SR5 sounds different than 4 string Rays?

[Tupac]

I side by side'd them at the store, and it sounded like the SR5 had a different tone. A better tone IMO. It had less of the classic Ray twang, but more of a low, distorted thump. Kind of like Tim Commorford's Evil Empire tone for comparison. Delicious.

 

[dedpool1052]

the pickup on both is listed as being alnico. the SR5 also has the series/single/parallel switch. perhaps you were playing it in series?
when i still had my SR5, series was my favorite setting. super chunky tone.

 

[FunkHead]

I was always told that SR5's were a completely different bass than SR4's. Not just an SR4 with a 5th string but built from the ground up so to speak.

 

[joebar]

from what i was told, the SR5 is modeled after the sterling; it is different from the SR4

 

[mccartneyman]

Don't like the SR5 for precisely this reason.

 

[DeliriumTremens]

for a number of years the 5er used a ceramic magnet in the pickup

 

[zortation]

from what i was told, the SR5 is modeled after the sterling

You have it backwards, but otherwise correct, I think?

 

[Dave W]

for a number of years the 5er used a ceramic magnet in the pickup

Yep. They switched back to Alnico in 2008 I believe.

 

[georgestrings]

Depends - the OP didn't specify... For example, the regular SR4 and SR5, or the Classic series??? Personally, I prefer the ceramic pups on the Classic series and Sterlings over the alnico pups on the current SR4 and SR5...


- georgestrings

 

[Freddels]

Depends - the OP didn't specify... For example, the regular SR4 and SR5, or the Classic series??? Personally, I prefer the ceramic pups on the Classic series and Sterlings over the alnico pups on the current SR4 and SR5...


- georgestrings

According to the EBMM site, the classic Stingrays have Alnico pickups.

The ceramics are on the Sterlings (4's & 5's). So, if you want the pre 2008 SR5 tone, get a Sterling 5.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

I had a SR5 for some time and I never cared for the tone. It in no way sounded like an SR4. That said, apparently I was wrong and Funky Monks was recorded with a Ray5, and that's one of my favorite tones. Go figure. Mine never captured that tone, either

 

[Freddels]

I had a SR5 for some time and I never cared for the tone. It in no way sounded like an SR4. That said, apparently I was wrong and Funky Monks was recorded with a Ray5, and that's one of my favorite tones. Go figure. Mine never captured that tone, either

What year was it made? Was it ceramic or alnico pickups?

 

[jmattbassplaya]

What year was it made? Was it ceramic or alnico pickups?

I got it new in (I think) '09 which probably meant it had the same magnets as a regular SR4. Weird, huh?

 

[Freddels]

Yeah, but then again it's wood and that does affect the tone. I like the series/singlecoil/parallel switch but haven't heard it with the alnico pickups yet.

I'd like to be able to A/B them next to each other.

 

[Tupac]

I had a SR5 for some time and I never cared for the tone. It in no way sounded like an SR4. That said, apparently I was wrong and Funky Monks was recorded with a Ray5, and that's one of my favorite tones. Go figure. Mine never captured that tone, either

Flea had a nice tone with his SR5 on Blood Sugar. Check it. The bass I picked up sounded just like this, so it must have been pre 2008. Blood Sugar was in 91, so that means ceramic pickups. Interesting. So the SR5s now sound the same as the 4 string Stingrays? I liked the old 5 string sound much more than Stingrays.

 

[Epitaph04]

No SR5 has sounded as good as any of the SR5s I've tried. Really wish the B was stronger on the Ray5's ive tried/owned.

Either way, the tone on the SR4 IMO absolutely kills. Maybe I should get one and convert it to BEAD.....

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I thought Blood Sugar Sex Magic was recorded on a Wal.

 

[Freddels]

Flea had a nice tone with his SR5 on Blood Sugar. Check it. The bass I picked up sounded just like this, so it must have been pre 2008. Blood Sugar was in 91, so that means ceramic pickups. Interesting. So the SR5s now sound the same as the 4 string Stingrays? I liked the old 5 string sound much more than Stingrays.

Not so fast! If you're sure it was an SR5 and not a 4 stringer, then it could have been alnico. AFAIK, the SR5 was introduced in '87 with alnico pickups. Sometime in '91, they changed to ceramic. Then in 2008, back to alnico. So, Flea's SR5 could have been alnico. Also, some of the early SR5's didn't have the phantom coil so there was hum when in single coil mode.

 

[bigsnack]

I had a SR5 for some time and I never cared for the tone. It in no way sounded like an SR4. That said, apparently I was wrong and Funky Monks was recorded with a Ray5, and that's one of my favorite tones. Go figure. Mine never captured that tone, either

Same here! Back in the day I bought an SR5 for the same reasons, and was just as surprised as you. Brendan O'Brien has been responsible for all of my favorite recorded bass tones, and he always blends DI and amp tones together. To my ear, the majority of the tone on BSSM is the amp and the way it was recorded.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

Let's not forget that in the case of BSSM ... it has a lot of studio magic thrown in it



As for the bass ... well to me it is kind of obvious ... the shape of the SR5 and SR4 is different also it didn,t have the same magnet for a very long time. So I think those two things is why the sound is different.