MM Stingray weak G

[wvbass]

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.

View attachment 503379

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.

This photo cracks me up. No weak G, but I have the treble side of my pickup significantly closer to the strings than the bass side. I just like the way that feels under your fingers.

FWIW- StingRays are great basses and deserve every bit of your blind love for them.

As for me, in all these years, no one has ever shown me an actual picture of the subatomic quark. I therefore conclude that they don't exist. (Of course, the lesson here is that an atoms nucleus and electrons were proven to exist MANY years before anyone could present an actual photograph of an atom. It is not reasonable to say something doesn't exist because you don't believe the observations and conclusions of others.)

 

[drTSTingray]

This photo cracks me up. No weak G, but I have the treble side of my pickup significantly closer to the strings than the bass side. I just like the way that feels under your fingers.

FWIW- StingRays are great basses and deserve every bit of your blind love for them.)

It's set at factory settings and plays perfectly................ There is no problem playing right over the pick up - however there are lots more areas to pluck strings than directly over the pick up.

Blind love lol - what do you mean by that.

Is it irrational to find a type of bass that fulfils your musical need, be it Warwick, Lakland, Musicman, Fodera or even Fender?? That just sounds quite normal to me.

 

[wvbass]

I like camels more than horses

 

[dkelley]

I don't currently own a stingray, but own two USA sub basses. Both 5 strings. Both without staggered pole pieces. Both 2 band active (same USA pre as a classic ray). Both have no weak G issues. Hence my theory that, besides eq abuse and poor amp configuration choices for a Stingray, the staggered pole pieces shouldn't be staggered.

I got a brand new american standard stratocaster recently. 2010 limited run with vintage pickups. Staggered poles. String output levels were uneven in perfect correlation with the staggering.

I did the classic trick of pushing poles into pickups so they're evenly flush and voila (note my correct spelling of voila... The V is NOT silent people LoL... Sorry minor pet peeve for "walla" folks), my string levels were instantly perfectly even.

I HIGHLY recommend this be considered as a possible cause for this controversial problem.

 

[king_biscuit]

I don't currently own a stingray, but own two USA sub basses. Both 5 strings. Both without staggered pole pieces. Both 2 band active (same USA pre as a classic ray). Both have no weak G issues. Hence my theory that, besides eq abuse and poor amp configuration choices for a Stingray, the staggered pole pieces shouldn't be staggered.

I got a brand new american standard stratocaster recently. 2010 limited run with vintage pickups. Staggered poles. String output levels were uneven in perfect correlation with the staggering.

I did the classic trick of pushing poles into pickups so they're evenly flush and voila (note my correct spelling of voila... The V is NOT silent people LoL... Sorry minor pet peeve for "walla" folks), my string levels were instantly perfectly even.

I HIGHLY recommend this be considered as a possible cause for this controversial problem.

This, all of it! Btw, the two pickup Stingrays, and all of the newer EB bass designs do not have staggered pole pieces.

 

[Panych]

I have a 2011 Stingray H5 and the poles are staggered. I do not have feeling that the G string is obviously weak. However both D and G are not proportionally sensitive to the bass tone boost. So, when I boost bass these strings are felt still very high and cristal clear. On all my Fenders if I boost bass all strings reflect it....
It might be also because I like to boost both low and high with the midle is flat....
When I bought my Stingray I noticed that G string was quite high although the bridge saddle of this string was on the floor. The G string did not clank on the last fret when slapping. So I have done a shimming. After that the bass became much more comfortable with great pop clank

 

[mcnach]

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.

+1

I also find that higher gauge G strings help reduce the effect.
If you use a gauge 40, and go for a scooped sound, your G string is more likely to have this weaker sound.
I have a Stingray and two older USA SUB basses.
I don't appreciate a weaker G string, not to an extent that bothers me anyway... But I do notice that my Precision seems to have a slightly louder G by comparison, so maybe I'm used to it to some degree. I did notice DR Fat Beams seem to give me a more balanced sound, where the 45 gauge G string sounds meatier... I also use a sound that has a fat bottom end, but not boomy, and very mid rangey... If I just boost bass and treble a lot on the 2band preamp, the sound is generally weaker in the mix, and the G can be more effectively masked... But so do nearly every other note too.

