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L-2000 & Sterling HH electronics settings?

thehornedone

thehornedone

Sep 7, 2014
87
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#1
I've been trying to research this for about an hour and can't find a clear, consolidated breakdown of these bass's many settings.

It seems like the biggest difference is the L-2000's lack of a single coil setting and the Sterling's lack of a passive setting.

Help me fill in the missing pieces so I can understand this better. I get that the L-2000 has switches for parallel/series and for EQ boost, as well as passive. And I get most of the Sterling, aside from what specifically each switch setting does. I know the single pickup Sterling has a 3-way that does series, parallel, and single coil. I don't see how the HH can get all those options between both pickups with only 5 positions.

L-2000

Knob 1:
Knob 2:
Knob 3:
Switch 1 Position 1: Neck Pickup
Switch 1 Position 2: Both Pickups
Switch 1 Position 3: Bridge Pickup
Switch 2 Position 1: Series
Switch 2 Position 2: Parallel
Switch 3 Position 1: Passive?
Switch 3 Position 2: Active?
Switch 3 Position 3: High EQ boost?


Sterling HH

Knob 1: Volume
Knob 2: High EQ
Knob 3: Mid EQ
Knob 4: Low EQ
5-way Position 1:
5-way Position 2:
5-way Position 3:
5-way Position 4:
5-way Position 5:
 
#3
AFAIR, 'cause I sold my L2000
L-2000

Knob 1: Volume
Knob 2: Low EQ
Knob 3: Treble EQ

Switch 1 Position 1: Neck Pickup
Switch 1 Position 2: Both Pickups
Switch 1 Position 3: Bridge Pickup
Switch 2 Position 1: Series
Switch 2 Position 2: Parallel
Switch 3 Position 1: Passive?
Switch 3 Position 2: Active?
Switch 3 Position 3: High EQ boost?

The rest is correct!

I always thought if you switch it to Series and chose only one PU it would be "single-coil", but now as I think of it... I'm not sure anymore....
 
#4
I'll follow up myself in case anyone else is wondering. I've discovered that the single pickup Sterling has capabilities that the Sterling HH actually doesn't, so I'll add that to the list. After this realization, the single coil Sterling seems more appealing because it actually has more settings I'd use than the HH, which is counter intuitive. I have no way of using a single coil setting or Parallel bridge pickup (which is THE classic MM Bass tone) with the HH Sterling from what I can tell.

L-2000

Knob 1:
Knob 2:
Knob 3:
Switch 1 Position 1: Neck Pickup
Switch 1 Position 2: Both Pickups
Switch 1 Position 3: Bridge Pickup
Switch 2 Position 1: Series
Switch 2 Position 2: Parallel
Switch 3 Position 1: Passive?
Switch 3 Position 2: Active?
Switch 3 Position 3: High EQ boost?


Sterling HH

Knob 1: Volume
Knob 2: High EQ
Knob 3: Mid EQ
Knob 4: Low EQ
5-way Position 1: Neck Pickup
(not sure on the order of the inner 3 positions)
5-way Position 2: Outer Coils
5-way Position 3: Inner Coils
5-way Position 4: Both Pickups
5-way Position 5: Bridge Pickup

Sterling (single coil)

Knob 1: Volume
Knob 2: High EQ
Knob 3: Mid EQ
Knob 4: Low EQ
3-way Position 1: Series
3-way Position 2: Single Coil
3-way Position 3: Parallel
 
#6
DirkP said:
AFAIR, 'cause I sold my L2000
L-2000

Knob 1: Volume
Knob 2: Low EQ
Knob 3: Treble EQ

Switch 1 Position 1: Neck Pickup
Switch 1 Position 2: Both Pickups
Switch 1 Position 3: Bridge Pickup
Switch 2 Position 1: Series
Switch 2 Position 2: Parallel
Switch 3 Position 1: Passive?
Switch 3 Position 2: Active?
Switch 3 Position 3: High EQ boost?

The rest is correct!

I always thought if you switch it to Series and chose only one PU it would be "single-coil", but now as I think of it... I'm not sure anymore....
Click to expand...


Thanks! Yeah, I believe you were mistaken on that based on what I'm reading. I don't think it has a single coil setting stock, but it's a common mod to add a push-pull volume pot for coil splitting.
 
#7
...And here's everything put together. Single pickup Sterling is appealing the most to me in terms of settings, but I need to demo them still. I'm taking the HH Sterling off the table though because of the lack of parallel pickup settings; what an oversight! That's the tone MM basses are known for.

