recording a track using position 4. I was pretty pleased with the thickness of the tone (I'm using TI flats). Vocals have yet to be recorded and final mix completed, but here is what I have so far:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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Yes. Thats that lovely Pbass like tone. Sounds great. I like to dial mine in with more lows. :headphone::bassist:
 
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#8,718
Stranger Danger said:
It’s a standard 1 5/8” neck like the modern p bass.

I was guilty of getting into my own head about nut width before I played 5 string. That cured that problem.

Stop thinking about it and just play.
Click to expand...
No, it's wider. It's 1 11/16. Wider than standard P.

As for not thinking about it, if it feels bad to me, how does one not think about it?
 
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#8,720
LadyLoveStingRay5 said:
Im here to give you another report on my HH.

Postion 1 is a given. But I am shocked at the difference those stock slinky rounds and the maple fingerboard combo make. It really is a slap machine. Now that my technique is cleaned up, the neck pickup is no issue. It offers a great contrast to the flats/rosewood Amethyst sparkle. When I want finger style Im going flats/rosewood. When Im going to be doing a lot of slapping I'm going to pick up the rounds/maple.

3 & 4 thicken up the tone quite a bit. I like it. Like you said, it takes of the bite and allows a nice thump mid to come into play. 4 is growly . 3 is thick and rich.

No use for 5 . I could use 2, but my Sandberg is the winner in that department so. 1 & 4 is getting the most use. I'm pleased.
Click to expand...
I use 3 and 4 the most. Lately 4 and I have used 1 a couple of times. Running the bass flat and simply changing positions on the switch gives me a pretty big variety in sound. I love the HH Specials.
 
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