How To Change A Stingray Pickup?

[Cutter8]

DON'T change the pickup! Trust me, it won't make much of a difference.

The pickup itself is one of the least important factors in a Stingray (and most active basses in general). As long as it's positioned properly and it's a good-quality pickup (which it is if you have a MM Stingray) then just leave it be.

Here's 4 things that will have a much higher impact on your tone (and 2 of them don't cost money):

1) Adjust the pickup height - Stingray's are known for having a HUGE E and A string but then lack something in the other 2, especially the 2-band Stingrays. You can lower the "bass" side of the pickup or increase the "treble" side of the pickup (or both if you want to)

2) Adjust your action - Stingray's are very sensitive if you have a lower action. Since it's a HIGH clarity bass, everything you do will be heard - that includes fret buzzing. Me personally I love the Stingray's slight fret buzzing when digging in, it seems "ugly" solo but in a mix it really gives you that attack to punch through. But some people might not like it. So adjust your action accordingly.

3) Change your strings - as I said, the Stingray's are a high clarity bass that really reflect everything you put on them, moreso than most basses. Strings are essential to get the sound you're looking for in your 'Ray. Now it all depends on what tone you want, I'd need more info, but strings really make a HUGE difference on the Stingray bass.

4) Change the preamp - last resort option, if none of the 3 above work for you, a preamp change will have a much bigger impact on your tone than a pickup change. There's plenty of preamp options around and all of them are slightly different.

p.s: this goes without saying on active basses, but make sure the battery is working fine. if it's not, you'll hear it - your bass volume will be much lower and even when you're playing clean your tone will sound like it's distorted.

+1 ^^^. Kyuuga pretty much covered everything you need to know.

 

[Basil007]

The wiring has been covered correctly above. What you will find, however, is that there is absolutely no slack in the connection to the preamp. This will force you to clip, rather than unsolder, the wires. Then it’s a relatively straightforward job to extend the wires from the existing preamp to give you some play when you install the new pickup.

I just undertook a swap out of the stock (4 knob) preamp for a John East preamp and this was my experience. Either my bass was an oddity or the magic of automated assembly allows for incredibly tight tolerances when it was assembled. The only wires that had some slack were those from the preamp to the jack.

Thanks for the warning.

 

[Basil007]

Dumb question, but have you changed the battery? Also, the classic uses the 2 band preamp which will sound different from the 3 band which most folks are familiar with. Only mentioning that because you may run into a similar issue with a new pickup.

I have changed the battery. It's weird.....Much of the time the bass sounds great. It's only on occasion that I'm not satisfied with the sound. I'm taking it on a gig tonight.....We'll see.

 

[Basil007]

DON'T change the pickup! Trust me, it won't make much of a difference.

The pickup itself is one of the least important factors in a Stingray (and most active basses in general). As long as it's positioned properly and it's a good-quality pickup (which it is if you have a MM Stingray) then just leave it be.

Here's 4 things that will have a much higher impact on your tone (and 2 of them don't cost money):

1) Adjust the pickup height - Stingray's are known for having a HUGE E and A string but then lack something in the other 2, especially the 2-band Stingrays. You can lower the "bass" side of the pickup or increase the "treble" side of the pickup (or both if you want to)

2) Adjust your action - Stingray's are very sensitive if you have a lower action. Since it's a HIGH clarity bass, everything you do will be heard - that includes fret buzzing. Me personally I love the Stingray's slight fret buzzing when digging in, it seems "ugly" solo but in a mix it really gives you that attack to punch through. But some people might not like it. So adjust your action accordingly.

3) Change your strings - as I said, the Stingray's are a high clarity bass that really reflect everything you put on them, moreso than most basses. Strings are essential to get the sound you're looking for in your 'Ray. Now it all depends on what tone you want, I'd need more info, but strings really make a HUGE difference on the Stingray bass.

4) Change the preamp - last resort option, if none of the 3 above work for you, a preamp change will have a much bigger impact on your tone than a pickup change. There's plenty of preamp options around and all of them are slightly different.

p.s: this goes without saying on active basses, but make sure the battery is working fine. if it's not, you'll hear it - your bass volume will be much lower and even when you're playing clean your tone will sound like it's distorted.

Thanks for that. I have lowered the bass side of the pickup drastically. Without doing that I have to change my attack considerably when playing on the E string. I've have 3 different sets of decent strings on it and the situation is the same.


I've got the action low........Just short of fret buzz. As I said.......The neck is truly wonderful. The bass feels really good.

I've made no adjustments on my other Stingray and it always sounds great. It's an HH and it doesn't even know how to sound bad.

 

[Basil007]

maybe it's the room you're playing in. I mean if it sounds good sometimes and other times it doesn't...

You might be right. I have a gig in a Church and, for some odd reason, it's a tough room to get a good bass sound in.

I'm almost never 100% satisfied with my sound in any room. When I'm playing outdoors I can usually get the bass to sound just the way I want it to. I guess that's the bass players dilemma.

 

[Ric5]

The pickup is passive. Its connected to an active preamp.

Unsolder old pickup - solder new pickup.

what he said

 

[ofajen]

View attachment 3581324 Slightly off topic, but one thing I absolutely love about my Musicman Stingray 5, is the 3-way switch, which allows for series, single cool, & parallel modes with the flip of a switch. Simple, but brilliant idea, it’s a tonal beast!

How old is that Stingray? Are you sure about the middle setting? Unlike the Sterling H, which has series, single coil (in series with dummy) and parallel, the current Stingray 5 has series, series in line with filter and parallel. Also, the execution of the switch, at least on the Sterling, is not so simple as one might think. All the coil leads are switched thru differential input amps and the switch simultaneously adjusts level setting resistors downstream from the input amps.

Oh, yeah. None of this should deter someone working on a Stingray 4 (without a switch). That is simply a two coil pickup wired in parallel into an ordinary preamp input.

Otto

 

[Afc70]

How old is that Stingray? Are you sure about the middle setting? Unlike the Sterling H, which has series, single coil (in series with dummy) and parallel, the current Stingray 5 has series, series in line with filter and parallel. Also, the execution of the switch, at least on the Sterling, is not so simple as one might think. All the coil leads are switched thru differential input amps and the switch simultaneously adjusts level setting resistors downstream from the input amps.

Oh, yeah. None of this should deter someone working on a Stingray 4 (without a switch). That is simply a two coil pickup wired in parallel into an ordinary preamp input.

Otto

It’s a 1988 Stingray 5.. As far as I know, it’s series (switch towards neck)
then single coil (switch in middle) then for the classic Stingray tone, parallel (switch towards bridge)- that’s what I’ve read anyhow. Killer sounding basses indeed!

 

[Basil007]

Hi everybody

There is a new development in the situation with my wonderful Stingray Classic.

I played a gig with it last night and the sound was sublime. Every note (except for a couple of mistakes) sounded like the Platonic ideal of a bass note.

I've decided to keep the stock pickup and take the chance of it sounding bad at times.

Thanks everyone for the intelligent advice. I'm sorry to have put you to the trouble.

 

[ofajen]

It’s a 1988 Stingray 5.. As far as I know, it’s series (switch towards neck)
then single coil (switch in middle) then for the classic Stingray tone, parallel (switch towards bridge)- that’s what I’ve read anyhow. Killer sounding basses indeed!

Got it. The original SR5 had single coil in series with a phantom coil as the middle setting. It seems that changed to series plus filter in 2008 (and the phantom coil was eliminated).

Otto