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Someone explain this...

MoeTown1986

MoeTown1986

Sep 14, 2010
4,755
5,873
SoMD (Mechanicsville)
www.ngjbband.com
#1
I Bought a SBMM Ray 35 about a year ago and fell in love with it. It was my main gigging bass, tuned standard, along with a MIM Fender P tuned flat.

My lady recently bought me a real Stingray 5. You could call it my dream bass. Now it is my main bass, tuned standard along with my Ray 35, now tuned flat.

Both basses were set up by one of PRS's luthiers to be identical, aside from tuning. I run DR Fat Beam mediums on both.

Someone explain why, IMHO, my Ray 35 sounds and feels better than my Stingray 5?!?!? I want that to be the other way around!
 
#6
TheBassistJen said:
IDK man, but I have a MIM jazz 4 that I just upgraded the bridge to a Badass... I would live in a box before I would part with that bass. I think its just the time in your hands, and you're more used to that bass... Money spent doesn't mean a better instrument, its all about the mojo, or soul, of the bass :)
Click to expand...

I think that may be it. The Ray 35 and I have done over 100, three set gigs together. She just feels so good in my hands!
 
#8
If you can't determine what it is about the feel that's different it's going to be hard to do anything about it.

All my basses are tuned down a half step, sometimes when I seriously try a bass in a store I'll drop the tuning(knowing full well that the intonation/set-up won't be maximized whatsoever) and find that some strings don't handle the slack that well. If it's a string tension thing than you might try some higher tension strings next time you change.

Also, I like a good Budweiser on tap every once in a while on a hot day:)
 
#10
Well IME any new bass takes quite a while to get comfortable with to the point that it fits like an old shoe and feels like it speaks my language, whatever that is. I got a 2nd hand Overwater 2 1/2 months ago, a very good bass by all means, sounded fantastic and like nothing else i've ever owned when I tried it in the store. Only now, 2 1/2 months later after playing it every day exclusively does it start to feel and sound like an extension of myself.

The 5 might still be that dream bass - give it some time
 
#11
I'm with Jen. My MIM Jazz 4 just agrees with my hands more than any other bass I've played, and I would have no qualms playing it in front of 20,000,000 people. It allows me to sound like me just the way I want to. IMHO, it's the intangible elements in your relationship with an instrument that take priority over all else.
 
#14
theretheyare said:
Well IME any new bass takes quite a while to get comfortable with to the point that it fits like an old shoe and feels like it speaks my language, whatever that is. I got a 2nd hand Overwater 2 1/2 months ago, a very good bass by all means, sounded fantastic and like nothing else i've ever owned when I tried it in the store. Only now, 2 1/2 months later after playing it every day exclusively does it start to feel and sound like an extension of myself.

The 5 might still be that dream bass - give it some time
Click to expand...

Very good point!
 
#15
majortoby said:
I'm with Jen. My MIM Jazz 4 just agrees with my hands more than any other bass I've played, and I would have no qualms playing it in front of 20,000,000 people. It allows me to sound like me just the way I want to. IMHO, it's the intangible elements in your relationship with an instrument that take priority over all else.
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I think that's how I feel about the Ray 35
 
#16
aus_bass said:
Sometimes, that's just the way it is...

A while back, I went out to buy an American Fender Jazz. Played a bunch of Jazzes in the shop, then came home with a Squier Classic Vibe Jazz. Sometimes you just bond with an instrument, regardless of the name on the headstock.
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I wonder how many people have picked a squire over a MIA? I have a squire tele and I swear it plays better than my buddies MIM tele.
 
#17
Theres been several basses whose lower price but better pups and electronics for me have got me to get them over more expensive models. This goes for my Jackson JS3 over the more expensive elliefson sig model version. Same for Ibanez when I loked at SR's. I liked the sound of the sr300 better then the 500 of the time.
 
#18
darkstorm said:
Theres been several basses whose lower price but better pups and electronics for me have got me to get them over more expensive models. This goes for my Jackson JS3 over the more expensive elliefson sig model version. Same for Ibanez when I loked at SR's. I liked the sound of the sr300 better then the 500 of the time.
Click to expand...

That's so crazy! I figured a EBMM would have higher quality electronics, pickups and wood than a SBMM, and would sound better.
 
#20
Hey man just so you know... you're not alone, I'm actually in (sorta) the same spot, I'm looking for a bass, but no bass can compare to my Ray34, even the real Rays wont work for me, the only ones I actually liked were the classic rays but still.... nothing feels like home

and as mentioned before, it's all about the special conection you make with your bass, I will NEVER let go of my bass(es), they are a part of me, as much as I'm part of them ;)
 

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