MM Stingray weak G

[drTSTingray]

Are you serious you have problems with the pop sound of your Stingray playing pop and slap? I don't think you'll find many people saying that. Which model, year and spec do you have? Did you buy it new? If so you have a faulty bass, string or amp! I used to get a resounding pop sound in 1980 through an Acoustic 370 with a 1 x 18 reflex cab....... Blew away P and J basses of the time - only basses like Alembics or Ibanez Musicians got near it. And that through a cab designed for thunderous lows!

I think there's a difference between the scenarios on cars you mention - I'm sure it is possible to blow the engine up on a VW if you overrev it continuously and run it without oil for long enough - but that would be the fault of the operator - as are very many problems I hear on this forum about all sorts of basses( largely unintended). There are so many variables - even people's levels of hearing are vastly different (especially those playing in bands) - those with hearing loss often hear only the bassiest notes properly. This is like saying I had a puncture in a car with, say Michelin tyres - three other people pipe up with the same issue - and then suggest there's a problem with Michelin tyres. The reason I'm so passionate about it is I know there have been people banned from the EB forum on this board who have made mischief, I know there are people who have played my basses and sounded awful but it was because they were, frankly limited players, some with a slightly enlarged view of their skill (especially guitarists standing in on jam sessions) and if you use your equipment skilfully the problem doesn't occur, period. Last week a shred guitarist played one of my Stingrays in a jam session - he said it sounded boomy - in the room it had a Tim Commerford sound - no sign of boominess - not sure what he expected but the sound was good - playing was ok.

I once agreed to take half of my Ashdown ABM stack to a jam session - everyone sounded great through it except for someone who got up with a £100 or less copy P bass, a very bad one - frankly played extremely badly, and then promptly told me my stack was no good!!!

These are the problems I have with threads like this [emoji4] I've asked people to post their sound samples and until I hear them I won't be convinced in the slightest. Listen to Ed Friedland's review and develop a balanced view.

Or stop moaning, sell your bass and move on to something else.

 

[drTSTingray]

You will not notice the weak G outside of a band context. Playing in Rogers shop would not exhibit the problem. This is not a recent issue, people have complained about this for years. If I can convince my guitarist to set up a recording mic at the next practice I will gladly highlight the issue.

I shall be interested to hear your sound sample - just for info this issue seems to have surfaced with a few members of Talkbass in the mid 2000s - the bass had been around at least 30 yrs before and I'd never heard of it.

I didn't play the Sadowski in Rogers shop - I'm not from the USA - it was in a room using an EBS set up.

 

[Frenchy-Lefty]

When I had my Stingray I knew it was somewhat part of the sound but the problem became striking one day playing live. The spotlight was on me, I was playing a solo and then I decide to play some kind of double-stop or something on the G string and...nothing! Pretty much the sound is insanely fainted, no one can hear anything! I had never read about this weak G issue before that. After checking online, I discovered all those "weak G" threads. I eventually found out that using DR Hi-Beams and keeping a mostly flat eq would mitigate the issue. Yet, I could not get passed that.
I tried a Stingray Classic in a store and realized it did not have this issue to the same extent. Unfortunately I am a lefty and EBMM does not make the Classic in left-handed otherwise I would get one.
All that to say, I did not discover this "Myth" by reading about it on TB, as it was suggested by someone previously.

 

[dkelley]

Just pointing out another flaw in the car analogy.... Cars require regular maintenance and repair and get destroyed by environment and abuse and other cars and lack of maintenance.

Basses don't suffer from most of those issues... Although abuse appears in strangest situations LoL

That is irrelevant of any opinion I may have about weak g strings on stingrays.

Although it's simple fact that any narrow range of frequencies can be dramatically muted by phase irregularities caused by anything from bad position of the amp in a room versus where you stand relative to your amp (only to your ears of course) versus eq issues between amp and bass.

I've had plenty of non stingrays that had weak g strings when played through other people's annoyingly over bassy super scooped amps.

 

[wvbass]

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Umm...Big Poppa says he complained to Leo Fender about the weak G when he first was introduced to the StingRay.

 

[dkelley]

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Umm...Big Poppa says he complained to Leo Fender about the weak G when he first was introduced to the StingRay.

And yet he's the biggest defender that it doesn't exist in his lineup unless you crank treble and bass and cut mids... Which would be true with any bass that exhibits such extreme eq power as a stingray.

Makes it confusing.... Lol

 

[wvbass]

And yet he's the biggest defender that it doesn't exist in his lineup unless you crank treble and bass and cut mids... Which would be true with any bass that exhibits such extreme eq power as a stingray.

Makes it confusing.... Lol

I think you may be seeing a candid moment verses the company marketing line. It is up to you to decide which is which.

 

[drTSTingray]

This is very ancient news. I suspect he just got heartily pissed off with the keyboard moaners - his response is almost ironic. The funny thing is that none of the moaners has ever posted a sound sample - still waiting after all these years!!!

 

[birminghambass]

This is very ancient news. I suspect he just got heartily pissed off with the keyboard moaners - his response is almost ironic. The funny thing is that none of the moaners has ever posted a sound sample - still waiting after all these years!!!

