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My OLP is now a REAL Stingray!!

#23
Originally posted by Eric Moesle
I've said this before and I'll say it again and again. People who think that the OLP's, modded or not, sound like real Stingray's have never owned a real Stingray. Nothing close in either sound or feel. It might be fine for the money, but no way its even close.
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I dunno man, if you put a MM pickup and preamp in your OLP, it will sound pretty damn close, especially if it is an ash/maple OLP. It will still feel a little bit different though... but then again, my StingRay feels different to me than the other StingRays I have played so....
 
#24
Originally posted by jondog
Natural finishh OLPs are made of Elm. :/
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Hmm.. neato... I learned something new today. :)

Elm must be darker cause that OLP I seen is darker than my natural finish SR. It does sound pretty good though... not as good as my 'Ray though (ofcoarse :D)

A bit off topic, but does anyone care to share with me what the tonal characteristics of Elm are?

Bebop
 
#28
I has the Fodera pre and the pickup already and the OLB was only $160. If I were going to buy all this stuff new I may have done somthing else.

If a guy is patient, all this stuff can be had for a song on Ebay. No doubt under the $699 the S.U.B. is going for.

Just a side note; I am very entertained by some of the uniformed and mis-informed comments on a modded OLP. These people are forgetting that the Stingray is being produced in bulk using many of the same manufacturing processes as the OLP - CNC machining; load the stock and push the button, body and neck just about done. Again, MM's detail work is better but the fundementals that make the Stingray sound have been duplicated by the OLP people - this is a FACT. Some are convinced that MM's are hand built by skilled craftsmen from Italy or somthing. The fact of the matter is MM buys wood my the ton, pickups by the crate and paint by the barrel and are assembled by people who filled out an application like any other job; majority of these people had no more experience at building a bass than than I have at flying a Space Shuttle. They do make significantly more $$ than the Chinese people building the OLP and so MM must pass these costs onto us, the consumer. One of our fellow TB'ers made the Stingray mania chrystal clear to me, he said:

"I've said this before and I'll say it again and again. People who think that the OLP's, modded or not, sound like real Stingray's have never owned a real Stingray. Nothing close in either sound or feel. It might be fine for the money, but no way its even close."

No research, no data of any kind, pure emotion.
This thinking is EXACTLY why a Stingray costs $1300; it's not the "rare wood" or the "Secret pickup" or the "Patented hardware" or even the "Fine hand craftsmenship", it's the hype on the headstock... period. This goes for lots of our favorate basses. For example, ask elite bass builder Ken Smith about "Vintage" Fender stuff sometime if you can stand the facts.
Lastly, those of us who DARE to look at my OLP project objectively rather than emotionaly will reach the same conclusion as I; Weather it be clothes, cars or basses, Function over fashion almost always equates to $$$ saved.

Keep those responses coming; those of you who have done your homework and therefore support my findings I say thanks; those who have not and yet continue with the half baked responces, I'll go pop some more popcorn and continue reading 'cause you indeed make this fun.

Thanks...
 
#30
A friend of mine is selling an OLP he has tweaked a bit cosmetically.

Now if i compare this to my Cort SB25 i payed 300 euros for, i find that the Cort may sound a bit more flat, but i think it plays great, has a better-feeling neck than the OLP. maybe it would be worth looking into this project by taking into account there are other Musicman clones around that may be better than the OLP?
 
#31
Originally posted by patrickj
Elm's a fine tonewood. It works and sounds a lot like alder.
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Why doesn't anybody else use elm?

I like modding cheap basses. It's important to remember that KenToby's OLP was handpicked. I've played the ones at my GC, and there is definite variation in playability across different examples of the same model. You can't guarantee you'll get a nice one off of ebay. Also, I found the 5ers especially weak. Quality control is one of the reasons that MMs cost more.

I think the "secret" preamp and pickup are a big deal. You cannot buy a genuine MM pup off the shelf. Sure, reputable manufacturers make a copy that will fit in the hole but it's not the same.

