I get more snarl out of my G&L ASAT in parallel.....as a matter of fact, with treble boost switch on tamed by the EQ, both pickups on parrallel, I call "Stingray mode" ..... no it doesn't sound exactly like a Ray but shares many of the same qualities
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How the StingRay HH should have been
- Thread starter anonymouse69
- Start date
Agreed. Pickup location is why I don’t like Music Man basses. I had one and the sound was too hard for my liking. To my ears the Precision location is the golden spot. Closer to the neck is too wooly, closer to the bridge is too harsh.
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How about a PM pickup configuration? Precision in precision spot, Musicman right next to it (on the bridge side of the p, of course)? I always kinda wondered about that, because for me the single coil in the p position is always a bit of a weak cousin to a real precision. it's fine in a mix, but not as meaty as the real deal (at least with a good precision pickup).
I’m seriously considering doing this as soon as I can get another P pickup. Just going to put the p right up against the mm and put a toggle in place to switch between either or both pickups. It’s a sterling sub, no harm no foul… if I flub it up I will cover the mess with a new pickguard lol.
I don't know how either bass sounds (I've only played the single pickup version of a USA Sterling) but the Saber looks way better, methinks.
That picture reminds me of John Cleese talking about Graham Chapman, and he mentioned a time when Chapman was for some reason asked to speak at a conference on nuclear disarmament, and he showed up to give his speech dressed as a carrot.
Awesome! Keep me in the loop about how it turns out sound-wise, and how the pickups work together (or don't, as the case may be). At the very least, switching from p to m without an in between settings gives you twice as many super important bass tones at the flip of a switch, even if it's only p or m instead of p+m.
Note: I say that about the p+m thing because some pickups just don't work with other pickups... vastly different electrical characteristics can make it so you really only hear one of them when both are on, etc etc. Worth a shot though!
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Thanks!
I was just asking the nodes question because the single coil P's pickup sits right below the iii below the 2nd octave and wondering if the polepieces of the other pickup positions also sit directly below nodes.
It’s the most versatile bass I own in terms of the tones it can produce. The bridge humbucker is in the Musicman sweet spot, so it can provide a pretty good Stingray tone, and the neck pickup can take it into Precision territory. With a five-way pickup switch and two-band preamp, you have a wide array of other usable tones on tap.
I don’t do slap, so I can’t speak as to whether or not the neck pickup gets in the way, but both humbuckers are smaller than those on a StingRay HH, so I suspect it might be less of a problem.
And it is quite the looker, IMHO.
I’ve long wanted to know how a Music Man pickup would work in the Precision spot. I’m putting a bits and pieces bass together and now I finally know. It sounds predictably fatter and warmer which is just what I wanted.
I have several two pick up Musicman basses and whenever I use them, I rarely use the bridge pick up soloed. I play slap and am happy playing it on an HH Stingray, in fact more than happy as with both Hs selected, you get a brilliant slap tone.
The neck pick up soloed along with the bridge soloed is possibly the least used selection by me but I’ve found it’s far from muddy and it’s really good for reggae. Also, with a tweak of the EQ (upping the mids, bass and treble at centre), I can get a decent Alembic type of sound as used by Stanley Clarke - particularly if playing aggressively.
I think the HH Stingray is great the way it is with 5 very useable and different tones. If you want a good impression of a P bass, the Classic Sabre with single coil (noiseless circuit) neck pick up selected does a very good version.
Also it needs to be remembered the Precision has a somewhat different construction as well as pick up position - which affects the general sound of the bass as well - a Stingray has a certain sound even played acoustically.
So please, Musicman, keep the HH as it is!!
The neck pick up soloed along with the bridge soloed is possibly the least used selection by me but I’ve found it’s far from muddy and it’s really good for reggae. Also, with a tweak of the EQ (upping the mids, bass and treble at centre), I can get a decent Alembic type of sound as used by Stanley Clarke - particularly if playing aggressively.
