I have a 2024 Stingray and I have been flirting with the idea of installing a jazz pick up in the neck position but I also want to ensure that this jazz pick up will match and complement the sound of the humbucker. Any suggestions for this kind of modification?
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Modifying a Stingray???
- Thread starter Jmiah
- Start date
You would have been better off to get a HH and then do a simple mod to bypass one of the neck coils with a switch. I did this on a HH in the past with great results. I actually did it with all coils but it's easy to do with just one.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/stingray-5-hh-mod.1657079/
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/stingray-5-hh-mod.1657079/
If you don't use a noiseless J you'll get hum from it not having a reverse wound counterpart in the bridge spot
Don't do it! Don't mod an expensive and desirable bass like a Stingray! You'll trash it's value!
JazznFunk
Supporting Member
Leave the 'Ray as-is. Buy a Lakland 44-02, which has a J/MM setup already. Or, seek out an older StingRay 4 or 5 HS (or Sterling H-S) built out that way already.
You never want to be the person responsible for a bad remodel.
The pickups and preamps on Stingrays, and especially Stingray Special's, are specifically designed to work together. If you were to mod the Stingray Special H, it's likely you would not achieve the results you're after and you would also destroy its resale value. I would recommend you sell the Stingray Special H and find a Stingray Special HH and do a reversible mod that cancels one of the neck pickup coils. It will take more time for sure, but it will almost certainly be better in the long run.
Unless you're lucky and you pick the right pickup on the first time, you'll end up having a fairly weaker output for a Jazz Neck pickup, and it won't quite keep up with the Stingray Humbucker, and then you'll have output issues, at least. My advice, buy a Jazz Bass and bring it to your gigs and practices, and enjoy what it does. Or buy an MM/single coil thing that was designed that way from the start to be a more integrated package.
Sounds like a reasonable idea. I've considered it myself.
A J bass has pickups in specific locations. The H pickup on the Stingray is not in that exact location so to maintain J spacing you'll have to put the J neck pickup closer to the neck than it would be on a Jazz bass.
And you'll want a neck pickup that is RWRP compared to the bridge coil on the H so that when you run in both pickups with coil tapping on the H you still have no hum. You'll need to figure out where to mount a pickup switch and may want to consider the effect of a non-flat (i.e Stingray) preamp on the sound of the J pickup.
This can all be done to be mostly reversable. Worst case is you mod the bass, decide you don't like it and unmod it. The only scar would be a pickup route in the body totally hidden by the original pickguard.
A J bass has pickups in specific locations. The H pickup on the Stingray is not in that exact location so to maintain J spacing you'll have to put the J neck pickup closer to the neck than it would be on a Jazz bass.
And you'll want a neck pickup that is RWRP compared to the bridge coil on the H so that when you run in both pickups with coil tapping on the H you still have no hum. You'll need to figure out where to mount a pickup switch and may want to consider the effect of a non-flat (i.e Stingray) preamp on the sound of the J pickup.
This can all be done to be mostly reversable. Worst case is you mod the bass, decide you don't like it and unmod it. The only scar would be a pickup route in the body totally hidden by the original pickguard.
These are affordable enough that it might be worthwhile to start here
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...arcus-miller-z7-4-string-bass-guitar-burgundy
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...arcus-miller-z7-4-string-bass-guitar-burgundy
Sell it and buy an older HS. Or a Sabre.
You can find any of these with some search effort.
There's no guarantee of any mods going to work
You can find any of these with some search effort.
There's no guarantee of any mods going to work
I was also going to suggest this.
Even though I'm less of a four-string guy these days, these basses tend to be killer and a great way to bridge the Fende/Stingray divide. PS: To rout out the Stingray and to buy the pickup, etc... and to do this RIGHT, you're much of the way to buying one of these. Spend wisely.
Low End bass shop has a beautiful Stingray for sale that someone did this to....and they've had it forever and its been priced accordingly...very cheap.
Go buy that one but dont ruin your new Stingray
Go buy that one but dont ruin your new Stingray
I suppose it depends what exactly ‘match and complement’ means to you? I’d suggest that you choose a stacked hum cancelling J, both for the noise aspect and because it’ll likely be a little darker sounding than a true single, which may be closer to the sound of the humbucker.
Looking for a stock HS stingray is also a decent option.
Don’t worry folks, in this forum no one gets kicked off for talking about modding Stingrays
No problem.Don’t worry folks, in this forum no one gets kicked off for talking about modding Stingrays
I’ll remove myself.