Knob 1: Volume
Knob 2: Low EQ
Knob 3: High EQ
Switch 1 Position 1: Neck Pickup
Switch 1 Position 2: Both Pickups
Switch 1 Position 3: Bridge Pickup
Switch 2 Position 1: Series
Switch 2 Position 2: Parallel
Switch 3 Position 1: Passive
Switch 3 Position 2: Active
Switch 3 Position 3: High EQ boost


Sterling HH

Knob 1: Volume
Knob 2: High EQ
Knob 3: Mid EQ
Knob 4: Low EQ
5-way Position 1: Neck Pickup (series)
5-way Position 2: Inner Coils (series)
5-way Position 3: Both Pickups (parallel) in series with each other -- very curious design on this setting. You'd expect it to be both pickups (series) in parallel with each other, like the mid position on a Les Paul.
5-way Position 4: Outer Coils (series)
5-way Position 5: Bridge Pickup (series)

Sterling (single coil)

Knob 1: Volume
Knob 2: High EQ
Knob 3: Mid EQ
Knob 4: Low EQ
3-way Position 1: Series
3-way Position 2: Single Coil
3-way Position 3: Parallel
 
#8
FWIW - I had an ASAT with K-Mod and own a Sterling 5 HH. The G&L had much more variety but I felt as though only a few of its many tones were usable. I also fumbled around with the switches. It just didn't seem like something you could easily navigate on a dark stage or mid-gig. The Sterling on the other is very intuitive. Blade switch and simple EQ makes switching on the fly easy. With that being said, a good buddy of mine has a H and HS Sterling. He swears by the HS feeling that with the single pup at the neck, it can quickly get him almost any tone he needs. It also sounds great on stage and covers a lot of ground.

Another bass worth looking into the is the Big Al SSS. It has all kinds of buttons and knobs. I personally like mine and haven't found a tone that I would call bad, but like the ASAT or L2000, it will take some time getting used to. Switching on the fly is fairly simple as a each pickup is controlled by one button. Passive mode kills on the Big Al too.
 
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#9
BigBigGuy44 said:
FWIW - I had an ASAT with K-Mod and own a Sterling 5 HH. The G&L had much more variety but I felt as though only a few of its many tones were usable. I also fumbled around with the switches. It just didn't seem like something you could easily navigate on a dark stage or mid-gig. The Sterling on the other is very intuitive. Blade switch and simple EQ makes switching on the fly easy. With that being said, a good buddy of mine has a H and HS Sterling. He swears by the HS feeling that with the single pup at the neck, it can quickly get him almost any tone he needs. It also sounds great on stage and covers a lot of ground.

Another bass worth looking into the is the Big Al SSS. It has all kinds of buttons and knobs. I personally like mine and haven't found a tone that I would call bad, but like the ASAT or L2000, it will take some time getting used to. Switching on the fly is fairly simple as a each pickup is controlled by one button. Passive mode kills on the Big Al too.
Click to expand...


I hear you. That does turn me off a little to the L2000. The "prison of variety" can be a problem with me if there are too many choices. The HS Sterling does have single coil options for the the bridge and neck pickups, but it does NOT have a parallel bridge pickup setting...WHY??? It's so weird to me that the HS and HH Sterlings don't have the option for the classic Stingray setting (parallel bridge humbucker).
 
#10
thehornedone said:
I hear you. That does turn me off a little to the L2000. The "prison of variety" can be a problem with me if there are too many choices. The HS Sterling does have single coil options for the the bridge and neck pickups, but it does NOT have a parallel bridge pickup setting...WHY??? It's so weird to me that the HS and HH Sterlings don't have the option for the classic Stingray setting (parallel bridge humbucker).
Click to expand...

Agreed. It was a weird decision by EBMM. If I could it over, I would go with a Hp but the HH does what I need it to. Oh, and with the L2000, I believe the bass and treble knobs are cut only, which makes it even more confusing when nearly every other bass out there is the opposite. The switching is nice and all but almost too much. Again, maybe a L1500 would have been a better option.
 
#11
thehornedone said:
I've been trying to research this for about an hour and can't find a clear, consolidated breakdown of these bass's many settings.

It seems like the biggest difference is the L-2000's lack of a single coil setting and the Sterling's lack of a passive setting.

Help me fill in the missing pieces so I can understand this better. I get that the L-2000 has switches for parallel/series and for EQ boost, as well as passive. And I get most of the Sterling, aside from what specifically each switch setting does. I know the single pickup Sterling has a 3-way that does series, parallel, and single coil. I don't see how the HH can get all those options between both pickups with only 5 positions.

L-2000

Knob 1:
Knob 2:
Knob 3:
Switch 1 Position 1: Neck Pickup
Switch 1 Position 2: Both Pickups
Switch 1 Position 3: Bridge Pickup
Switch 2 Position 1: Series
Switch 2 Position 2: Parallel
Switch 3 Position 1: Passive?
Switch 3 Position 2: Active?
Switch 3 Position 3: High EQ boost?