I think the resistance is coming from KenToby's claim that he has made a "real" MM. If all he claimed was that he made a nice bass out of a cheapie, more people would be supportive.
 
#32
Originally posted by jondog
Why doesn't anybody else use elm?
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Furniture<>luthier predjudice possibly, I don't really know (ie: "I don't want the same wood in my bass that floored my kitchen", etc). Sort of like how pine has a bad rep for instruments (harder to work with because of sap tho), but is a fine sounding wood for acoustics. A friend of builds archtops and he's used elm (as well as pine) for a few.

:bassist:
 
#33
Originally posted by KenToby
If a guy is patient, all this stuff can be had for a song on Ebay. No doubt under the $699 the S.U.B. is going for.
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Not sure if you intentionally ignored the fact that a used Stingray can be purchased for very little money too. Here's one that ended at $537:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2569102218&category=4713&rd=1
Seems to me it'd actually be easier to be a smart eBay bidder on one item rather than multiple ones. But maybe I'm just being "emotional".


Originally posted by KenToby

Lastly, those of us who DARE to look at my OLP project objectively rather than emotionaly will reach the same conclusion as I; Weather it be clothes, cars or basses, Function over fashion almost always equates to $$$ saved.

Keep those responses coming; those of you who have done your homework and therefore support my findings I say thanks; those who have not and yet continue with the half baked responces, I'll go pop some more popcorn and continue reading 'cause you indeed make this fun.
Click to expand...

You start a thread inferring that people who buy USA Stingrays are being misled while also bragging about your bass collection and eBay prowess...where exactly is the factual content here? The primary fact I see is that you bought a cheap bass, switched out some parts, and are satisfied with the results. I'm sorry, but in no way does this naturally lead to the conclusion that people with USA Stingrays are "uninformed". In fact, it's pretty darned insulting.

Like I said, I'm glad that you found a good quality instrument for not much money. But simply because people would choose to use their money elsewhere does not make you right and them wrong.

By the way, there are plenty of people here on TB whose collections and eBay prowess would smoke yours any day.
 
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#34
I think Toby makes some great points about manufacturing. Years ago I worked at a high end audio company, stuff for audiophiles only. Real expensive "quality" stuff.
I can tell you, if any of the customers had ever been on the production line, they may have run screaming.
This product won awards and praise from the industry but was being made by min. wage kids who were high half the time. I worked in quality control and it's an oxymoron. You typically test maybe 10% of a run, so 90% of what goes out the door could potentially be crap (and it often is).
Most of these manufacturers are not a little shop with Antonio from the old country laborously turning out stradavarius'.

Stuff like OLP are so much better then the "cheap" guitars and basses that were available to me when I started out 30 years ago. The computerized lathes, etc. turn stuff out to spec consistantly. The cheap electronics today are equivilent to the top of the line ones just 15 years ago.
I don't venture to say that OLP is the same as Musicman by any stretch, but at $169.00 when you add it all up, it's a helluva lot of bang for the buck.
 
#35
Originally posted by mcbassdude

Stuff like OLP are so much better then the "cheap" guitars and basses that were available to me when I started out 30 years ago. The computerized lathes, etc. turn stuff out to spec consistantly. The cheap electronics today are equivilent to the top of the line ones just 15 years ago.
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Amen brother!:bassist:

When I was a kid in the 80's you could get a imported plywood Hondo, Kramer or whatever for $200 bucks. Let me tell you these things were crap (except for the rare "magic" one). Real bad in many ways including poor construction and bad materials. They were a poor value considering you could buy a brand new American Fender strat for $500 back then in some Guitar Center blowout sale.