So you're saying he didn't mean what he said? And you know this how? Keyboard moaners? Who are you to tell anyone that THEIR issue with THEIR bass doesn't exist? I would understand your ire if the prevailing theme was "I hate Stingrays because the g string is too quiet", but it seems to me that people here really like the bass but have an issue they are trying to remedy. Isn't that what TB is here for? An open forum to help out our bass brothers and sisters?
FWIW here's my analogy: I have cancer. I spend most of my online time reading about cancer or bass guitars. My cancer medication and treatments can cause unusual side effects, some of which I have a hard time finding others with the same issues. I would not be surprised for a doctor (like Sterling Ball) to completely dismiss my concerns as "all in my head." That's why I go to online forums, for advice from others that have more knowledge or experience than I do.
I absolutely adore everything EBMM, but I owned a Ray 5 that had this issue so bad I sold the bass. My current basses are both HH models and don't have it. If you have never had this issue, that's great. But stop insulting TBers and wasting our time with your condescending "myth" talk. Why not just start your own "Stingrays have an awesome g-string thread"?

 

[MarshallNole]

I just ordered a single H ray yesterday.... if this issue does exist, couldn't it be remedied simply by raising the pup on that site, or with effects/EQ adjustments?

 

[Frenchy-Lefty]

I just ordered a single H ray yesterday.... if this issue does exist, couldn't it be remedied simply by raising the pup on that site, or with effects/EQ adjustments?

Because the pickups have such a strong magnetic pull I found out that changing the height had little effect. As I said, staying away from scooped eq will help. I also felt that DR Hi Beams strings with their strong fundamental worked better. Regardless, a lot of Stingray owners just deal and live with it and it will not bother everyone anyway.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

I just ordered a single H ray yesterday.... if this issue does exist, couldn't it be remedied simply by raising the pup on that site, or with effects/EQ adjustments?

The best solution seems to be raising the G pole, not raising the entire pickup. At least if I was going to try and remedy it, that is what I would attempt. There are threads and youtube videos showing this procedure.

 

[David Jayne]

This is very ancient news. I suspect he just got heartily pissed off with the keyboard moaners - his response is almost ironic. The funny thing is that none of the moaners has ever posted a sound sample - still waiting after all these years!!!

So I guess they're all imagining it?

 

[dkelley]

I will note that old stingrays had staggered pole pieces... Which made logical sense but for whatever reason actually made the a and d strings too loud, specially when fretting high up.

My Ernie balls don't have staggered (radiused) poles, and I have perfect even string levels.

Not sure it's consistently related to those who have or don't have this issue though

 

[drTSTingray]

I believe that no pics = no bass; in this instance no sound sample = not very helpful - you would have thought that in the number of years since that EBMM forum thread someone would have posted a sample of this issue.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

I will note that old stingrays had staggered pole pieces... Which made logical sense but for whatever reason actually made the a and d strings too loud, specially when fretting high up.

My Ernie balls don't have staggered (radiused) poles, and I have perfect even string levels.

Not sure it's consistently related to those who have or don't have this issue though

This I did not know. They do not continue to do this on classics. Or do they and I just have never noticed?

@drTSTingray As far as recording a sound sample goes, something tells me you are just going to say that the player did not EQ right or blame it on the room even if the sample did capture the issue.

 

[dkelley]

Well at least on REALLY old stingrays they were radius staggered. Don't know when it stopped or if it's ever been done in later models.

 

[drTSTingray]

All single pick up Stingrays have raised A and D pole pieces - the bass in the pic is a 93 so doesn't have radiused poles - the later basses and Classic have radiused edges. I presume the design was to follow the radius of the fingerboard - note the A and D saddles in this pic also follow this.

Not sure whether setting the saddles with a different alignment would affect this. The other set up element which might affect string resonance is failing to have all of the saddle adjustment screws making contact with the base of the bridge - easily done and not that easy to see.

@DiablousInMusic - Youre correct in your presumption that I do believe that this issue is mostly caused by EQ settings, room sound or the intensity/volume/note choice of other musicians. One of my first bass playing experiences in a band situation back in the early 70s on a japanese Jazz copy through a valve amp playing Halleluyah I Love Her So (Humble Pie version) and I literally couldn't hear myself through most of the song - unison guitar playing the riff (very loudly) and a drummer trying to emulate John Bonham. I still get annoyed when this sort of thing happens but having seen DVDs/heard recordings know the bass actually travels to and through the audience - the guitar may be excruciating where I'm standing but it doesn't travel that far like that. All resolved by all instruments through the PA though.

 

[epoxo57]

I had the same problem years ago with a Stingray that I ordered and didn't get to play first. Tried everything mentioned above, even sent it back to the factory and it came back the same so it is an inherent, what I call "flaw", in the design in my opinion. On the flip-side, there are tons who have never had the problem for some reason. The Sterling I just sold had zero weak G-string problems; in fact, it rang loud n' proud with either the stock pickup or Nordie alnico replacement!

 

[Aragorn35016]

It's pretty easy to push the a and d magnets down to be flush across the pickups with the other magnets, I did it to mine and in combination with not scooping the mids out of a bass that inherently has that quality I have no problem with my g string!