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SBMM Stingray Short scale
- Thread starter dralionux
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- short scale bass
I just got my second one today. Barely.....that is. I’ve had the maple for a month now and planned to have rounds on the maple and flats on the rosewood. Just my luck, the RW sounds amazing just like it is. It sounds better than the maple, and I’m generally a maple guy.
Here’s the barley got it part. Gotta luv FedEx. They’ve had it lost and bouncing around the country for 2 weeks. Oh yeah another just my luck; didn’t come with a gig bag.
The box has expensive studio gear in it BTW.
Here’s a family pic that shows the size difference of a 34” Stingray.
miraculousy, the bass had one knob fall off and somehow stay in the box. It took a thump in the pickup. The treble side was flush with the pick guard. I fixed both issues easily. This is much lighter than my maple one. In fixing the pickups, I really carefully adjusted the height of the PU. I ended up with the sweet spot being a good deal lower than the maple. I’m going to adjust it the same way. I guess we can say these are bulletproof too. I didn’t expect them to sound so much different. I hope the maple neck one takes to the flatwounds.
Here’s the barley got it part. Gotta luv FedEx. They’ve had it lost and bouncing around the country for 2 weeks. Oh yeah another just my luck; didn’t come with a gig bag.
The box has expensive studio gear in it BTW.
Here’s a family pic that shows the size difference of a 34” Stingray.
miraculousy, the bass had one knob fall off and somehow stay in the box. It took a thump in the pickup. The treble side was flush with the pick guard. I fixed both issues easily. This is much lighter than my maple one. In fixing the pickups, I really carefully adjusted the height of the PU. I ended up with the sweet spot being a good deal lower than the maple. I’m going to adjust it the same way. I guess we can say these are bulletproof too. I didn’t expect them to sound so much different. I hope the maple neck one takes to the flatwounds.
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Wow! Nice set! I’m glad the bass stayed mostly in tact. I would be really sad to hear one of these got ruined.
I’m interested to hear your thoughts on string choice between the two and more of the differences you can describe. I’ve had the white/rosewood one for about two weeks. I love it, but the stock strings could be better for my taste. In some ways, I love them, in other ways, they’re just a bit too metallic for the sound I want. I don’t want to go on a long (expensive) string journey like I did with my last bass though, so I’m going to wait and listen to some different ideas. Thinking about DR Hi Beams, but I’ve never played them before. Any specific string choices you’re considering so far?
DR HiBeams are stainless steel, which would probably be brighter than the factory strings, which are nickel plated steel.
You may want to consider playing the factory strings a little longer. Brand new strings are usually bright, and after some time playing them the brightness fades.
You may want to consider playing the factory strings a little longer. Brand new strings are usually bright, and after some time playing them the brightness fades.
Oops.. Yeah, I read more about them after I posted this. One of my favorite bassists uses them and I love the tone she gets but maybe she’s cutting the top end with the tone knob or EQing. Just trying to get a similar fat round bottom with a growl that isn’t too metallic and doesn’t require a lot of tweaking. Going to see how these Ernie Ball strings age while I research more. Thanks for the input
Kj
L
I’ve ended up with 2 of the same instruments which I string one with flats and one with rounds.
I try to use strings that appeal to the most people so it’s Daddario Chromes for flats and and Daddario nickel wound for rounds. I also sometimes use Labella flats.
I have also noticed that some bassists like it that I have consistently used the same strings on all the instruments.
L
I’m probably the wrong person to recommend strings. I’m a studio for hire and I try to get bassists that have crappy instruments. I keep a stable of basses that I try to get the guy with the bass that doesn’t record well to use. I’ve cherry picked out the best sounding examples of classic, bread and butter basses and several short scales.
I’ve ended up with 2 of the same instruments which I string one with flats and one with rounds.
I try to use strings that appeal to the most people so it’s Daddario Chromes for flats and and Daddario nickel wound for rounds. I also sometimes use Labella flats.
I have also noticed that some bassists like it that I have consistently used the same strings on all the instruments.
Oops. I can’t edit my post. I meant to say I like to get guys with crappy instruments to play one of my basses.
I received an update. Shipment comes in at the store around the 19th. So little over a week delay.
I just backordered a blue/maple neck today from GC. That’s after ordering last night from Adirondack Guitar Center whose website claimed to have one in stock and hearing it was a misprint this morning.
I read quite a few pages of this thread before pulling the trigger. Such great info here.
Any predictions on when it might arrive?
I read quite a few pages of this thread before pulling the trigger. Such great info here.
Any predictions on when it might arrive?
Your post reminded me that I had a slightly used set of D'Addario nickel rounds sitting around. I dug them out and put them on the Stingray last night and it made a world of difference for me. That could be due to the fact that they're a bit more worn in, but now my Ray really sings the way I wanted. There's just enough crispy top sizzle for my taste and the metallic clank on the bottom end has largely been replaced with a more rounded growl. Good call on these strings. My interest in them has been renewed and I'm grateful that these happen to be the one short scale string that is readily available in Thailand. Score! Thanks for the heads up
In case anyone’s thinking about doing the same thing, I just called and got an estimate of six weeks.
