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Music Man sound and pickups

#203
I have a series\single\parallel switch in my Ray, they all sound fairly different, but as for eq I find parallel is scooped, single is balanced and has the most punch (I use the neck coil), and series is mid heavy.
 
#205
basswave said:
I feel there are 3 main attributes that contribute to the tone of a Music Man.
1. The larger humbucking (or dual coil) style pickup
2. The ‘sweet spot’ placing of that pickup
3. The EBMM preamp
Click to expand...

You can get the Seymour Duncan preamp and the Sd MM pickups and put them in or near the sweet spot and you get very close to the same tone.
 
#206
Ric5 said:
You can get the Seymour Duncan preamp and the Sd MM pickups and put them in or near the sweet spot and you get very close to the same tone.
Click to expand...

Absolutely...Preamps where discussed a lot in the beginning of this sticky and I use that SD stingray preamp in a few of my basses and I love it.

In fact I'm changing the one SBMM that I have which is using the John East 2 band to SD pre for a couple of reasons.

-It will match the other levels easier when switching bass live. (Since I need to switch to another 4 in D or D# commonly quickly)

-Also there is clarity that comes with SD preamp that is not there with a lot of the 2 band aftermarket pres. I believe its because the SD pre uses 8K not 4K for its highs. Now if even you just leave it center dented (which I do 98% of the time) its just sounds clearer (not harsh at all). That clarity sounds better to me on hollow woofy stages.

Note nothing wrong with the 2 bands pres the have a great thing going on.
After gigging with these preamps for a while I just really like the Seymour Duncans server my needs best for any kind of Stingray, match it with a Nordstrand its perfect IMHO.

I have taken STC-3M4 (before the STC-3m3 was available) and used them in my 2-band SBMMs Ray34ca. I just wired it directly parallel and taped up the mid control and tucked in the cavity.
 
#211
basswave said:
Ok I just measured 5 Rays and was surprised. I was expecting them to all be the same but they where not. All single pickup models.

I measured all with a cheap tape measure from where the bend is on the bridge. I will post after each where the pickup started from that point.

The 3 5 strings where

Roasted 5 Black Sugar model 4"
1989 old school alder body 4 5/16"
SBMM Ray35 4 5/16"

The 4 strings

(2) Ray34ca 4"

I'm curious now about a new standard 4 strings are at.

Anybody else...Please feel free to share your results.
Click to expand...

by "bend in the bridge"... do you mean the bend of the string over the saddle? and is the other end the edge of the plastic pickup casing, or the center line?
 
#212
SmellMyFinger said:
by "bend in the bridge"... do you mean the bend of the string over the saddle? and is the other end the edge of the plastic pickup casing, or the center line?
Click to expand...

Sorry for the delay.
Literally from where the metal of the bridge bends in the back at a 90 degree angle.
 
#213
Will the standard ray pickup cover will fit where the newer style HH bucker is currently located on the H models?

The HH humbuckers have a piece of plastic that covers the slot between the two pickup screw mounts, and the standard Ray pickup doesn't connect the two pickup screw mounts.

Example:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
vs

Invalid Link Removed

I am not bothered about a small gap in the pickguard if it fits, and would probably just get someone to make a custom pickguard.
 
#214
I am convinced that most of the stringray tone is the preamp. I have a maestro stingray with a large poled pickup in the correct position, but I put in a 4 band Audere preamp. The 2 coils of the pickup are wired into the preamp like a jazz bass.

The bass sounds more like a p-bass than a stingray ... especially when I boost the mids.

mm5%20004.jpg
 
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#215
The pickup is in the right spot so it should be close to the Stingray sound. I have several Stingray copy basses and never had that problem. Do you have the positive and negative wires from each coil correct?

Ric5 said:
I am convinced that most of the stringray tone is the preamp. I have a maestro stingray with a large poled pickup in the correct position, but I put in a 4 band Audere preamp. The 2 coils of the pickup are wired into the preamp like a jazz bass.

The bass sounds more like a p-bass than a stingray ... especially when I boost the mids.
Click to expand...
 
#216
BassLife77 said:
The pickup is in the right spot so it should be close to the Stingray sound. I have several Stingray copy basses and never had that problem. Do you have the positive and negative wires from each coil correct?
Click to expand...

Agreed. The right pickup at the right position is already a large % of The Stingray sound.

But many pickups are MM shaped yet not sound like an MM pickup. In that case no preamp will get you there.
A passive stingray still sounds stingray. The preamp on another bass does not make it stingrayish.
 
#217
Since we are talking preamps. I have an MTD Kingston Artist 4. A Musicman-ish type bass (pickup type and placement at any rate). I just purchased a used SD Basslines MM pickup to replace the stock P/U. Now I'm deliberating between the Seymour Duncan MM pre-amp or an Aguilar OBP-3 the price difference is around what a set of strings costs so that is not much of an issue. I'm wanting to know which will sound "better" and I know that is subjective question. Any suggestions from those who may have tried both combinations?
 
#218
Andy_D said:
Since we are talking preamps. I have an MTD Kingston Artist 4. A Musicman-ish type bass (pickup type and placement at any rate). I just purchased a used SD Basslines MM pickup to replace the stock P/U. Now I'm deliberating between the Seymour Duncan MM pre-amp or an Aguilar OBP-3 the price difference is around what a set of strings costs so that is not much of an issue. I'm wanting to know which will sound "better" and I know that is subjective question. Any suggestions from those who may have tried both combinations?
Click to expand...

I have had this preamp before but never kept it in for to long, the Aggie has more of swing in range (BUT) not a useful range IMHO its a little extreme but that just me, so folks dig that. If you really like the large range pres then Aggie would work for You. I also thing the Aggie works better in 2 pickup basses where the pickups are more so in traditional J or soapbar locations IMHO.

The SD preamp has a clarity second to none in this category. I think it allows more nuances of the bass itself to come out. I'm totally a fan of it.

Post your result of what you put in and what you thought of it. :)
 
#219
Thanks for the response Basswave. Yeah, I'm looking for something "smooth" if that makes any sense... something without the harshness or clankiness. Don't get me wrong I still like a little bite. I've heard that the OBP-3 can be very aggressive sounding and is a rather "hot" preamp. Anyway, I'm in Taiwan working. After I finish deliberating, purchase a preamp, and get it installed I'll post an review.
 
#220
BassLife77 said:
The pickup is in the right spot so it should be close to the Stingray sound. I have several Stingray copy basses and never had that problem. Do you have the positive and negative wires from each coil correct?
Click to expand...

Actually it is not a problem. I have the bass wired where I can sweep single-humbucker-single. In single coil mode I cut the treble and boost bass, high mids, and low mids. It cops a great p-bass tone that is half 51 p-bass and half modern p-bass.

When I set the balance knob in the middle the pickup is in parallel humbucker mode. I boost the treble and bass and set the mids flat and then it sounds like a stingray.

My point is the Audere preamp sounds more p-bass than stingray.
 

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