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Short scale Stingray!

#301
Mine is 7.59 pounds. The lightest bass I own by about a half pound.

gigetto said:
Short scale tonal increasing or not respect long scale? This is interesting for light weight.
Click to expand...

Not sure what you are asking, but the tone of this bass is the most focused I have regardless of scale length. It's definitely a Stingray-ish sound. Unmistakable there. But, it is more cutting in the lower mids, less scooped, less boomy, and less extreme-high-end-y. It sits in the band mix, at least to my ears, with sort of a narrower focus on the "money frequencies" for bass. You will be heard with this bass without having to crank it and get a deluge of rumbling mud like you do with some basses when you can't hear yourself and try to make up for it by increasing the volume. You won't need to crank this bass way up to be heard. It's kind of hard to describe... just a "tighter" sound I guess. And this is regardless of the tone setting--all settings sound good regardless of tone and coil switch settings. I can't get a bad tone out of this bass from the bass itself. The only way to get a bad tone is by goofing your amp settings up or... having a lousy soundman.
 
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#305
Hey everyone I just wanted to report an update to my string dilemma. Just so the rest of you don't have to go through the many pages of this thread essentially I just didn't like the way the stock strings sounded on this bass. Ironically they seemed perfect on the Stingray Special. It's the same set of strings but one bass is long scale, one is short, one is active, and one is passive and they just didn't hit me right.

Anyway I put some Cobalt Slinkys on it which were worse imo, and then TI flats which were an improvement. But as some of you have noted, I think this bass benefits more from rounds. I just put some Curt Mangan rounds on there and I think we have a winner. It makes sense since he worked for Ernie Ball for quite some time.

Anyway if you aren't totally enthralled with the stock strings give these a try.
 
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#310
Green Knight said:
Don't suppose anyone wants to give me a cheat sheet on these controls ... technical terminology makes my head hurt!
Click to expand...

Mine had a diagram in the bag with the tools and other stuff that came in the case so you probably got one too.

When the middle 3 notch knob is towards the back of the bass (Position 1 on the diagram), it is in Parallel mode, which from what I think the guys with more StingRay experience than me say, is the classic SR sound.
The middle notch (P2) is Single Coil mode, maybe a more Fenderish sound?
The front notch (P3) is Series mode, a very fat bass boosted sound.
And of course the volume knob can be pushed down a little to release it upwards for a volume boost no matter which position the middle knob is in.
 
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#314
I've spent some time with mine now. Before I get into my nit picking, I do really really like the bass.
I do not like the stock strings at all. They're very 'zingy' to my ears - more 'zing' than 'growl'.
But that's OK. I can't think of a new bass where I was particularly enamored with it's stock strings. So that's a nit pick, and not a knock on the bass.
SmAsh listed this as one of the their "Guitars of Distinction" - whatever that means. They also listed it as BFR (Ball Family Reserve) There is no indication that this is true anywhere in the case candy, or even SmAsh's 'certificate of inspection'. That's not a knock at Ernie Ball. And that had no influence on my purchase. I bought it for it published weight, which was accurate. The price was the standard price you could find anywhere for this bass. So, I'm not saying I got ripped off. But still, bogus advertising never warms my icy heart.
BUT. The setup at the nut was ATROCIOUS! It might have been acceptable on a $179 'student model cheapo' bass. It would not be acceptable on a MIM Fender, let alone a $2,000 instrument. To be fair, I almost always find nuts to be cut too high, with the exception of Sadowskys. I have indexed files to cut nuts deeper, so I could deal with it. But WOW!!! This nut was nuts!!! There was almost a full 1/8 of an inch string travel to fret at the first fret. This is a knock at EB. It is inexcusable by any measure, let alone at this price point.
SmAsh's certificate listed neck relief and intonation as checked. This must have been done by the kid who's main job is to wrangle shopping carts from the parking lot.
Some have had great out of the box experience, and good for them. I have built and set up more basses than I can count, so there wasn't anything I could not work with. But if you cannot file a nut and set up a bass, and got one like this, you are in for a return, or additional expense.
So fair warning. But after working through the nut, neck relief and intonation, I love it!
 
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#315
I actually like the stock strings on my SS Stingray. They are much less floppy than many of the short scale basses I get (with whatever stock strings). And they sound okay to my ears. Before I got the bass, I'd planned on replacing the strings with D'Addario 110 - 55 stainless steel strings like I have on a couple of my other short scale basses... but no need. I'll probbly just get another set of the same. They seem to work fine for the sound and feel I want with this bass. I generally go with at least 45 - 105 and that is what the stock EB strings are, so... it's all good. The only stock strings I've ever been happy with other than these are the strings that came on a short scale Warwick I had several years back. They were the only ones (besides these) that haven't been overly floppy. The stock PJ Mustang strings are decent too, although they are not short scale strings (just long scales cut down) and they do make your fingers black at first. :laugh:
 
#316
I like more snap to my strings so ordered some D'Addario short scale ultra lights. Because mine was a floor model at a reputable guitar store, it arrived very well set up ... and a couple of hundred dollars cheaper. I'm loving the first and third settings but find the second a little thin. Haven't jammed with it yet but am anticipating trying out the boost function then. Thanks to everybody in this thread who has explained the controls.
 
#317
JoeWPgh said:
I do not like the stock strings at all. They're very 'zingy' to my ears - more 'zing' than 'growl'.
Click to expand...

I had the same response. it was zingy and boomy with no proper mids. I’d love to hear what you end up finding works for you on this bass.
I’m not a fan of stock strings either however the slinky’s sound really good on the Stingray Special and oddly I’ve really liked the Fender player P with the fender nickel rounds.
 
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