Ahead of what's looking like a return to band practice this coming week (I can't wait!), I had a chance this morning to crank up a little louder than usual, and wow, this bass really impressed me.
I've been finding that using headphones, I really liked the singlecoil setting, which I didnt expect - that parallel classic Stingray sound is what I wanted most, and it just felt a little dark and sterile at times. Now I know that was my headphones.
Through a Barefaced Compact, this thing punches in parallel mode. Lots of clarity, lots of mid-range easily dialled in, a strong low end. Unplugged, I was convinced my bottom string was dead & I'd need to replace before playing in a band setting, but through the amp I didn't hear that at all. I don't know if it's the neodymium magnets or what but I'm a fan of this pickup for sure.
This bass plays great with effects (using a Fuzzrocious Cat Tail/Afterlife custom pedal, the distortion sounded great, and the reverb chimed), in a way I've never found active 'Rays to quite do to my liking. I'm really excited about getting it up to band volume now.
I've been finding that using headphones, I really liked the singlecoil setting, which I didnt expect - that parallel classic Stingray sound is what I wanted most, and it just felt a little dark and sterile at times. Now I know that was my headphones.
Through a Barefaced Compact, this thing punches in parallel mode. Lots of clarity, lots of mid-range easily dialled in, a strong low end. Unplugged, I was convinced my bottom string was dead & I'd need to replace before playing in a band setting, but through the amp I didn't hear that at all. I don't know if it's the neodymium magnets or what but I'm a fan of this pickup for sure.
This bass plays great with effects (using a Fuzzrocious Cat Tail/Afterlife custom pedal, the distortion sounded great, and the reverb chimed), in a way I've never found active 'Rays to quite do to my liking. I'm really excited about getting it up to band volume now.
Yeah, this pickup is definitely stronger than what I'm used to. It sustains to the end of the world. I'm still fine-tuning my amp and pedals to balance out with the normal settings of my other basses. It made a huge difference to lower the pickup height. Straight from the factory, it's too high unless you play really softly. If I'm going to play it like all the other basses I've played (I'm kind of aggressive), the pickup needs to be a lot closer to the body so the pickup doesn't max out the signal and become overbearing and distort. A little bit of overpowered signal seems to be good though (in my opinion) because it adds some nice fuzz/overdrive depending on the gear you use. This thing is definitely powerful (sensitive?) so you have to adjust it to your gear and playing style for the best results. Captain Obvious(?) over and out.
Definitely dropped the pickup a little, and lowered my default gain settings on the Cat Tail & VT Bass preamp to keep things sounding good. Well worth it, though, it's not a harsh sound at all when dialled in - lots of nuance in there.
Any concerns I had that a passive 'Ray wouldn't have the same sizzle have been long since blown out the water by this bass!
I’m glad it isn’t just me who hears the pickup sweet spot is much lower than stock. I’d be interested to see what these measure in Ohms. Gotta be pushing more than 15K. I agree about the Daddario nickel wounds. I put a brand new set on my maple FB one. They sound like you’re describing. I usually don’t like recording with brand new bass strings, but this bass doesn’t care. It’s amazingly flexible despite being passive.
I’m still floored that the designers of this bass accomplished. This bass has almost nothing in common other than a maple neck. The bodies are Mahogany, the pickups and electronics are nothing at all like a 34” Stingray yet it still has the sound of a SR if you want it. I think it’s more flexible than a regular SR too. Some very talented people with some great ears spent A LOT of listening and tweaking to get the results we’re now enjoying. Hats off to them for sure.
I’m still floored that the designers of this bass accomplished. This bass has almost nothing in common other than a maple neck. The bodies are Mahogany, the pickups and electronics are nothing at all like a 34” Stingray yet it still has the sound of a SR if you want it. I think it’s more flexible than a regular SR too. Some very talented people with some great ears spent A LOT of listening and tweaking to get the results we’re now enjoying. Hats off to them for sure.
Maybe the factory-set pup heights work better when the strings are well played-in. Having said that, I had to drop mine as they were way too close to the strings after I lowered the action to the edge of fret buzz as I do with all my basses.
This thing has to be one of the fastest bass guitars I’ve ever played.
I also ordered the "Daphne" from Adirondack last Saturday Night, after the website showed they had it in stock. Chad from Adirondack called Monday afternoon advising it is not in stock and took off "$30 for shipping" and promised 1st week in July delivery.
Totally WAY Off topic but being an old guy Raider/Dave Casper fan, I love your screen name and sig. I saw the Ghost To The Post play On Tv as it happened. I also played Tight End and Casper was my idol as a kid.
Back to the topic: Has anyone looked up the skirt of the electronics yet? I’m wondering if there’s a capacitor and/or resistor on the boost mode. It might be cool to fool around with different values.