Nowadays the cheapos are so much better in quality. It's amazing how many under $200 guitars feature solid wood bodies, compared to back then. There was a day when Korean guitars were crap, and now they are churning out some very nice axes. The fact that Chinese companies who are relative newcomers to the guitar industry are turning out some nice stuff speaks to the power of CNC. The truth is that some top-notch American companies use CNC such as EB, Fender, PRS, Gibson, and dozens more. In the same way that modern technology lets us produce a decent quality CD from our home for a fraction of what is used to cost in time and equipment, CNC technology lets others turn out some real nice stuff. Today, I find that construction of a cheapo to be a much higher quality than yesteryear. Electronics are so much improved. I bought some Essex basses and an OLP, and I am amazed at the quality of these axes. It was way better than the plywood Squier basses from then. I am amazed at what under $150 could get me. Now that I do my own setups and intonation and other tweaking, I have really fallen in love with some of today's cheapos. It's amazing how a proper setup can improve a bass in terms of sound and playability, regardless of who made the bass or what the bass is made of.

As plenty of us old farts say, "I wish we had that when I was a kid".
 
#36
I agree on the new cheaper line basses being a great value. I'm shocked at what they are doing for under $500 and sometimes $200. The OLP's, SUBs, Corts, Schecters, etc.

I had the Aslin Dane 4 string stingray-style and though it was decent, it had alot of issues. I took the poorly cut pickguard off and found the pickup route to be manually routed badly. The pickup was ok but no active electronics. The neck felt very cheap and had an ebonal type of fingerboard. Also, the pickup was mounted at more of a bridge position than the sweetspot.

In addition, I had a black on black, maple board Stingray 4 and sold it for $600 which is what I paid for it. They are certainly out there.
 
#37
Good to know that there are people who are actually reading and comprehending what it is I'm saying here. Yes, the "cheapies" are closing the quality gap daily.
My hands and ears tell me that I've taken the extra steps to close the feel and tone gap in the MM area.

Keep those intellegent posts coming...

Thanks,

KenToby
 
#38
Ummm, lets be carefull as to what words we choose in the posts we make, shall we?

I mean, KenToby, nobody is disrespecting you or cutting you down for what you feel is an OLP that sounds and feels like a MusicMan.

I think it is great that you have done what you have done. I said I liked the sound of the OLP I tried, but no, in comparisson to my StingRay, it is a different tone. Is my 'Ray worth 1500.00 more dollars? To me, yeah it is. It feels and sounds like only IT feels and sounds. It feels and sounds different than any 'Ray or OLP or any other bass I have tried for that matter. Now, If I really loved the tone and feel of the OLP I tried, maybe I would have paid 2 grand for it. Who knows.

And KenToby, what gives you the right to tell us we are uninformed and mis-informed, etc? We are mis-informed because to us, a modded OLP doesn't sound or feel like a real StingRay? ...keep in mind, maybe the StingRay tone isn't what you are going for, hence my above statement about spending my money.

Personally, I'd rather see MusicMan StingRay on my headstock than OLP. Sure, maybe that is cheesey of me, but that is just me. At the same time, if I really like the feel and tone of a bass, I could care less what "brand" it is.

To each his own, man. Don't take such offence to others oppinions.
 
#39
I have a Dillion 5-string MM copy in which I'm replacing the stock pickup with a Basslines. Like Toby, I plan to run it through my Fodera 2000 as well.

However, I don't expect it to sound or feel like a Stingray. What I do expect is a bass that sounds like I want it to sound.

I've always loved Stingrays and I've never played a copy that played or sounded like one, even modded. Maybe that's just me.
 
#40
Well, anyone who makes a blanket statement like, "I don't care what you say, you can't make an OLP sound like a Stingray no matter what, etc..." or somthing to that effect, is indeed uninformed or mis-informed. These folks have done very little or ZERO homework! If these types of statements aren't a result of being either uninformed or misinformed than I don't know what is.

Lastly, you ask me what gives me the right to make such claims. I see you are in Canada; here in the states we have a thing called the constitution which includes a free speach clause called the First Amendment; this, my friend, gives me and the rest of the American TB'ers the right to our post individual view points and opinions; I guess this includes you too.
Again, I respect all post as long as they are intelligent.

Thanks
 

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