I have an issue with the 2 Band EQ Om my 2002 EBMM Stingray
With Treble boosted it hums.
I don’t want to change anything about this lovely instrument but have to get this fixed.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Music Man sound and pickups
- Thread starter TonyP-
- Start date
I have an issue with the 2 Band EQ Om my 2002 EBMM Stingray
With Treble boosted it hums.
I don’t want to change anything about this lovely instrument but have to get this fixed.
@foal30 , have you had a chance to look at the jack, ground and battery wires? It could be as easy as replacing a kinked wire or re-flowing solder.
Cheers mate
I’m totally useless at any maintenance will get it sorted from a Professional
[QUOTE="foal30, post: 25936890, member: 104683"....will get it sorted from a Professional[/QUOTE]
Ernie Ball MM Customer Service may help in giving you a wiring schematic of your preamp to assist the tech you take it to:
[email protected]
Ernie Ball MM Customer Service may help in giving you a wiring schematic of your preamp to assist the tech you take it to:
[email protected]
Hi all. The other day I repaired a '78 Stingray. It had a dead preamp. It turned out to be pretty easy to diagnose and repair. Weirdly it was a biasing resistor. I've seen several of these old preamps with shorted tantalum caps, and a few with dead opamps, but never just a resitor.
Here's the video. FWIW, if you do have a vintage Ray, in the video, there's also few mods I recommend to make it a bit more reliable.
Here's the video. FWIW, if you do have a vintage Ray, in the video, there's also few mods I recommend to make it a bit more reliable.
Hi Musicmanners,
I have a new (old stock...found it on reverb) Sterling Ray35CA. It's very cool. I love the look, *love* the sound, but fiddling around with it at home felt like it could be a bit more focussed and string to string balance is a touch out (I set the strings where I like them for playing, then set the pickup so it doesn't clip on the B string notes and fiddle around to get the others right, but I can't get a quite even distribution, it's totally giggable but that stuff annoys me).
I finally did a gig with it. It sounded awesome live, cut through brilliantly, sat very nicely, but I still noticed a few things that bothered me.
Has anyone upgraded one of these ? The pickup size seems different to standard, but I'm happy to (get someone else to) route. I'd be very interested to hear anyone's experience.
I like the preamp, and was thinking I'd do the pickup first to sort the balance out and see how it goes.
Specifically, has anyone any experience with the Nordstrand MM pickups in one of these ? I have Nordys in a couple of other basses and have always enjoyed and kept the Nordy upgrades in.
I have a new (old stock...found it on reverb) Sterling Ray35CA. It's very cool. I love the look, *love* the sound, but fiddling around with it at home felt like it could be a bit more focussed and string to string balance is a touch out (I set the strings where I like them for playing, then set the pickup so it doesn't clip on the B string notes and fiddle around to get the others right, but I can't get a quite even distribution, it's totally giggable but that stuff annoys me).
I finally did a gig with it. It sounded awesome live, cut through brilliantly, sat very nicely, but I still noticed a few things that bothered me.
Has anyone upgraded one of these ? The pickup size seems different to standard, but I'm happy to (get someone else to) route. I'd be very interested to hear anyone's experience.
I like the preamp, and was thinking I'd do the pickup first to sort the balance out and see how it goes.
Specifically, has anyone any experience with the Nordstrand MM pickups in one of these ? I have Nordys in a couple of other basses and have always enjoyed and kept the Nordy upgrades in.
Perhaps a zombie thread, no idea who's left. But figured it's Stingray related;
In the works of pieceing together my own DIY build, & have stumbled upon Noll preamps. Would anyone have any experience with em, specifically their 4 band preamp. Curious how it sounds overall.
Cheers!
p.s. still surfing through all 52 pages, there's lots of interesting tidbits
In the works of pieceing together my own DIY build, & have stumbled upon Noll preamps. Would anyone have any experience with em, specifically their 4 band preamp. Curious how it sounds overall.
Cheers!
p.s. still surfing through all 52 pages, there's lots of interesting tidbits
I have not tried them but they have a very good rep on TB. GL with your project.Perhaps a zombie thread, no idea who's left. But figured it's Stingray related;
In the works of pieceing together my own DIY build, & have stumbled upon Noll preamps. Would anyone have any experience with em, specifically their 4 band preamp. Curious how it sounds overall.