I think the HH Stingray is great the way it is with 5 very useable and different tones. If you want a good impression of a P bass, the Classic Sabre with single coil (noiseless circuit) neck pick up selected does a very good version.
Also it needs to be remembered the Precision has a somewhat different construction as well as pick up position - which affects the general sound of the bass as well - a Stingray has a certain sound even played acoustically.
So please, Musicman, keep the HH as it is!!
I did this mod so you can get the 3rd. Coil in single and more combinations
I also feel that the Neck HB by itself is a bit muddy, however all of the other positions are very useful.
For me, I like the HS, because I love the S by itself, and all of the mixtures are great, IMHO.
For me, I like the HS, because I love the S by itself, and all of the mixtures are great, IMHO.
The pups got in the way when popping and pulling, mainly. They just took up too much real estate for the way I play. Not much really to add other than that.
I like your idea and want to entertain some thoughts about this layout.
Sound.
Stingray HH has 5-way switch which gives you individual humbuckers, both humbuckers and two in-between positions (inner coils or outer coils of both pickups). Let's see how moving two pickups together affects these options:
Position 5: neck pickup in P-location. It won't sound like Precision because it's not split coil and MM preamp has its own character, but position is pretty much the same, so it may be some interesting new take on Precision sound. In any case, it reduces neck pickup woofiness as you suggest in OP.
Position 4: Inner coils. In this version they're so close together that you basically get another humbucker option! It's like virtual humbucker that's located in "in-between" position. It's like moving your bridge humbucker slightly towards the neck (or heck humbucker slightly towards the bridge). So this instrument basically has three humbucker positions which allows you to fine-tune sound balance between low-end/woofiness and brightness/cutting.
Position 3: Two humbuckers together. Since they're right next to each other, I guess this should give some kind of Warwick $$ vibe (and the pickup placement looks pretty similar to $$).
Position 2: Outer coils. Judging from your original picture this should do pretty good jazz bass approximation.
Position 1: Classic MM sweet-spot bridge humbucker tone.
Looks like interesting set of options.
Design/Visual part
I personally like how two humbuckers look when located right next to each other. It's like one huge mega-pickup. Looks brutal in a good way.
Playability/Feel.
Pickup getting in the way of slapping/popping was already discussed. I'm not a slapper, so I don't know about this. But I like what this layout does to thumbrests. Instead of one comfy place to put your thumb (like on H Stingrays) or two places (on HH stringrays) we get three similar thumbrests. I like the idea of having these options: you can really choose where to pluck.
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I did that with my OLP 5 string. I love it.
Amazing job on this post and the graphics. Really helps visualize the tonal possibilities.
I agree with everything you said. Hadn't even thought about the three thumbrest positions.
Another option I also thought about is instead of having a 5-way switch to use a Vol/Vol setup with Push/Push pots for coil splitting the outer coils. One of the two remaining knobs could be changed to a stacked pot so you still retain the 3-band EQ.
This would give you even more options such as
- Split bridge pickup for the "Jaco" sound
- Split neck pickup for a 50s P / soloed J neck type sound
- Full neck + split bridge for a PJ type sound
- Split neck + full bridge for a StingRay HS sound
Although you'd no longer get the inner coil "middle humbucker" option
One could go even further and have parallel/series options like on the Warwick $$, but I think too many options leads to option paralysis.
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Great post. Nice graphics.
Honestly (and, yes, this is being ridiculously picky) I never understood why the side of the pickup with two screws faces upwards. It seems there would be more room for thumb placement on the side with one screw. And if you had the two pickups configured like OP suggests, that would basically be a 5" thumb rest.
Also, if we want to get ridiculous (in a good way) a quad coil in the neck position would be great. That way you could split it like a P bass pickup (staggered). That would make for even more tonal fun!
On the SBMM Ray34 the screws have a little ramp thing. I personally like the way the two screws look though
What’s not to like? This is the most practical and versatile layout.
