SBMM Stingray Short scale

[Lesfunk]

I had to stop by guitar center and they had one hanging on the wall and impulse struck.
I played it and was impressed by the sound, so a grabbed it.
I can already tell it needs to have the nut slots filed and maybe a little fret work but as I said ,the sound was impressive.
Also new strings are in order

 

[WestyBassBob]

I had to stop by guitar center and they had one hanging on the wall and impulse struck.
I played it and was impressed by the sound, so a grabbed it.
I can already tell it needs to have the nut slots filed and maybe a little fret work but as I said ,the sound was impressive.
Also new strings are in order

Yup, it checks all the boxes. I seem to be the only one on here with the white one though.

 

[Protagonist]

Yup, it checks all the boxes. I seem to be the only one on here with the white one though.

Here's a pic of my neck swapped white SBMM.

 

[WestyBassBob]

Here's a pic of my neck swapped white SBMM.

That looks great with the black PG. personally I prefer the rosewood FB but to each their own. At some point I’d like to put a custom PG on but I can’t decided which one

 

[534N]

Definitely “to each their own” on fretboards. I would love to swap my rosewood with maple. Rosewood is more porous so it slightly bugs me with appearance of “cracks” in the grain.

Totally agree on the nut. I replaced mine with a Graphtech Tusq nut. I’m still experimenting with strings. I feel like I want to cut some GHS pressurewounds down to size but I’m not sure if it’s a good idea yet. I want some of the roundwound edge without sliding noise, clank and the need to replace every couple months.

I wish words could clearly define specific sounds so we could all have a conversation about what we are looking for and easily find it. This bass is 90% perfect for everything I want, but there’s still that little bit more that I’m trying to capture without going off the deep end with mods.

 

[Protagonist]

Definitely “to each their own” on fretboards. I would love to swap my rosewood with maple. Rosewood is more porous so it slightly bugs me with appearance of “cracks” in the grain.

Totally agree on the nut. I replaced mine with a Graphtech Tusq nut. I’m still experimenting with strings. I feel like I want to cut some GHS pressurewounds down to size but I’m not sure if it’s a good idea yet. I want some of the roundwound edge without sliding noise, clank and the need to replace every couple months.

I wish words could clearly define specific sounds so we could all have a conversation about what we are looking for and easily find it. This bass is 90% perfect for everything I want, but there’s still that little bit more that I’m trying to capture without going off the deep end with mods.

GHS makes short scale pressure wound strings already. No reason to cut down long scales unless you must have a different guage.

 

[loucook]

Today I added a Zero-Mod thumb rest to my SBMM Stingray short scale. Zero-Mod supplied longer pickguard screws, but I used the factory screws, and they seem to work fine.

 

[Treblefree]

Today I added a Zero-Mod thumb rest to my SBMM Stingray short scale. Zero-Mod supplied longer pickguard screws, but I used the factory screws, and they seem to work fine.
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I have the identical one on mine. Bought it off Greywoulfe here on TB. I love it.

 

[Lesfunk]

I found a set of DR hi beams laying around so I replaced those ickypoo stock strings and filed the nut down yo nice low first fret action.
It plays and sounds incrementally yet noticeably better.
The new strings allow so much better articulation.
I must resist the urge to mod....
Ok, maybe tuners."..

 

[Aiden1382]

Hey everyone, Precision guitars has a dark purple pickguard in stock. I had it made for a white bass that I returned.

I don’t see it.
Do you have photos?

 

[marco bollini]

I had to stop by guitar center and they had one hanging on the wall and impulse struck.
I played it and was impressed by the sound, so a grabbed it.
I can already tell it needs to have the nut slots filed and maybe a little fret work but as I said ,the sound was impressive.
Also new strings are in order

yes, a little fret work is maybe necessary but U grab a real cool bass!

 

[Craig4003]

I just picked up one of these SBMM Short-Scale StingRays yesterday. Great little instrument, but on replacing the strings, I noticed that the G-string tuner is defective -- it works, but it seems like the gear and the worm don't quite align correctly. Turning it, it gets really hard to turn after a while, then suddenly snaps free, and the same thing happens several turns later. I could just return the bass, but I really like it, and tuning machines are easy to replace. Does anyone know what tuner would be a good drop-in replacement? HipShot HB-1 maybe, or is that only good for USA EBMM basses?

 

[Craig4003]

I found this thread which indicates that you can use Schaller BM tuners on an SBMM StingRay. He needed to drill new holes, but from the photo, it looks like the old holes are covered up by the tuner, so at least they're not visible. He also needed to use some aluminum tape around the Schaller bushings, which are slightly smaller than the original ones. The HipShot HB1 is (they say) a drop-in replacement for the Schaller BM, so I guess the same would be true with them.

I'm still open to other suggestions if anyone has any.

I wrote to Sterling over the weekend to inquire about getting a replacement for the bad tuner, but haven't had a reply yet.

