Leo Fender's Stingray Pickup positioning and design.

I find it hard to believe Leo was into funk. Remember, the Ray came with string mutes.
A Ray can do a lot of things. I use flats on mine and use it for blues and country. Ever heard Pino in his fretless?

 

Leo:Funk:Hahahahahaha! That's a new one; he was a C&W boy through and through IIRC.

Speaking of fretless Stingrays, check out some Patrick O'Hearn.

 

If you look at the period when the Stingray first appeared, a lot of funk and disco was up and coming. Mr.Fender was clearly watching and moving with the times, creating a bass that would have a very different sound to what he'd previously created. It was a damned good move which made the bass more prominent in band sounds, too. Definitely an important piece of our bass history.

I learned a lot from playing in some of the UK's top big bands, whether I was playing Double Bass or Electric Bass, in that singers and wind/brass players want to be able to hear every frequency of the bass, the overtones, naturally recurring harmonics. It's how they pitch - By listening to the bass player - Maybe Leo wanted a bass that did this very job, opening up the higher end frequencies?

I've read a lot about the inception of the Stingray, but there's never been a documented concrete reason for "that" amazing sound.

Edit: I've just watched a video session with Sterling Ball, and he comments that the Stingray came out so bright, not because of Louis Johnson, but because he (Leo Fender) was very hard of hearing. So obviously he had lost a lot of the high frequency from his hearing. He used to listen to the frequencies of the instruments by putting a screwdriver against the bridge rollers and to the catilage of his ear.

So there's your real answer.

 

Have you ever listened to Sade? Diamond Life is a great example.

Yup Leo was a C & W lover, but he always listened to the needs of the players around him.

 

Roll back the treble and play closer to the neck and you will get "smooth deep bass without that aggressive growl and trebly sting"

 

If you know that one of very first StingRay went to Louis Johnson, it might well be "designed for funk" Leo infact wanted to do something new,so humbucker on a bridge position and active electronics were a great idea,dont you think?

 

FYI,

The guy who played on the Lawerence Welk show in the 70's doubled on upright and tuba. I was impressed to see him sporting a burst Stingray in
'76 for the "rock" stuff. (I had just traded my Ric for a Ray).

The Welk Orchestra was far from a funk band (though very good).

 

Maybe after the Precision, and the Jazz he just wanted to do something different?

Isn't that enough, why are we reading into this further than that?

 

IMO the original Rays and the Ernie Ball versions sound different. To me the originals have a thicker and less twangy tone. From samples and other recordings I have heard, I like the original tone better. Are you basing this assessment off the Leo Rays or EB?

 

Yeah, IIRC Louis Johnson was the celebrity artist (Brothers Johnson were charting and Louis was working with Quincy Jones on Michael Jackson recordings) Leo worked with on the original Sting Ray.

 

I don't think funk was Leo's target. And I also thought I read that Forrest White had a big hand in the bass' development too. What Leo and Forrest DID know how to do was find the sweet spot, moving the pickup around the test jig until they got it. And Leo surely did listen to everyone's input.

 

Which fret is it sweet for?

 

I always thought it was the leprechauns who helped Leo come up with the Ray by guiding him to the end of the double rainbow where the Stingray design was found amongst the unicorns and pots of gold.

 

This reputed to be the Ray prototype

 

My preEB Ray still has plenty of sizzle on the top end, maybe about the same as an EB Ray but I do think my preEB has a lot more bottom end than any EB Ray I've owned. However, there could be a lot of factors at play here since the pickup, preamp, strings, bridge and maybe even the woods are different between the two.

 

The strings on the bridge are going across straight...I thought all the old MM bridges had the strings coming across as skewed angle?

 

Yes, except the new Classic StingRays are a throwback to the original. Successful, IMO; I love mine.

 

I just thought they did it that way to be different from fenders old designs. and then he designed the preamp to enhance the bass and treble.

 

Cool thread subed.