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You know what, putting Jaco in line with those favorite " bassplayers" of yours offends my reasonable and objective definition of a professional bassist. A ton of others? Yeah, maybe.
I love both and own both.
Stingray is my home though.
Hand placement makes a big difference but getting to know the Eq will be the make or break. Don’t be afraid to really turn those knobs.
I say Stingray
Stingray is my home though.
Hand placement makes a big difference but getting to know the Eq will be the make or break. Don’t be afraid to really turn those knobs.
I say Stingray
- Oct 7, 2000
- 18,619
- 38,939
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
I think you already know what ya gotta do, but I love to Talkbasses, especially when its Stingrays and Jazz 
.
I own 2 Jazz bass, A Stingray, and a Sterling HS 5. I've owned a Stingray HS and a 4 string Sterling H.
I felt (feel) a lot like you. I get a Stingray in my hands and I want to play, play and play some more. It just feels and sounds right to me.
With that being said, I get the allure of Jazz bass as I played those exclusively for a while (was in a Zep tribute for 5 years). My take on the Jazz is that it feels nice, sounds nice, you can get some gooey mellow sounds out of it, and it easily fits in just about any mix without any sweat. For me however they might just as well be single pickup basses as I've never soloed the bridge pickup. The Jaco sound doesn't fit in ANYTHING I ever play, and I just don't like the sound of the bridge pickup soloed. There's no oomph, as far as I can hear.
The Stingray however is a different story. I wouldn't consider it a bridge pickup as someone above stated. It sits in a much more funky sweet spot that allows for the deep end to get in. What I love about the Stingray (and Sterlings) is they get that funky, rubbery, burpy punch that you will never get out of Jazz. I think the bass in RHCP Aeroplane kind of nails the sound I talking about. And then there's this that you said...
As cliche as I know its become, I'm certain that most of our tone is in our fingers. Which is a moot point because then it makes all basses equally versatile, BUT - I play in a wedding band, and I get some super sweet thumpy tones out my Stingray. We do some Sinatra and other jazz standards, we do G'nR, we do EDM, Hip Hop, funk... and nobody in my band is complaining. They in fact love the Stingray more than any other bass I've used, and I've used everything from a Hofner, to a Ric, Bongo, P, Warwick, and on and on.
Can ya tell I love Stingrays ?
Another note. My original Stingray was a 2 pickup HS. That bass was hands down the most versatile bass I ever played. If you're not afraid to use cut in the EQ you can get an HS to sound like anything you want it to. The Stingray I'm using now is a short scale, so it has 3 different variations on the pickup. I'm not sure what the electronics are like on a standard Stingray, but I believe most of them are active - giving even more versatility.
There's more I can probably say but I gotta go to bed. My suggestion:
Buy a Stingray.
Save some money and buy a Jazz.
Keep em both or sell the one you never use.
I'd get the Stingray first though cuz from what you've said, I can almost guarantee you'll wish you did .
.I own 2 Jazz bass, A Stingray, and a Sterling HS 5. I've owned a Stingray HS and a 4 string Sterling H.
I felt (feel) a lot like you. I get a Stingray in my hands and I want to play, play and play some more. It just feels and sounds right to me.
With that being said, I get the allure of Jazz bass as I played those exclusively for a while (was in a Zep tribute for 5 years). My take on the Jazz is that it feels nice, sounds nice, you can get some gooey mellow sounds out of it, and it easily fits in just about any mix without any sweat. For me however they might just as well be single pickup basses as I've never soloed the bridge pickup. The Jaco sound doesn't fit in ANYTHING I ever play, and I just don't like the sound of the bridge pickup soloed. There's no oomph, as far as I can hear.
The Stingray however is a different story. I wouldn't consider it a bridge pickup as someone above stated. It sits in a much more funky sweet spot that allows for the deep end to get in. What I love about the Stingray (and Sterlings) is they get that funky, rubbery, burpy punch that you will never get out of Jazz. I think the bass in RHCP Aeroplane kind of nails the sound I talking about. And then there's this that you said...
As cliche as I know its become, I'm certain that most of our tone is in our fingers. Which is a moot point because then it makes all basses equally versatile, BUT - I play in a wedding band, and I get some super sweet thumpy tones out my Stingray. We do some Sinatra and other jazz standards, we do G'nR, we do EDM, Hip Hop, funk... and nobody in my band is complaining. They in fact love the Stingray more than any other bass I've used, and I've used everything from a Hofner, to a Ric, Bongo, P, Warwick, and on and on.
