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MM Stingray vs Fender Jazz???

Stingray or Jazz

  • Total voters
    438
#41
I just spent the summer re-vamping an older bass of mine. I gave it a new paint job, replaced all the electronics, re-fretted and did the inlays over, even went extreme and installed ferrules for a thru-body design for my 5th and 4th strings. I get loads of complements, but no reacts to my playing until I strap on my Jazz. Like Joelb said, "they have a way of cutting through the mix..." that's my recording bass. It's so articulate! I almost feel like I should have saved my time and money creating my dream bass and found an original Jazz from back in the day.

joelb79 said:
Well, from my experience, it is really apples to oranges except for one simple fact. I would not bring my Musicman into the studio and expect it to be well received every time. In fact, i've recorded countless times with a musicman and its only really worked 1 out of 6 times perfectly.

To be honest, I shunned off Fenders for a very long time. I liked the musicman looks, the tone I got playing live. The necks are wonderful. The design is well thought out. But all that changed when I bought a Fender Jazz for $200. Since that fateful day I've found that Jazzes have a deeper tone. They have the ability to cut through a mix just the same by favoring the bridge pickup. They record well just about every time. They are always received well and I've never lost a gig playing one. Plus there are so many options to mod them to get your tone that its insane. With a musicman, your stuck with their tone, and their ideas. Having a Jazz opens up a world of possibilities.

So, my 2 cents. If you have to have just one bass, it should be a Jazz.
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#42
A frettless jazz it the best jazz... So if you have one of them you may want the diversity. A SR live seems to be a bit more in it's environment. NOW the con is that as a player, similar necks help playiing a fretless incredibly. I have a Jazz Americn V, a VM fretless but if I think I need a third to get a "rock" bass, and it might be a SR. But a Warwick V will probably out character it in the end.
 
#45
correct me if im wrong as I dont know a great deal about them, but is a HH with a switch a stirling?? i cant see any other diffrences between them other then the switch.. I could and probably am wrong??
 
#46
All the HH models (and HS models) have switches. It switches between pickup locations:

HH Ray - [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
HS Ray - [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
H Sterling - [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
HH Sterling - [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
HS Sterling - [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

True, the H sterling also has a switch (as you can see above), but thats for series/parallel with the single pickup. Stirlings have different pickups from Stingrays, i think they might also have different preamps, but im not sure. The body shape is different and the neck profile is different.
 
#47
I used to tour with a guitar band playing heavy britpop in the Kinks/clash/pistols vein. I had a 3 band ray with a maple board and a 70s jazz. Live I tended to opt for the Ray, it felt right for the sound we were making. But for recording I would always go J Bass - I found my Ray had an annoying tone in the studio unless I was going for a seriously metallic/ clacky thing. Also, to my ears, J Basses have a lot more going on in terms of harmonic colour and warmth.

I would say buy both if you could afford it, but if you're going for one, get the J Bass.

C
 
#48
Cairobill said:
I used to tour with a guitar band playing heavy britpop in the Kinks/clash/pistols vein. I had a 3 band ray with a maple board and a 70s jazz. Live I tended to opt for the Ray, it felt right for the sound we were making. But for recording I would always go J Bass - I found my Ray had an annoying tone in the studio unless I was going for a seriously metallic/ clacky thing. Also, to my ears, J Basses have a lot more going on in terms of harmonic colour and warmth.

I would say buy both if you could afford it, but if you're going for one, get the J Bass.

C
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Well ive got a fretless Jazz already so hummmm...

Yeah i could afford it, im one of the lucky b**t**ds who's young with no responsibilities and has a stupidly high paid job for doing hardly anything at all. (hense me sat in this forum most of the working day) Might start on the Stringray and pick up a Jazz next payday if I feel the need for it. if I can get both for half price 2nd hand in good nick, im sorted really, saves me blowing £1200 on a Stingray new. Althou I do really llike the Blue Dawn version for £1500. Bahh.. mo money mo problems! I should be saving for a deposit on a house!!:hmm:
 
#50
Jobiebass said:
Well ive got a fretless Jazz already so hummmm...