Cheers!
p.s. still surfing through all 52 pages, there's lots of interesting tidbits
Last edited:
2-band SR clone pre's - no idea if they are any good
Retrovibe Stinger '77 Classic MM Stingray Bass EQ pre-amp 2 band pre-EB circuit | eBay
*NEW* MusicMan StingRay 2-band Active PreAmp , EQ for Bass Guitar | eBay
Retrovibe Stinger '77 Classic MM Stingray Bass EQ pre-amp 2 band pre-EB circuit | eBay
*NEW* MusicMan StingRay 2-band Active PreAmp , EQ for Bass Guitar | eBay
As an eBay Associate, TalkBass may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Hi all! I have Ernie Ball/Musicman StingRay 4 H 2005 (not anniversary). I have stock pickup and electronics and I wanna change my pickup/electronics because I think that stock thing is not good enough/not get useful sounds. Which preamps and/or pickups looking for? Which gives good sounds which will be cleaner than stock preamp and have good frequencies for onboard eq?
There's a lot to choose from in both terms, So i'll start with some basic questions:
- Is your preamp of the 2 band (bass & treble), or 3 band (Bass, Mids, Treble)?
- If you set your preamp flat (centered), what about the pickup do you not enjoy sonically/tone wise?
I don´t want to sound rude - but this is something that is not often heard, that one can´t get a useful sound out of a EB Stingray.
That said, I heard good things about the John East MMSR preamp, for example by fellow TB user LowEndLobster:
or this video could be useful if you want to see how to install:
One thing I want to add - I have a SBMM Ray 35CA and I added a switch for Parallel/Single coil/Series mode and absolutely love it. If you gut your Sting you might want consider to add one as well.
1. It's a 3 band eq bass.
2. I just checking that out. I turn on my amp (flat eq with tweeter in cab in the 50% position) and flat StingRay preamp. I played to 10 different good mixing songs with that sound. It sits in the mix I would say 9/10 BUT I think that there's a little not enough low end, and lack of warm mids (probably low mids). Most of the time a little bit too bright/harsh in hi mids/treble. That's what I felt. It's rather a subtle thing cause that sound sits good with those songs I played with but I think that some mixing engineers or FOH guys will definitely use eq for my tone.
Last edited:
Well... Maybe I do sth wrong then? I heard a lot of great reviews about East preamps and maybe that is the solution?
FOH might tweak your overall sound coming through the monitors, but thats as long as you dont fiddle too much with your stingray preamp.
Id say look for an aftermarket pre, but keep the pickup.
East preamps may not be the be all end all of preamps, its inhenrently good, & loads enjoy it it. Lowendlobster did a whole mini series with different preamps & pickups (aguilar, nordstrand, bartolini, emg, duncan) all with varying results. Honestly, id vote aguilar or nordstrand on either case for preamp. You get an internal trim pot to set the peak db of the signal & they're fairly inexpensive & well rounded. Also have the option to set the mids via push pull going from 400hz to 800hz.
What you describe I heard on a german bass forum as well for the 3 band EQ.
Before buying another preamp for several hundred EURs I would do the following (I hope you can solder):
I would buy a 2 band EQ like this DIY kit here: Classic Bass Preamp - Preamp kit, 14,00
And try out if 2 band matches your taste better than the 3 band eq.
I have no experience with the East preamp but the saying goes that the 3 band MMSR with flat mid knob behaves as the original 2 band EQ.
If the original 2 and 3 band EQs don´t match your taste you could investigate other options.
But TBH, if you don´t like either of the original preamps, wouldn´t it be better to look out for another bass that would give you what you are looking for? E.g. a G&L L-2000, which is tonally much more flexible but doesn´t give you 100% Stingray but probably that bit more that you are looking for!? The Tributes (and especially the L-2000 Tribute Deluxe with the carved top) are excellent - at least the ones I had in my hand that were from ~2012-2016 - but from what I read the newer ones are also very good. And you can have them used for 400-500 EUR and your Stingray can be sold for at least 1100 EUR.
I'd leave the pickup as it is, at least at first, and I'd recommend trying the John East MMSR preamp, the 3-band one. They are available as 3 and 4 knob, so whatever version you have you have a preamp version that will fit.
On that preamp, you can select the mid frequency centre to anything between 100-1000 Hz or 200-2000 Hz (there is an internal switch for that), so it covers a lot of ground.
I have a 2002 Stingray with one of those preamps and I went from liking the bass to REALLY liking the bass.
Product categories MM-Style
Are there any tutorials for dummies like me to learn how to solder these preamps and pickups or are these things plug and play?
IF there are video step by step tutorials please point me to the right direction as i cant seem to find them on Google.
It would be so cool to get the Ernie Ball Stingray Sound onto my Sire v7 Marcus Miller bass guitar lol.
IF there are video step by step tutorials please point me to the right direction as i cant seem to find them on Google.
It would be so cool to get the Ernie Ball Stingray Sound onto my Sire v7 Marcus Miller bass guitar lol.
I run mine passive with a Seymour Duncan alnico 5 pickup. I like it better that way.