Can ya tell I love Stingrays
?Another note. My original Stingray was a 2 pickup HS. That bass was hands down the most versatile bass I ever played. If you're not afraid to use cut in the EQ you can get an HS to sound like anything you want it to. The Stingray I'm using now is a short scale, so it has 3 different variations on the pickup. I'm not sure what the electronics are like on a standard Stingray, but I believe most of them are active - giving even more versatility.
There's more I can probably say but I gotta go to bed. My suggestion:
Buy a Stingray.
Save some money and buy a Jazz.
Keep em both or sell the one you never use.
I'd get the Stingray first though cuz from what you've said, I can almost guarantee you'll wish you did
.
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Stingrays are awesome, but I would get a typical J first, and learn how to manipulate it. They are one of the industry standards, and getting one to sound like you want it to sound should be something you learn how to do, as a bass player.
It sounds like you just like the heat and compression of the Stingray, from the active electronics. But you can get a similar response from a Jazz Bass with some simple amp tweaks. Run your gain higher, for one thing.
That said, based on what you said about the bass you have, I would be tempted to say that you should just keep using that. What is unreliable about it?
It sounds like you just like the heat and compression of the Stingray, from the active electronics. But you can get a similar response from a Jazz Bass with some simple amp tweaks. Run your gain higher, for one thing.
That said, based on what you said about the bass you have, I would be tempted to say that you should just keep using that. What is unreliable about it?
- Oct 7, 2000
- 18,619
- 38,939
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist: Musicman basses
LOL... I just read back the other responses after posting mine.
I couldda just said, "What everybody else said."
I couldda just said, "What everybody else said."
I've been playing for 36 years. 20 years ago, after spending most of my playing time on jazz basses, I started gassing for a stingray. I saved my pennies for 2 years and bought a beautiful American stingray 5 in 2002. I liked it and it sounded great. Musicman basses are probably the best massed produced instruments out there. After 2 years, I started missing a jazz bass and realized I like the feel of them better. I sold the Stingray and got another jazz because I couldn't afford to keep both. I haven't looked back except now I also like P basses. (another long story)
Bottom line, get what feels best for you. You can manipulate the sound to get close to other basses with the right eq and technique.
Bottom line, get what feels best for you. You can manipulate the sound to get close to other basses with the right eq and technique.
Yup, what this guy says. I think the moral of the story is get what you want now, see how you like it, and perhaps what you need/want now might change over time but that's just the way it is. That's how we grow and learn.
StingRays are versatile, people that cannot do anything with them are not versatile and need a quick lesson on knob turning and listening.
A StingRay can serve anywhere a Jazz bass can serve, but a Jazz cannot do all of what a StingRay can because it's passive (tone control can only take away, it cannot add).
StingRays have been very successfully used in every genre and there are plenty of hugely popular bands/players to prove it.
A Jazz bass is capable of sounding very nasaly, that is a sound that lots of people chase in a Jazz bass.
Your gut is rarely wrong. I think you have your answer.
This depends on what you mean by "versatile". If you mean being able to sound like lots of other basses then the Stingray is one of the least versatile basses ever. If "versatile" means sounding right for a huge variety of genres and musical contexts then I will argue that a simple single pickup/3-band Stingray is *extremely* versatile and will work for any context where an electric bass is called for. People who can only get "nasaly" out of a 'Ray IME haven't put the time into learning the 3-band. Just un-goosing the treble ain't gonna do it.
I go out the door with a 4H 3-band confident it will sit fine with any electric musical situation.
I hear much talk about the necessity of a “versatile” bass.
I’ve never needed that much versatility in an instrument.
what for?
Al I need myself is a bass that will give a good finger style tone, a good slap tone, and good pick tone.
The rest I can do with my hands.
Both a stingray and/or a jazz bass will do all of those. They are both classic instruments.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the specifics of each bass. Choose the the instrument that feels and sounds the best to your hands and ears, then Get to know it and learn how to “play” it. (Not saying that you need to learn to play bass, but learn what it takes on your part to get all the useable tones out of either)
All the sounds are in each one . A bit of time with either is all it takes be able to get the sounds out.
I’ve never needed that much versatility in an instrument.
what for?
Al I need myself is a bass that will give a good finger style tone, a good slap tone, and good pick tone.
The rest I can do with my hands.
Both a stingray and/or a jazz bass will do all of those. They are both classic instruments.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the specifics of each bass. Choose the the instrument that feels and sounds the best to your hands and ears, then Get to know it and learn how to “play” it. (Not saying that you need to learn to play bass, but learn what it takes on your part to get all the useable tones out of either)
All the sounds are in each one . A bit of time with either is all it takes be able to get the sounds out.
