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Love/ hate relationship

LadyLoveStingRay5

LadyLoveStingRay5

Jul 17, 2004
15,253
41,282
#1
Some of my all time favorite bassist used Stingray basses. Louis Johnson, Bernard Edwards , Paul S Denman,Oscar Alston, Allen McGrier, Nate Watts , John Deacon. I just live to listen to their Stingray playing. I'm especially fond of the 2band Classic Ray tones.

But I can't stand the way these basses feel in my hands. I'm just not comfortable playing them. The pickup placement is too far back and I like to rest my hand on the pickup when I play if I'm not muting the strings with my palm. The necks are too chunky for my small hands , they seem to be heavy the majority of the time . And I find the bodies too cumbersome .

Since they are uncomfortable for me , I can't get good tone .
So I'm stuck just enjoying listening to others play them .

Do you have this kind of love/hate relationship with any bass?
 
#3
LadyLoveStingRay5 said:
Some of my all time favorite bassist used Stingray basses. Louis Johnson, Bernard Edwards , Paul S Denman,Oscar Alston, Allen McGrier, Nate Watts , John Deacon. I just live to listen to their Stingray playing. I'm especially fond of the 2band Classic Ray tones.

But I can't stand the way these basses feel in my hands. I'm just not comfortable playing them. The pickup placement is too far back and I like to rest my hand on the pickup when I play if I'm not muting the strings with my palm. The necks are too chunky for my small hands , they seem to be heavy the majority of the time . And I find the bodies too cumbersome .

Since they are uncomfortable for me , I can't get good tone .
So I'm stuck just enjoying listening to others play them .

Do you have this kind of love/hate relationship with any bass?
Click to expand...

Have you tried a Sterling? Sounds like it will be right up your alley.

I have that kind of relationship with every great bass manufacturer that only makes narrow spaced basses for the tiny people like you. :spit: :D

G&L, MusicMan, Ric, etc. make great basses I would love to buy/own/try. But my big hotdogs would get bound up in the tiny gaps between those strings.
 
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#7
I prefer Sterlings to Stingrays for the same reason... Ergonomics. I get wrist discomfort playing a wide and/or chunky neck.

I can tolerate a P-bass neck with a 1.65" nut if it's not a baseball bat (as they usually are), but a 1.75" nut is a deal breaker.

I have a Jazz neck on my P.

@two fingers - You must have a pair of catcher's mitts. :) I don't recall anyone ever calling a Rickenbacker neck 'tiny'. They've got one of the widest necks out there, with almost no taper from body to nut. The neck on mine wasn't very thick front-to-back, and had a pretty flat contour, but I couldn't get used to the width and the string spacing (especially when playing closer to the headstock) and I don't have small hands.
 
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#8
Mosstone said:
I prefer Sterlings to Stingrays for the same reason... Ergonomics.
Click to expand...

I had a StingRay for awhile and I loved the tone but it felt so unwieldy to me (didn't help that mine weight just a hair shy of 11 lbs). I kept wanting to love it but it just wasn't happening. On a whim I went to a local GC that had a used EBMM Sterling and the instant I started playing it I fell in love. I promptly bought the Sterling, sold the Ray and then bought another Sterling!

It's my all-time favorite bass thus far, only problem is the damn G string barely comes through in a mix and after researching a bit this seems like a pretty common problem (happens on both my Sterlings). I messed with the poles/pickup height to where it's manageable, but I can't seem to get it just right.

In any case, best neck in the business! I also really like the compact feel.
 
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#11
Mosstone said:
I prefer Sterlings to Stingrays for the same reason... Ergonomics. I get wrist discomfort playing a wide and/or chunky neck.

I can tolerate a P-bass neck with a 1.65" nut if it's not a baseball bat (as they usually are), but a 1.75" nut is a deal breaker.

I have a Jazz neck on my P.

@two fingers - You must have a pair of catcher's mitts. :) I don't recall anyone ever calling a Rickenbacker neck 'tiny'. They've got one of the widest necks out there, with almost no taper from body to nut. The neck on mine wasn't very thick front-to-back, and had a pretty flat contour, but I couldn't get used to the width and the string spacing (especially when playing closer to the headstock) and I don't have small hands.
Click to expand...

Sorry. For clarification I mostly play 5 strings. 19mm 5 strings are most comfortable to me. All of those makers are from 17-18mm. Ric only did a handful relatively speaking and they look like the 4 string neck to me.
 
#12
two fingers said:
Sorry. For clarification I mostly play 5 strings. 19mm 5 strings are most comfortable to me. All of those makers are from 17-18mm. Ric only did a handful relatively speaking and they look like the 4 string neck to me.
Click to expand...

Ah... I see.

I've never seen a 5-string Ric, except in photos, but it wouldn't surprise me if they used the same neck as the 4-stringers. My second biggest gripe with Rickenbacker is that they use the same size neck on their 12-strings guitars as they do on their 6-strings. I owned one once, and I could not play the damn thing without muting strings. Drove me nuts! The only good thing about that experience was I actually made a profit when I sold it, less than a year after buying it.

@Ric5 has converted a few 4-string Rics into 5-strings and it always made perfect sense to me, since I always thought those fretboards were too wide for a 4-string.
 
#13
Badwater said:
Perhaps the MM Sterling is the best option for a MM sound. As well as a custom built thumb rest made out of clear poly carbon material with stainless steel screws.
Click to expand...

Kind of a catch 22. It would suck to put one of those unsightly (but useful to some) thumb rests on it only to find out you still didn't like it. I think they make rests that don't require screws now.
 
#15
TDR1138 said:
Jazzes.

They're pretty. Other people can make them sound great. But whenever I play them, they sound meh to me and the necks are too skinny.
Click to expand...

I'm the exact opposite, I love the sound and feel of them but they body is far too big and they are just ugly as hell. In my opinion, of course. :D
 
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#16
There are many basses where I really like the sound, but cant get along with their ergonomics, Stingrays being one of them. This has became much worse after playing headless basses, I really prefer the way they hang on a strap. So many basses feel neck heavy to me now...I played on one of these older Alembic Long Scale Series Basses once. What a sound! And I do love their unique design and the thicker neck felt great. But I could never play one of those standing up with a strap. Also I could probably not afford one ;-)
 
#17
Betrayer_Bass said:
they body is far too big and they are just ugly as hell
Click to expand...

monty-python-no-o.gif


Blasphemy!!!! will be punished!!!:D:laugh::roflmao:;)

monty-python-stoning-o.gif


may the bass be with you:)

Wise(b)ass
 
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#18
Double bass. I dig that sound. But i can't stand playing one. To physical, the exact opposite of comfort for me. And stingrays too: i love sounds guys achieve with. But i don't feel well playing it. Don't like the neck, pickup position, general feel. Not for me.
 
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