Sterling HH

Knob 1: Volume
Knob 2: High EQ
Knob 3: Mid EQ
Knob 4: Low EQ
5-way Position 1:
5-way Position 2:
5-way Position 3:
5-way Position 4:
5-way Position 5:
Click to expand...
This is the control layout for a G&L L-2000/2500

It's a little confusing because it says in the down position for the Active/Passive switch the preamp is turned off. I believe the preamp it refers to is an internal preamp built into the pickups.

Also, on the G&L, the tone controls are Passive (cut only).
 

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#13
BigBigGuy44 said:
FWIW - I had an ASAT with K-Mod and own a Sterling 5 HH. The G&L had much more variety but I felt as though only a few of its many tones were usable. I also fumbled around with the switches. It just didn't seem like something you could easily navigate on a dark stage or mid-gig. The Sterling on the other is very intuitive. Blade switch and simple EQ makes switching on the fly easy. With that being said, a good buddy of mine has a H and HS Sterling. He swears by the HS feeling that with the single pup at the neck, it can quickly get him almost any tone he needs. It also sounds great on stage and covers a lot of ground.

Another bass worth looking into the is the Big Al SSS. It has all kinds of buttons and knobs. I personally like mine and haven't found a tone that I would call bad, but like the ASAT or L2000, it will take some time getting used to. Switching on the fly is fairly simple as a each pickup is controlled by one button. Passive mode kills on the Big Al too.
Click to expand...

This man speaks truth. The Sterling 5 HH has the SAME volume for all positions unlike the Big Al, Sterling HS & L2000 which combined with the pickup switch make things SO easy on stage.

Credentials:

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Stuff I sold

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#15
Very nice collection @Tunaman!

My Sterling 5HH is from the all rosewood neck run offered last year. The neck feels amazing. I sold a Stingray 5 H to get it and haven't looked back since. EBMM in general makes a very solid bass. Their special runs, or PDN models, are usually killer.
 
#16
BigBigGuy44 said:
Very nice collection @Tunaman!

My Sterling 5HH is from the all rosewood neck run offered last year. The neck feels amazing. I sold a Stingray 5 H to get it and haven't looked back since. EBMM in general makes a very solid bass. Their special runs, or PDN models, are usually killer.
Click to expand...

Gigging it tomorrow because without my Shuttlemax 9.2 footswitch I have to do ALL my tone control from my bass & the Sterling 5 HH does tonal changes the BEST of any bass I've ever owned. 2 bands without mids dont work for me, 4 bands are too much to change on the fly (As much as I love my Bongo 5HH), active\passive always has a volume jump. Series to parallel has a volume jump EXCEPT the Sterling (L2000, Big Al, Reflex IME). To be honest, my main player is my Standard jazz as the G string is so damn powerful in the mix... its not that humbucker basses have a weak G, if you look at the LEDs on the mixer its pretty even... its just that live it interferes with the other instruments & gets lost so the Jazz has a VERY clear boost of G string volume.

So take all that epic rant & do what you want with it... and this random picture of the PDN birdseye

?tn=-1030654890.jpg
 
#17
I have a EBMM Sterling 5H and a 5HS. Both are great bases. The 5HS is my #1 bass, I usually run it in the second position (neck PU and rear coil of bridge PU). The HS is a Ball Family Reserve with a rosewood neck. Probably my favorite neck of all time.
 
#19
I've played but not owned any EBMM's so I can't really comment on them but I really like the L-series electronics. I've found the switches & knobs to be easier to navigate when try to switch between more thumpy/less zingy and less thumpy/more zingy - the two sounds I generally want in a bass - vs tweezing 5ish knobs on 2 pickup hi-lo- sweepable mid basses.
 
#20
thehornedone said:
I'll follow up myself in case anyone else is wondering. I've discovered that the single pickup Sterling has capabilities that the Sterling HH actually doesn't, so I'll add that to the list. After this realization, the single coil Sterling seems more appealing because it actually has more settings I'd use than the HH, which is counter intuitive. I have no way of using a single coil setting or Parallel bridge pickup (which is THE classic MM Bass tone) with the HH Sterling from what I can tell.
Click to expand...

You are correct that only the Sterling H has the parallel bridge setting, which is the setting of a Stingray H. The Sterlimgs use mainly series pickup settings and Stingrays use mainly parallel settings. This is a devious and clever plot to get you to buy several of their basses. I have an import Sterling H (SB14) and would love to try out the Sterling HS.

Otto
 
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