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Music Man StingrayBass preamp flat

Jens1

Jens1

Guest
Sep 6, 2013
40
11
#1
Hi TB,

does anybody know how does MM SR classic (or preEB) perform with flat eq (bass 0, treble 0) in the mix? Does it lack the bass?

I like flat tone but in live situation or in studion never tried. So is flat a "no go" situation?

Thanks
 
#2
What is flat tone? Everything is voiced to some extent, pickups can be wound bassier or with more treble. Wood, to an extent, alters your tone too so flat doesn't really exist. Your amp greatly colours your tone even if you bypass the EQ. It doesn't make sense to have a policy of keeping controls flat at the expense of your sound. Just set the controls for the heart of the sun, do what's right for the music you're playing and the room you're in. Also, bear in mind a two-band Stingray has bass boost but the treble control is cut and boost, despite there being no centre detent. If you set it to 0, you're cutting treble and not flat as you may think. Even then, your PA and your live engineer are going to colour your sound out front, too, so... there is no flat.

I think I know where you're coming from, I generally like to bypass the EQ on the amp and, if the bass doesn't sound great without EQ, it gets eased on out the door, but I don't see the harm in minor tweaks of the the onboard pre, that's what it's there for.
 
#3
Doctor J said:
What is flat tone? Everything is voiced to some extent, pickups can be wound bassier or with more treble. Wood, to an extent, alters your tone too so flat doesn't really exist. Your amp greatly colours your tone even if you bypass the EQ. It doesn't make sense to have a policy of keeping controls flat at the expense of your sound. Just set the controls for the heart of the sun, do what's right for the music you're playing and the room you're in. Also, bear in mind a two-band Stingray has bass boost but the treble control is cut and boost, despite there being no centre detent. If you set it to 0, you're cutting treble and not flat as you may think. Even then, your PA and your live engineer are going to colour your sound out front, too, so... there is no flat.

I think I know where you're coming from, I generally like to bypass the EQ on the amp and, if the bass doesn't sound great without EQ, it gets eased on out the door, but I don't see the harm in minor tweaks of the the onboard pre, that's what it's there for.
Click to expand...

To correct myself - I meant bass and treble on StingrayBass 2015 turned off. I know there are many variables that affect the tone. In these days I go to JDI and the to PA, so no amp involved, but that's another chapter.

I was just asking if you guys go live or in studio with bass and treble on SR classic turned off. As I said, soloed it sound good to my ear, but I don't have experiance live or in studio with this setup (I always played P bass and SR 3 band preamp - new to SR 2band)

Thanks for your reply and opinion.
 
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#6
Jens1 said:
Hi TB,

does anybody know how does MM SR classic (or preEB) perform with flat eq (bass 0, treble 0) in the mix? Does it lack the bass?

I like flat tone but in live situation or in studion never tried. So is flat a "no go" situation?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I believe the bass is boost only, whereas treble is boost/cut. There are lots of threads around here looking at this, and IIRC at least one has a frequency plot of the preamp.

+1 to comments out there that "nothing is flat", be it an amp, a preamp, a speaker, whatever. Knobs at 0, or centre detent, or whatever also has nothing to do with the "flatness" of the tone. Just look at passive Fender tonestacks - the closest you get to flat is with bass and treble at about 2, and the mids cranked up all the way.
 
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#8
Depends on your amp/settings, cabinet etc. With my EBMM stingray classic 4 I set my amp to sound good with EBMM bass/treble to left most position. I only use EBMM bass/treble to enhance for slapping or reggea like bass. I play a limited run stingray classic with additional passive mode which also allows dialing in some darker, midrangy sounds which you cannot get from a standard stingray classic.
 

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