 

[mcnach]

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

I suppose that a louder D next to a weaker G would accentuate the issue and make it more obvious, regardless the EQ, so that could be a factor!

 

[u84six]

Here is the youtube video showing how someone was able to fix their problem. I used this and it helped a lot. It is very well known that this problem can happen either with inconsistent magnetism across each of the pickup poles as well as the preamp circuitry components. I'd say there's a larger percentage of people who don't have a problem with these components (obviously), but there's definitely a significant percentage of people who do have this problem. All the people doubting just sound like fools. As if all man-made contraptions are flawless!

All the weird doubters should take note of the view count for this video.

 

[clive shakedown]

Hello everyone, I am the guy in the video and would like to clear a few things up.
I'm not dissing stingrays! Mine had this problem, (I have many other basses and have been playing 30 years) I always wanted a ray and when I finally got one I was annoyed with the sound it produced, not saying they all do it but mine did. Peace.

 

[Mastermold]

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

Never had a weak G with my SR5 with nickel rounds, but curiously with flats (La Bella 760 FLs) the G string is almost too strong.

 

[jim nolte]

Never had a weak G with my SR5 with nickel rounds, but curiously with flats (La Bella 760 FLs) the G string is almost too strong.

never had it on my SR5 either but it's my understanding the SR5 and Sterling share the same pre-amp and the 4 string Stingray is a different one and according to Mr. Ball it's caused by the pre-amp. Jim

 

[IronLung1986]

This issue annoyed the bejeesus out of me when I first got my Stingray until I found a solution that, I think, beats the aforementioned pickup mod. It's a couple things actually. First, you will of course want to get the G string as close to the pickup as possible without creating additional problems such as the string bottoming out, too much fret buzz, magnetic interference, etc. Second is a technique ajustment. Position your plucking hand so that your fingers are pointing at the string, as of you're going to push them down toward the body. Imagine you're reaching out of a car window to poke directly in at the door from the outside. If you pluck from this position you'll actually be pulling the string sideways, parallel to the body, rather than downwards. This, on my bass at least, is the key to getting a good sound on the G string. It seems to allow it to vibrate more openly and produces a sound that's more consistent with the rest of the strings. It's awkward and inconvenient to have to change your technique, but I've found that it makes every string sound better on most basses. So it's an example of an instrument's flaws pushing me to get better.

 

[HHBass]

Has anyone had the weak G output problem that some classic Stingrays have? I just bought a new classic Stingray and it has this problem. Here's what I've tried:

- Adjust bass setup to match Classic Stingray spec. Result: no difference, the G is still weak.

- Raise the pickup under the G. Result: G got a little louder, but now the A and D strings are a little louder too, which cancels the change.

- Lower the pickup under the E. Result: Not much of a change because that side of the pickup is already low based on specs.

- Mess with the EQ. Result: it doesn't matter, the G is always producing less volume.

- Change the strings. Result: no difference other than tonal changes. G still has less volume.

What I haven't tried is adjusting the pickup poles. I was hoping to avoid this because then it wouldn't be setup according to the specifications on the website. I also didn't try adjusting the saddles individually. But it looks like I'll have to experiment with this and see if I can fix this problem.

I know it's not frequency response or eq related settings, because I've tried everything, and my other 5 basses of various makes do not have this problem.

If anyone has had this problem and has resolved it, I'd like to here what worked for you. Thanks

I know this is an older post, but I’m finding the same thing trying out brand new MMs (Sterling and Stingray) at many stores. Very frustrating.

 

[bassclef112]

I lived through this. In 1994 my wife bought me a brand new Sterling. Loved every inch of it. Except the weak G. The reason is simple - the G string is not on center of the pole. It is off to the side just enough, that the field only a portion of the string. I don't know why they did it but on Leo's early versions every string was dead center on the pole.. It was made worse on the Sterling when they just narrowed the nut.
I.did everything you indicated plus bought the first version of an MM not from EB by SDCS with Alnico poles. Nothing worked, but I really love this bsss and saw the only solution to keep me playing it.
I gpt s Lane Poor MM with bar magnets, put in an OBP-3 and never looked back. With full coverage it absolutely sings.
Consider wider coverage.....