 

[moderatelyfunky]

I found this thread which indicates that you can use Schaller BM tuners on an SBMM StingRay. He needed to drill new holes, but from the photo, it looks like the old holes are covered up by the tuner, so at least they're not visible. He also needed to use some aluminum tape around the Schaller bushings, which are slightly smaller than the original ones. The HipShot HB1 is (they say) a drop-in replacement for the Schaller BM, so I guess the same would be true with them.

I'm still open to other suggestions if anyone has any.

I wrote to Sterling over the weekend to inquire about getting a replacement for the bad tuner, but haven't had a reply yet.

These are 1/2 hipshot ultralights. The old screw holes are obvious, but I stopped noticing them soon after they were installed. These also needed to be bushed. My luthier used tape I think. Was almost a year ago now.

Very happy with them.

 

[Spupilup]

I wrote to Sterling over the weekend to inquire about getting a replacement for the bad tuner, but haven't had a reply yet.

Be prepared, it may take more than one email. I had a bad machine head straight out of the box, as well. It took two emails but once they became "aware" of the problem a replacement was sent out right away. To me, they are the weakest link in these basses but for the money, I guess cheap machine heads are to be expected.

 

[Craig4003]

Thanks, I guess I'll give it a couple of days or so and write them again if they haven't replied.

 

[Spupilup]

I think I gave them a week and my second email referenced my first so they got my point.

 

[kraken_kr]

My defret has become my primary player. It's not perfect, but I don't think I'll ever return to a fretted as my main. Or a 34". I have a few long-scale fretlesses, but apparently I never bonded with them now that I know what it's like.

It's not a mwah master, but I think it's getting more tonal personality as time goes. Maybe I'm grinding the neck closer to to true with improper vibrato and constant moves to fix my lousy intonation.

The nut that the luthier cut for me is rattling now for G,D and sometimes E. Not sure if the weather has changed things or just playing time. Wished it were black anyway so, now I've got good reasons to replace it. She said that the neck has a hump in it around the 12th fret and it looks like she put a healthy shim in it.

No defret regret here!
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Hey, your defretted ray looks amazing! Just wondering could you please expand more on why you think it is not perfect? Did you noticed any change in tonality after defretting? I am really thinking about doing the same on mine and just curious to hear what you think. Thanks in advance!

 

[moderatelyfunky]

Hey, your defretted ray looks amazing! Just wondering could you please expand more on why you think it is not perfect? Did you noticed any change in tonality after defretting? I am really thinking about doing the same on mine and just curious to hear what you think. Thanks in advance!

Thanks, it looks good from 5 feet.

The tone changed a bit in that it's rounder, but it still barks when digging in. It doesn't have a ton of that mwah sound, but I've heard that could be related to how I have it setup or how I play it.

The playability imperfections are limited to a few spots on the neck that buzz and not in the good, mwah buzz way. If I lighten up to minimize the buzz in those spots, the tone is a little honkier than normal.

The luthier who did the work told me that there was a hump in the neck around the 12 fret which she said was common with this class of instruments. She did some leveling, and she also some shimming to get the action low.

The other playing complaint is that if I'm playing anything other than my lightest, all four strings buzz in the nut. While the frets were being taken out and the tuners swapped, I had her cut install a new Tusq nut.

Visually, there are a few spots with tiny chip outs from removing the frets, but sawdust was glued in or maybe epoxy to make them almost invisible. You might be able to see some in my avatar picture.

I'm pretty sure that if my luthier spent a little more time or had a little more expertise, mine wouldn't have the issues it does. They really are minor issues to me though and if I knew that this is exactly what I'd get with the defret and nut job, I'd make the same decision to do it. It's my daily player and I love it.

 

[kraken_kr]

Thanks, it looks good from 5 feet.

The tone changed a bit in that it's rounder, but it still barks when digging in. It doesn't have a ton of that mwah sound, but I've heard that could be related to how I have it setup or how I play it.

The playability imperfections are limited to a few spots on the neck that buzz and not in the good, mwah buzz way. If I lighten up to minimize the buzz in those spots, the tone is a little honkier than normal.

The luthier who did the work told me that there was a hump in the neck around the 12 fret which she said was common with this class of instruments. She did some leveling, and she also some shimming to get the action low.

The other playing complaint is that if I'm playing anything other than my lightest, all four strings buzz in the nut. While the frets were being taken out and the tuners swapped, I had her cut install a new Tusq nut.

Visually, there are a few spots with tiny chip outs from removing the frets, but sawdust was glued in or maybe epoxy to make them almost invisible. You might be able to see some in my avatar picture.

I'm pretty sure that if my luthier spent a little more time or had a little more expertise, mine wouldn't have the issues it does. They really are minor issues to me though and if I knew that this is exactly what I'd get with the defret and nut job, I'd make the same decision to do it. It's my daily player and I love it.

Thanks so much for the detailed info! Do you mean after the installation of the newly cut Tusq nut there is still buzz for all four strings in the nut? I am particularly interested about this part as I am still relatively new to bass and kinda worried about playing at the lightest to avoid buzz might help me form some "bad" habits. Meanwhile, I really like the sounds from fretless but do not want multiple basses laying around (for now!).

Thanks again for the great info! I am probably 2cm close from pulling the trigger.