...or you could just adjust the screw that raises the pickup height on the treble side.
Well, that simply raises the D string pole piece as well and does not fix the problem...
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MM Stingray weak G
- Thread starter u84six
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Well, that simply raises the D string pole piece as well and does not fix the problem...
Thank you. I have wanted to try out an SR 5 for a long time, but there were no used ones around here and the new ones were a little pricier than I liked. A friend had this one, and, after buying a really pretty Anniversary model with a figured top, offered to sell it to me. He calculated how much it would bring on consignment at the local music store, deducted the 20% the store owner would keep, and sold it to me for the result. I've done a little research about it, and knew that it had the ceramics. I love the color: I think MM has the best finishes around. I still love my Precisions, but this is a worthy member of the tribe.
And the G doesn't seem weak to me. Of course, I don't use the G string that much on the material I've been playing on it, but the previous owner, who plays in a jazz band, never mentioned it either. For what it's worth, a number of players own Fender '51 P reissues and are perfectly happy with the two-saddle bridge. The lack of intonation drives my ears crazy, so my '51 has a four-saddle bridge. To each his own.
Here is what Sterling said:
"This trait has been around since the first day of the stingray. Its is NOT a byproduct of wood. It is due to the active preamp used on the bass. The output isnt actually lower the response is thinner sounding or not as fat. IT is one of the things you get used to with a Sting Ray or not. Believe it or not it was a complaint of mine in the beginning when I worked with Leo. The emerging slap and the old school country click players loved it. That thin snappin G sound helped the Sr taked off. You can try flats and it will help, but chances are that you will bet used to it by playing ... "
Available at: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
As you can most of my Stingrays are 3 band not two.
Btw, I called EBMM tech support back in the early 90s to inquire about a weak G string on a four string Stingray. I got passed to someone in the shop who told me guys had complaied about that for years, and he suggested finding steel washers to place on the G string magnets -- I never did try that
And Sterling will also say it doesn't exist at all. He wasn't too nice when I was asking about it.
I still love MM basses, but I'm no fanboy.
I've fixed the problem! Here's what I did:
- Brought my bass to rehearsal so that I could here it in the mix. Also brought along a phillips head screwdriver.
- Played a song with the band and adjusted eq on the bass and eq on the amp in many different ways. In all ways that I adjusted, the G string always had a low output (I also found that this particular bass has some horrible eq adjustments. But I've found a couple of sweet spots for me).
- adjusted the pickup so that the G string side was higher than the E side. Played a song but it was still low, but a little better. D string was also a little louder.
- Told the band to give me 5 minutes or so. Took the pickguard cover off and pushed down all poles (including the E string) but not the G string poles. Tightened the strings and played another song. G string and D string was better now, but E string was still too loud.
- Put the pickguard cover back on and adjusted the pickup so that the E side was lower.
Every string now has even output and it sounds great!
The only thing I know is that if I change strings to a different gauge, it will most likely be a bit unbalanced again. But luckily I like the gauge I'm using (.45 .65 .80 .100). And after I finished doing all that, the guitar player asked me to set up his guitar. lol
- Brought my bass to rehearsal so that I could here it in the mix. Also brought along a phillips head screwdriver.
- Played a song with the band and adjusted eq on the bass and eq on the amp in many different ways. In all ways that I adjusted, the G string always had a low output (I also found that this particular bass has some horrible eq adjustments. But I've found a couple of sweet spots for me).
- adjusted the pickup so that the G string side was higher than the E side. Played a song but it was still low, but a little better. D string was also a little louder.
- Told the band to give me 5 minutes or so. Took the pickguard cover off and pushed down all poles (including the E string) but not the G string poles. Tightened the strings and played another song. G string and D string was better now, but E string was still too loud.
- Put the pickguard cover back on and adjusted the pickup so that the E side was lower.
Every string now has even output and it sounds great!
The only thing I know is that if I change strings to a different gauge, it will most likely be a bit unbalanced again. But luckily I like the gauge I'm using (.45 .65 .80 .100). And after I finished doing all that, the guitar player asked me to set up his guitar. lol
This is a common complaint and I have had first hand experience with it on stage, although it has to be under the right conditions. I am surprised that EBMM has not addressed this with a design tweak. Even if it is the preamp or whatever, they could voice it so it is no longer an issue.
Glad you solved it.
did the same and it worked too, but the poles were all flush so I took the EB recommended setup height and raised it 1/32" higher on the G side. Similar to how Fender recommends.
Great News
Be careful, the PreEB Stingrays have glued pole pieces, the Cutlas might too.
They did make an adjustment with the two pickup Stingrays, which have non staggered pole pieces. Also, all of the newer EBMM models feature non-staggered pole pieces. Clearly this was done for a reason...
Does anyone have any documented proof of a weak G string? In other words, has anyone taken a stock/to-spec Stingray and bench tested the measurable output readings of each string? I'm not exactly sure how the G string's output could be recorded and compared to the other strings, but surely some sort of metric could be established to quantify the claim that the G string is weaker than the other strings?
I would say that this thread is documented proof and it is quantified by the most critical instrument - ears. Add to that Sterling Ball's explanation of it being a function of the preamp design (and something you'll just have to get used to). When you have all of these Stingray and Sterling owners expressing the same conclusion it is clear that this is not an intermittent issue but something that is inherent in a very large amount of instruments.
I will say that my Sterling had this issue live but when I recorded with it it wasn't as apparent. However, once I installed a blade pickup with an OBP-3 it went away completely.
Sterling ball also denies it. Read the EBMM forum posts.
Odd thing is that it's not present in all of them - none of mine have the problem.
Much like dead spots on Fender basses. Some have it bad, some not so much.
Guys I'm sure it exists for some people in some situations.
Staggered pole pieces aren't always appropriate these days because most modern strings have solved the string to string balance problems that existed in the 60s which staggering tried to compensate for. So if the problem is made worse by staggered pole pieces..... Maybe this solution is in fact appropriate.
Hendrix flattened the poles in his strats to get better tone.... Do what works for you
Staggered pole pieces aren't always appropriate these days because most modern strings have solved the string to string balance problems that existed in the 60s which staggering tried to compensate for. So if the problem is made worse by staggered pole pieces..... Maybe this solution is in fact appropriate.
Hendrix flattened the poles in his strats to get better tone.... Do what works for you
I've tried fingerstyle, using a pick, and slap. No matter what I tried, the G was always weaker. See my post above. I fixed the problem by making adjustments to the bass itself. My other 5 basses (different brands) do not have this problem. So how could it possibly be playing style? It's not even string brand, because I use the same brand and gauge on some of my other basses. Trust me, it's the bass itself. But it is quite apparent that this is not a blanket issue. Some EBMM basses have the problem, some don't. IMO, no magnet is created equal, and the components in the preamp itself may differ from bass to bass. I think that the adjustments I made were to compensate for both preamp and pickup differences between basses.
Well apparently (so I've read on TB) it's only an issue on their 4 string basses so an SR5 wouldn't have it.