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I'm surprised that no one suggested getting a P-Bass instead (yet) 
I played both for many years. I subjectively think that a Jazz Bass would theoretically be a better choice if you are going to own a single bass. It can cover a lot of sonic ground, and lean towards the P-Bass and StingRay territory if needed. Won't sound the same, obviously, just "lean towards". StingRay is more of a special purpose instrument to me; YMMV.
However; my humble experience tells me that in practice, a happy musician will usually make better music than a frustrated musician, regardless of what he/she is playing. Unless his/her gear is extremely inappropriate, obviously. So if the StingRay makes you very happy and Jazz does not, get the StingRay.
There is nothing wrong with owning multiple instruments for sonic versatility either.
I played both for many years. I subjectively think that a Jazz Bass would theoretically be a better choice if you are going to own a single bass. It can cover a lot of sonic ground, and lean towards the P-Bass and StingRay territory if needed. Won't sound the same, obviously, just "lean towards". StingRay is more of a special purpose instrument to me; YMMV.
However; my humble experience tells me that in practice, a happy musician will usually make better music than a frustrated musician, regardless of what he/she is playing. Unless his/her gear is extremely inappropriate, obviously. So if the StingRay makes you very happy and Jazz does not, get the StingRay.
There is nothing wrong with owning multiple instruments for sonic versatility either.
For OP in particular Ray. But generally - I'll advise Jazz. The only reason why the Ray is more versatile is because of the pre-amp. Drop a comparable active pre-amp in the Jazz bass and it can go places. Ray will be more consistent quality wise though
I was in the band that Stan Ridgway (Wall of Voodoo) used when he came here and the first thing he told me when I brought my SR-5 was if I had a Jazz or Precision. Except for really loud bands, many drummers were not keen on that bass. I think I know how to EQ because I had a Pedulla as well as a Yamaha TRB6 - active pres as well. The SR5 had a baked in sound that was core and did not work for some folks. I eventually sold it.
I just played my passive Jazz bass tonight and I can get so much out of it. I had a Radial pre if I needed an active boosted sound but I did not need it. The Slinky string need replacement I thought but the bass still delivered. I have a John East pre-amp which I have bought 2 years ago but I still see no need to drop it in
I was in the band that Stan Ridgway (Wall of Voodoo) used when he came here and the first thing he told me when I brought my SR-5 was if I had a Jazz or Precision. Except for really loud bands, many drummers were not keen on that bass. I think I know how to EQ because I had a Pedulla as well as a Yamaha TRB6 - active pres as well. The SR5 had a baked in sound that was core and did not work for some folks. I eventually sold it.
I just played my passive Jazz bass tonight and I can get so much out of it. I had a Radial pre if I needed an active boosted sound but I did not need it. The Slinky string need replacement I thought but the bass still delivered. I have a John East pre-amp which I have bought 2 years ago but I still see no need to drop it in
As a guy that owns Jazz basses, a Stingray, and a G&L ASAT (basically, an L2K with a tele body), if I were to use any of these just for classic funk, it would be the Jazz.......for complete overall versatility in a variety situation, I play my Jazzes (or my G&L, but she's currently retired atm )
But, like all these types of threads: Thats me....you do you
)But, like all these types of threads: Thats me....you do you
wmhill
Inactive
- Aug 20, 2012
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The P=bass is the white bread of basses, it does the job ok and many people don't want anything different/better
the Stingray is more like a freshly baked artisan bread from a great bakery. Some people like the better things in life.
the Stingray is more like a freshly baked artisan bread from a great bakery. Some people like the better things in life.
I have both. The jazz is prettier and sounds great in my bedroom. The stingray is heavier and sounds better in the FOH.
The Stingray gets more playing time.
The Stingray gets more playing time.
I picked up a Jazz bass a little over year ago because I was after growly and aggressive classic rock tone. I had E street band's Garry Tallent sound on Born in the USA in the back of my head. Well, after going for it and beeing happy I first learned that his signature bass is a active short scale, and that he played " a Music Man " on Born in the USA. Go figure, I'd quess this is about the instrument not beeing the main deal, but the voice you hear in your head, which will lead your hands to satisfy your imagination. A jazz bass fits me physically really well, but I definently would love to try out a Stingray. If you feel great with a Stingray, I'd quess you will sound like anything you want to after some initial getting used to-perioid.