Yeah i could afford it, im one of the lucky b**t**ds who's young with no responsibilities and has a stupidly high paid job for doing hardly anything at all. (hense me sat in this forum most of the working day) Might start on the Stringray and pick up a Jazz next payday if I feel the need for it. if I can get both for half price 2nd hand in good nick, im sorted really, saves me blowing £1200 on a Stingray new. Althou I do really llike the Blue Dawn version for £1500. Bahh.. mo money mo problems! I should be saving for a deposit on a house!!:hmm:
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Have to agree, second hand is they key . . .

Mine second hand still had the plastic on the pickguard and the tags on the headstock.
 
#51
As a fellow Brit I can safely say that buying second hand from the States (particularly TB) is the way to do it. The selection is greater, the pound is very strong, an environment like talkbass is safe, and on a mid price bass like a stingray or J Bass (US of course) the customs is pretty easy on the pocket. You can also get people to send using USPS which works out at around 50 quid or so. C
 
#53
OH NOOOOOOOOOOO

went to a bass shop last night and picked up a rip off stingray to check out the neck as it was a similer size (wasnt sub or OLP) felt HORRIBLE. im driving to the other side of town to a better shop to play on a propper Stingray tonight, but if the size is anything like that rip off one.. I think my dreams are going to be shattered.
 
#55
Jobiebass said:
OH NOOOOOOOOOOO

went to a bass shop last night and picked up a rip off stingray to check out the neck as it was a similer size (wasnt sub or OLP) felt HORRIBLE. im driving to the other side of town to a better shop to play on a propper Stingray tonight, but if the size is anything like that rip off one.. I think my dreams are going to be shattered.
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The SR neck is sort of thinner than a P bass but thicker than a J.

One thing i'll almost bet about the copy. it was probably a laquered neck. Wait til you feel the lovely smooth neck of a real ray :)

Linkert said:
Dang! 201 votes in and its 101/100 to stingray -.-
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Just looked and its 202 votes, 101 each, ive never seen a poll run this close to higher numbers!
 
#56
yeah the wood was terrible, felt like something I could make in wood work, ive heard the MM ones are superb though, I cant wait to get my hands on one.

You said slighty thinner then a P? AWESOME!! ive got a P and I can deal with that. I guess this crappy replica was just stupid wide.

I might just bite the bullet and just order one, well a HH version (need somewhere to put my thumb) and just hope for the best.
 
#58
Jobiebass said:
yeah the wood was terrible, felt like something I could make in wood work, ive heard the MM ones are superb though, I cant wait to get my hands on one.

You said slighty thinner then a P? AWESOME!! ive got a P and I can deal with that. I guess this crappy replica was just stupid wide.

I might just bite the bullet and just order one, well a HH version (need somewhere to put my thumb) and just hope for the best.
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I think its def. worth the extra expense.

I do use the bridge pup solo alot, but, all the other positions get used quite a bit too.

You can also get a P-bass-ish tone, and a J-bass-on-steroids-with-both-pups-on-ish tone.

And aye, the necks are gorgeous!
 
#60
I've used both:

Stingray:
Extreamly good and punching sound. The sound is NOT unchangable. It has a three ways equalizer, so that you can change it just like you want. Perfectly for slapping and finger play. A little heavy, but not more than you can handle.

Stingray:

Tone: 10
Looks: 10
Ease of play: 11 :hyper:
Weight: 8
Build Quality: 10

Jazz bass:
The jazz bass has a wonderful bearing tone. PERFECTLY for fingerplaying, but not good at slapping. Thats because of the pickboard. It's way to small space between the pickboard and the strings, which makes it hard to slap.

Jazz:

Tone: 10
Looks: 9
Ease of Play: 8 (because of the slapping)
Weight: 10
Build Quality: 10

Hope it helps :)
 

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